Reader’s Choice Room Reveal!

Have I mentioned that I love you guys?!? No really though. I tell Mark all the time how amazing it is that so so many of you take the time to write here or on social media with the absolute SWEETEST, most encouraging and wonderful comments. It truly means the world to me. It’s a difficult thing to open yourself and your home up to everyone and that vulnerability feels like so much less of a weight with amazing readers like you. So in the spirit of Thanksgiving and Christmas I just want to say “Thank You!” From the bottom of our hearts. I feel blessed and I pray that God blesses each one of you for your kindness.

Another way that I wanted to say “thanks” was to let YOU choose which room reveal I shared next! On Instagram and Facebook Saturday I took a vote… And the winner was… MASTER BATHROOM! It was literally by one vote!

So today I will be sharing our Master Bathroom!

I have to say that one of the most difficult aspects of our “Our Historic Wonderland” restoration was the very first thing we did… Determining a floorplan. Yes, it was not “necessary” because each room had a function but we both did not love the 111 year old floorplan mainly for two reasons… 1) the master suite was upstairs and the girl’s bedrooms would’ve been downstairs & 2) the kitchen was a “small” room in the back of the house (that’s what they did for heat reasons 100 years ago). Given that the home was stripped down to mere 2 x 4’s, that allowed us to rework the home in almost any way imaginable. Obviously there were walls and restrictions in that way but as far as which room served which purpose, that was up to me! The electrical and plumbing needed to be re-run anyways so all of that was pretty much a non-issue.

Here’s a peek inside my thought process regarding the master suite… As I said before, the entire upstairs was created for a master suite. Not ideal for little ones in my opinion when it’s possible to re-work a floorplan. SO after literally a week of thinking and planning, I decided to make the entire left side of the home a master suite. The front left room was originally a library with a beautiful fireplace so I decided to make that into a master bathroom. The room behind that with another fireplace was a secondary bedroom so I decided to make that into the master bedroom. Here’s where things got tricky… Next to the “new” master bedroom was a jack and jill style bathroom for the other bedroom adjoining the new master bedroom. Since we did not need another master bathroom, I decided to make that into a little “hallway dressing room”. And then here’s where it just gets funky… Since I am a symmetrical designer at heart I could NOT handle the thought of walling off any bit of the original perfectly symmetrical “library” turned master bathroom into a toilet room. SOOOO… I decided to use part of the dressing room/original jack & jill bath as a toilet room for the master suite. Still following me? Yes, our toilet room is completely separate from our master bathroom. As strange as it may sound, I honestly have found it pretty amazing so far. There aren’t too many ideas I come up with that take some “Mark convincing” but this was CERTAINLY one of them! He literally sat on it (I mean not literally since there wasn’t a toilet quite yet LOL) for DAYS before we went ahead with it. And then literally that evening he found an article online about how this was common long long ago. Next, I decided to make my closet dreams come true and turn the other bedroom (on the other side of the jack & jill bath) into OUR CLOSET!!! Que the angelic music… yes it is huge and I feel like a kid in a candy store. Whew! So that my friends is the reasoning behind our entire Master Suite!

Here is the “BEFORE” images and you can see the opening for the former “library” turned master bathroom under the staircase and our master bedroom on the right next to the bathroom…

Fireplace Wall (soon to be shower and tub wall)

Window Wall (soon to be vanity wall)

Soon to be Master Bedroom looking into soon to be Master Bathroom

So now do you see why I am sharing one room at a time? It takes me freaking FOREVER to share all of the details! I would get more into how I designed the space but that would be a novel so I will just say that this was one of the more difficult rooms to design. So much had to be functional, obviously, but I also wanted it to be really beautiful and unique. Being in the kitchen/bath industry for so long has given Mark and I a million and one ideas PLUS we look at it all SO much that we get tired of the “same ol’ look”. In the end, I decided to marry a vintage style true to the home with a touch of modern to give it a fresh update and a unique look. So here’s a look at the process…

1. First, we closed off a doorway to the original “library” to create our master bathroom.

2. We re-ran all electrical, all HVAC and restored the original windows.

3. Spray foam insulation- BEST DECISION EVER.

4. Sheetrock & Dura-Rock in Shower!

5. We installed beautiful thick molding on the baseboards, crown and windows. Read more about that HERE… “Trim, Ceilings and Moldings Oh My!“

6. Paint! Read more about that HERE… “Paint, Paint and More Paint…“

Walls-Alabaster by Sherwin Williams

Trim- Alabaster by Sherwin Williams

Ceiling & Door- 1/2 Stardew & 1/2 Uncertain Gray by Sherwin Williams

7. We restored the GORGEOUS 111 year old hardwood floors! This time I chose a BLACK stain to create a stunning backdrop for the lighter cabinetry and white marble.

8. Tile, tile and more tile!

9. Plumbing Fixtures…

Shop Our Fixtures…

Clawfoot Tub… Shop It HERE

Wall-Mount Faucets (Champagne Bronze)… Shop It HERE

Clawfoot Tub Freestanding Faucet (Antique Brass)… Shop It HERE

Shower Faucet… Shop It HERE

10. And then came lighting, mirrors and cabinet hardware!!

Shop Our Lighting, Mirrors & Cabinet Hardware…

Wall Sconces… Shop It HERE

Island Lantern… Shop It HERE

Mirrors… Shop It HERE