bath time

Ever notice how one small thing can start a whole chain of events? How it can just snowball? If you own a house, you know exactly what I mean!

We are now the proud owners of a completely new upstairs bathroom! And yes, we're absolutely in love with it, but did we plan this? No. Did we budget for this? No.

This all started because we had to have our pipes snaked out. The plumber finished the upstairs bath and as he headed downstairs, he noticed a drip of water hitting his head at the bottom of the stairs. Uh-oh: the shower stall was leaking down through the ceiling!

Now, I must admit that we've never liked that bathroom and always planned to completely remodel it once we had the funds to overhaul the second floor. That plan was hatched seven years ago and needless to say, nothing happened to turn that plan into reality.

So, it seemed only natural that if the plumbers were going to have to come and fix the shower, why not tear out the hideous vanity and put in a cute pedestal sink? While picking out said sink at Home Depot, we discovered they had a matching toilet! Sure, why not get that one, too.

Well, if we replace the sink and toilet, the shower will look hideous so you guessed it: a new shower was in order. And once a new shower is in place, simply painting the old tile floor is no longer such a good idea so let's splurge on tile!

Two months later: our gorgeous new bathroom! I never took "before" pictures because it was just so hideous but the couple in-progress shots give some sense of its past.

All the design decisions came together very quickly. The sink and toilet are Kohler from Home Depot, the faucet is also Kohler while the low white cabinet is from Ikea. The mirror is from Pottery Barn and the light fixture Rejuvenation (bought on sale seven years ago when we hadn't even closed on the house yet!).

The tiles were a splurge from Pratt & Larson and I love how at first glance they look like wood floors. But when you look closer (maybe not quite as visible in the photos), you'll notice a wonderful metallic sheen that makes them look ever so luxurious!

Then of course, there are all the fun finishing touches, like towels (Restoration Hardware) in wood storage bins (The Container Store), soaps (Ink & Peat and Sesame & Lilies), and potted plant (Ikea).

The painting is a piece we bought at Art in the Pearl a few years ago and which hung in my Defteling Design office until just last week.


And the candles on the back of the toilet are totally DIY! My dear friend Amy with Candywinkel makes soy candles, and when we saw these glasses at Ikea, we knew they'd be perfect containers for some custom candles! We cooked up a batch of wax in her studio and I love the way they turned out: the color is perfect and the scent delicious!

So while things snowballed and went way above and beyond what we originally thought, I couldn't be happier with the final result!