Friday

Our morning plans got blown up, but we ended up getting everything done anyway. The grout guy and the designer came to our house to help us choose the grout color. We had two favorites, but the grout guy broke the tie when he described how they would look spread out over the entire backsplash. Then it was obvious: we went with the darker gray grout over the lighter one.

Instead of meeting the designer at her office, she brought the plans for the master bath with her. She had two options, and she said we could mix and match the things we liked about each one. In plan #1 above, she removed the linen closet at the left side so that we could move the tub closer to the bedroom, a bit off center. Shower with two half walls, one separating the tub from the shower and one joining the shower to the new vanity with a new linen closet at the far right. Two sinks, two mirrors, two sets of lights on each side of the mirrors. 

Note: the glass shower walls don’t show up in either of the drawings.

In plan #2, the linen closet at the far left stays. The tub stays centered under the window. The shower has two walls of solid glass, not touching tub or vanity. One shower wall includes a door, all frameless and taller than our existing shower wall. The vanity is floating as is the one in #1 and centered. The vanity does not touch the shower or the new linen cabinet to the far right. There is a 6 inch gap between the tower cabinet and the vanity. In both plans, the vanity is the height of kitchen cabinets, about 36 inches instead of the usual 32.

Our initial thoughts: we like plan #2 better, but with some changes.

 

1) to give us more room, she suggested removing the far left linen closet and adding a built in closet that’s a tad more narrow. Removing the wall gets us at least 4 inches of wall space.

2) move the tub a couple of inches off center to give us more separation and allow the shower wall to move a couple of inches almost to the window, allowing more shower space and a slightly wider door.

3) remove the tall cabinet column at the far right, making that space open, using the space to hang towels.

4) add a cabinet above the toilet in the water closet for toilet paper and other storage.

5) I like the two smaller mirrors in plan #1, but I don’t like the busyness of the four wall sconces. I suggested lighted mirrors instead. She liked that idea, but said lighted mirrors aren’t useful for putting on makeup and the can lights overhead are not flattering. John likes the large, single mirror, which would be okay because it would keep the look simple and uncluttered. Since we don’t wear makeup and don’t need to have our faces flattered, I think the existing can lights will be sufficient, upgraded to LED.

While we were thinking and waiting for the grout man to finish, our designer sent these updated pictures with the changes we talked about:

Two mirrors 

One mirror 

(She added a couple of towel hooks in the space to the right of the vanity.)

Floor plan 

Water closet with upper storage cabinet 

What are your thoughts?

Do you like this here once we give it a black frame?

Or this?

Fresh grout, not yet dry

Finished

Very, very difficult to photograph because the tiles have such dimension. It's tough to capture the depth.

We like it. Without the backsplash, the kitchen looked like a corporate break room or an infirmary. Now, it definitely looks like a kitchen.

My first meal on the new range. I made oatmeal with strawberries, blueberries, and walnuts.

Up next: walk through with owner and designer Monday morning. We will meet soon to finalize the bathroom project and come up with a budget.