Thayer Reno
The downstairs bathroom
The original bathroom was cramped (and had an electrical outlet next to the bathtub: huh?)
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We tore down a wall separating the bathroom from a hallway linen closet, and then added that space in to make the bathroom have more room.
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For the design, we wanted echoes of a classic look (to honor the classic style of the home), while also putting a 21st-century twist on it.
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Below, see images of the final product, and scroll down if you're curious to see the originals + the renovation
The inspiration: classic checkered floor, but with a modern twist
Honestly, after the master bath, this was the room I spent the most amount of time designing and re-re-re-re-designing.
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This room has essentially the only original part of the house: the bath-tub was vintage, hefty, and a gorgeous cream color that I wanted to maintain. I figured we were ripping literally everything else out... the original tub was a high-quality call-back, and one of the only things worth saving.
Extensive research told me that the "classic" vintage flooring style for bathrooms was black and white checkers. The problem with that is that I needed something cream-colored, to match the tub, and also I thought that solid black squares might feel a bit too oppressive.
After literal months of searching, buying tile samples, laying them out... I settled upon this design: The open squares harken back to my "vintage checkered" inspiration, while feeling lighter, and a bit more modern.
Taking inspiration from the black square shape, I then found a cabinet with matching hardware, and even black square shower faucets.
Of course we also needed a little nook for toiletries :)
Scroll down to see pics of the original, plus of the renovation!
The Original bathroom:
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Not sure if you can tell, but it was VERY cramped.
Also don't be fooled by the floor; they were "flipping" floors, that is, low-quality tile slapped on for the quick sale.
Did you think I was joking about the electrical outlet NEXT to the BATHTUB?!?
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Don't worry -- we ended up needing to rip out all of the existing electriacl work in the home because it was all something called "bloth romex" from a long, long timme ago
Time to rip it all out:
