A bump in the bathroom makeover road

Our bathroom makeover plans were going along great – and then we hit a bump in the road. I’m the queen of finding bumps and potholes, just ask my poor little smart car ;-) Remember the beautiful moonstone tiles we were planning to use for the floor?

Saltillo will have to order new stock from their supplier, and the tiles won’t arrive for at least ten weeks. Booooo! Hubby doesn’t want to start the reno until we have the floor tiles on hand, seeing as they have to go in before we can do pretty much anything else once the demo is done. Which means the reno won’t start till November – I want the reno finished by November!

So last Friday, I embarked on a hunt for the elusive 12" x 24" moonstone floor tile. I had a list of 10 stores to hit, and I made it as far as… one. Lewis & Clark, I ain't. My expedition ended at Westboro Flooring. They don't have moonstone tiles, but they have lots of beautiful porcelain tiles. These are two that caught my eye – Midgley & West Volcano on the left and I-can’t-remember on the right.

I like that they both work with the striped accent tile and the Super White quartzite that we’re going to use. But now I’m thinking that it might be better to use the “sunflower” mosaic instead of the glass tiles for the accent  so I can still get some moonstone in the room.

As much as I love and want the moonstone floor tiles, I think we’re probably going to go with the Volcano tile (or something similar) for a few reasons:

• They’re half the price of the moonstone tiles (big thumbs up from hubby!)
• Quick availability (7-10 days after ordering)
• Textured/honed finish is for better traction
• Porcelain is more durable than moonstone, which scratches easily

The only real negative is that they’re not as pretty & unique as the moonstone tiles.

A big reason for doing the bathroom reno is for resale value. So pretend you’re a potential buyer and let me know – would you prefer a bathroom floor that’s pretty and durable and not slippy, or a bathroom floor that’s beautiful & unique, but scratches easily and is slippy?

Woot! It's master bathroom makeover time!

I'm guest posting over at Olga's blog, Stardust - Decor & Style today (Friday, June 22nd). Well, it's actually still June 21st here, but Olga is in Greece, so it's already Friday where she is :-)

Click here to check out some of my DIY and room before & afters.

Did you see the Homestyler bathroom layouts that I posted last week?

 

  

Well, I'm seriously stoked because hubby FINALLY agreed to gutting & redoing our master bathroom.

Can I get a WOOT!

Did he give in to my 11 years of nagging? Nope. All it took was a real estate agent assessing our house to walk into the room and say "Oh, this all has to go." If I'd known, I would have called a real estate agent  ages years ago!

Anyway - in all honesty, it's not the worst bathroom in the world. It's a good size, but the corner tub literally takes up 1/4 of the room, and we never even use it. We also never use the bidet. Does anyone use a bidet? The only things we've done with ours is use it as a dog water fountain and for party entertainment.

Guest: "Look! It's a bidet! What's a bidet for?"
Me: "I have no idea - but let's see how high we can get the water to shoot up!"
Everyone: "Oooooooh, cooooooool!"

via schwingeninswitzerland

This is what the bathroom looked like when we moved in (minus the Hollywood light that we replaced). That green marble tile around the tub & shower is also on the floor. I mean, seriously, could a room be any greener?

So anyway, all the ugly is going and lots of pretty is coming in. YAY! I'm totally inspired by the bathroom makeover that Sarah & Tommy did on Sarah 101 last week. Coincidentally, they had a lot of green to ditch too.

via HGTV.ca

I LOVE the moonstone tiles on the floor. I went to Saltillo to check them out, but according to the lady at the store here in Ottawa, the biggest size they come in is 3" x 6". The tiles in Sarah & Tommy's bathroom are definitely bigger than that. Well, one way or another, we'll definitely be putting moonstone in the bathroom because hubby and I both love it. Well, I love it. He doesn't really care one way or the other ;-)

If we don't use moonstone on the floor, we'll go with honed carrera marble (1) with some sort of accent, possibly Matrix Multi Gray Marble Mosaic (4). Mini Sunflower Marble Mosaic in Moonstoone & Thassos (2) will be the accent tile in the shower and in the niche behind the tub (like Sarah & Tommy's "nooche"). I'm also planning to do "wainscoting" with 3" x 6" honed carrera marble (3).

♥ ♥ ♥

via DecorPad

And hubby doesn't know this yet, but I want to replace the door & window trim with carrera marble too. I totally love this look!

via Houzz, photo by Cynthia Lynn Photogrpahy

 

These are the PARA paint colours I've narrowed the choices down to. I pulled them from the colours in the moonstone. Do you have a favourite?

 

Lindsay at Little House Blog considered these three marble alternatives for her kitchen countertops. I'm thinking any one of them would work well as the vanity countertop in our bathroom. I particularly like Corian "Rain Cloud".

 

Speaking of the vanity - hubby says he's going to make it. UGH! He does good work, but he's sooooooo slow! I've never seen anyone think and analyze and plan so much!

I love, love, love the Virage faucet from Brizo. I want, want, want polished nickel Virage faucets in our bathroom, please!

 

The shower design is still in the works, but it'll be big and glass and have body jets and maybe a rain shower head. You might never get me out of it!

via Craigslist Tips and Tricks

 

I've always wanted a free-standing tub - now's my chance! I love the design on this tub from WetStyle's IMAGE-in collection. I saw their tubs at IDS12 - they're just beautiful, and the finish is so smooth and feels amazing.

There's definitely going to be a chandelier for some bling, as well as scones above the vanity and some pot lights. I'm thinking something along the lines of this chandelier, which looks a bit like water drops.

Alexandra from Bellacor

And at the non-blingy end of things, every bathroom needs a toilet. We're planning to go with a wall-mounted Toto, which will take up less space than a traditional toilet. Plus there's less surface area to clean :-) Does anyone have a wall-mounted toilet? I'm just wondering how securely they attach to the wall...

Toto Aquia from amazon.com

So that's my vision for the room. Whether or not it comes together the way I'm hoping remains to be seen. I have to narrow down some choices, do some budget calculations, and start making some concrete decisions so we can get this party started! I'm sure compromises will be made along the way, but getting hubby to agree to the new layout was a major coup :-) The power of a real estate agent and 11 decorators who ALL chose the same layout from the four I showed them. Thank you, ladies! :-)

Don't forget to enter my giveaway - Blurb is offering one lucky JAX does design reader the opportunity to create and publish your very own book! Click here for all the details.