Guest Bathroom Renovation in My Client’s Historic Home

This week we put the finishing touches on my client’s guest bathroom and it turned out beautifully. What began as a need to replace the tub for a walk-in shower quickly evolved into a full renovation with custom marble subway tile and mosaic floors. With new board and batten painted to match the floor tiles, the room now feels pulled together and timeless.

The Before

While the lay-out of the bathroom didn’t really change, the look and feel certainly did.

The Bathroom Renovations

Demo and Framing

My clients wanted to change out the small garden tub for a more spacious walk-in shower. They also wanted a vanity with ample storage for this small space rather than what was there. So, the guys quickly gutted the space leaving little behind. One small change with a big impact was to eliminate the bump out previously to the right of the tub. This simple changed allowed us to make the shower wider.

The Walk-In Shower & Tile

Once the framing was completed including a large niche for soaps and shampoos, the tile installers came in and got to work. They first installed the cement backer board along the shower walls and bathroom floors. They also built a custom mud bed for the shower floor. Once that was completed they waterproofed everything to prepare to install the tile.

My clients picked out a beautiful marble subway tile and we installed it in a classic brick pattern. We used 1/16th inch spacers to keep the grout lines as small as possible. Since we knew the grout would be a close match to the light gray in the tiles, we wanted the space in between each tile to be as minimal as possible.

For both the shower floors and the bathroom floors, they chose a small hex mosaic tile that compliments the marble wall tile.

Once the shower curb was installed and everything was grouted, the shower and floors turned out beautiful.

The Board and Batten

Once the tile was completed, my clients asked for a simple board and batten along the remaining walls. If you need a quick refresher on board and batten, here are The Four Questions I’m Asked The Most. We first set the vanity in place and then spaced the battens out using tape to temporarily hold them in place. It took a few adjustments to get the spacing correct, both for around the vanity and along the wall, but eventually the match worked out pretty evenly.

Since we had already color matched the blue gray wall paint to the floor tile, we painted the remaining trim the same color. I’m a big fan of painting the walls and trim the same color and in this space we applied that same style from the chair rail down.\

The After

Once all of the finishing pieces were put in place, this small guest bathroom turned out beautifully. They are still trying to decide on a glass shower door vs. a simple shower curtain, but either way, the shower definitely takes center stage.

BATHROOM SOURCES AND LINKS

My clients did a great job choosing all of the tiles and fixtures for this bathroom. If you’re interested in a similar look, here are some options to consider.
MARBLE SUBWAY TILE
MOSAIC HEX FLOOR TILE
TEAK SHOWER BENCH
EXTRA LONG SHOWER CURTAIN
SHOP MORE OF MY BATHROOM FAVORITES