Bathroom Business

I am so excited to share all the inspiration designs for the bathrooms. I really wanted each bathroom to be different and have it's own fun feature. It is a challenge for me to do that because my eye is always drawn to a bright bathroom with white cabinets and classic subway tile. So this took months for me to think outside my little box and find beauty in other things besides white!

Master Bath
We started our bathroom tile sections off with the master bathroom. Reason being, when we designed the last spec house, Joe and I fell in love with how the master bathroom came out. Easy peasy, let's do it again. We did change a few little details, but pretty much kept it all the same. (Below are pictures from the spec house)

As I have said a zillion times, I love marble, but hate the maintenance. Once again I found the other option. Porcelain tile in a marble pattern. When we were doing this bath, the salesman at the tile showroom explained how the technology has changed so much in making the lesser expensive porcelain tile look more like real stone. If this were real marble, the veining on each tile would be completely different because it is a natural stone. Now, the technology that "prints" the veining onto the tile uses hundreds of vein patterns so when it is laid, it doesn't look like the same piece repeating. Therefore, it looks more natural.

 

Our bathroom is not laid out like this, but we are using the same materials. I love how the full height glossy grey subway tile backsplash with the white framed mirrors turned out. We are also doing the basket weave inset pattern on the floor again.

 

Our counter tops will be an Organic White quartz. 

One of the things we are tweaking in our bathroom is the tile that surrounds the bath tub. We are bringing the tile up to the window using a 3x6 inch version of the marble-like porcelain that is on the floor, laid in a brick-set pattern.

Kids Bath
I really wanted the kids bath to be a little fun and classic at the same time. Something that can easily go from little kid to big kid with a quick change of accessories.

Traditional Kitchen Tile by Portland Tile, Stone & Countertops ANN SACKS
 

So we are going with classic white subway tile (big surprise) in the shower. To make it fun we are adding two bands of glass mosaic tile called Cotton Bamboo White. One at 9 inches from the top of the tub and the other at 6 feet. I wish I would have taken a picture to share, but I forgot my camera on that day. Don't worry I will share when it is all up and complete.

Traditional Bathroom by Santa Monica Architects & Designers Core Development Group, Inc.

As I worked to wean myself from white, I found my love of gray. Crazy, I know. Baby steps. We are painting the cabinets in this bath gray. I think it is so pretty and can be little kid or big kid friendly. The floors will be 12x24 inch grayish sliver rectangular porcelain tile laid in a brick-set pattern and the counter tops will be Alpine Polished quartz.

Awhile ago Joe taught me that painted cabinets are more expensive than stained cabinets due to the time and labor of painting them on site. Trying to stay under budget, I had a hard time picking a stain color that would go with my vision for this bathroom. Joe called the cabinet guy to see about the cost difference for gray painted cabinets. Much to our surprise, the guy just happened to have left over paint in on of my favorite grays (Dorian Gray by Sherwin Williams) and is giving us the paint!!!! Lucky us. We still have to pay for the labor, but the paint is free. Every little bit helps:)

Guest Bath
On my quest to find beauty in something other than white I also found a new obsession, penny round tile. They are so old school or can be really contemporary. Doing an entire floor, wall or shower really makes a statement in a bathroom. I saw this picture and fell in love with the look of putting these sand colored penny tile over the entire wall behind the mirror from the vanity to the ceiling.
 

Contemporary Bathroom by Coldspring Tile, Stone & Countertops Haleigh Stallworth

Only problem, they aren't cheap. The designer and salesman had a hard time finding them and when they did these tiny little circles were $18 a square foot! My mind was set. I NEEDED these penny rounds to be a part of my life, but I am NOT paying that kind of money. Determined, I took to the keyboard and searched.

It didn't take long for me to hit my favorite sites when I found my new little friends at Home Depot for $6 a square foot. They have a variety of colors of penny rounds available. I know a lot of people don't like to buy things online. I too like to touch and feel it before I buy it. The great thing about Home Depot online, you can order a sheet (or even one tile) and if you don't like it, bring it back to your local store. Super easy. Both Home Depot and Lowes have WAY more online than they do in their stores. Check it out.

The cabinets will be a dark java stain with Alpine Polished quartz counters. We chose the same countertop color for both the Kids Bath and the Guest Bath so we would only be purchasing one slab with little to no waste. The floors are a beautiful tan porcelain tile with a linen type texture to them. I am really excited about this non-white bathroom. 

One of these days I will get over to the house with my camera and take pictures of the progress to share. We are scheduled to paint this week so things have changed a lot. Check back soon!
 

The Kitchen & The Countertop Controversy

This will be the fourth kitchen we have designed and built. As with anything you do in life, each time I learn something new. Some things I would change and some things I would do again. Countertops seem to be where I learn the most. Our first kitchen was in our remodel. We had a speckled type quartz slab countertop. It was a sand color and reminded me of the beach. I loved it soooo much! Quartz is one of the most durable and tough countertop materials out there. It is more durable than granite. This countertop hid every thing and gleamed when it was clean.

Contemporary Kitchen Countertops by Vancouver Interior Designers & Decorators Christine Austin Design

We did a more solid tan-ish quartz in our last home. It didn't have little quartz specks nor a color variation. I initially loved it because it had the smooth concrete countertop look. BIG mistake (to me at least). It showed every crumb and water spot. When it was clean and dry it was beautiful, but let's be realistic, the kitchen is the most lived in room in our house.

 

I made another mistake by putting honed black granite in the kitchen of one of Joe's spec homes (see above). I didn't learn until months later that it is a big NO NO in the design world! I guess it shows everything too. It looked so nice though. I hope the homeowners don't hate it now that they have lived in it.
 

Onto the "next house's" kitchen. I have always dreamed of a crisp white kitchen, but was always too scared to do it. This time we are going for it! It seems to me that white cabinets are the most timeless. I feel like there are beautiful stained wood cabinets out there, but in some cases you can tell how old the house is by the color of the stained cabinets. With white it is ageless!

Here are some pictures of inspiration that helped us create our future kitchen.

Traditional Kitchen by Boston Architects & Designers Jan Gleysteen Architects, Inc

There are so many elements from this kitchen that we are bringing into ours.
The white cabinets with the inset shaker doors and drawer fronts.
The feet and posts of the cabinets that go all the way to the ground with no toe-kick.
The box beam ceiling.
The white subway tile backsplash and farm sink.
 

Traditional Kitchen by Seattle Design-Build Firms RW Anderson Homes

 

We love the design of this hood over the range. So clean and simple.

 

We found this beautiful blend of contemporary and traditional, pull down faucet on Amazon.com.

 

The Countertop Controversy!

 

Most of the pictures of kitchen inspiration I found have marble countertops. Marble is so beautiful and so timeless, but not ideal for our family. Marble is a delicate, porous stone that requires a lot of TLC. I don't have time to give my countertops TLC. I need something that can handle life being lived. At the same time, I LOVE the look of white Carrera Marble. I have been researching for a year for the durable alternative to marble. Here are my findings...

 

Quartz:

Like I said before, quartz is very durable and low maintenance. Quartz is a composite "man mad" material therefore it can be found in a variety of colors. Some quartz countertops are actually made of quarried slabs of the natural stone, but the new engineered material is actually created through a manufacturing process that mixes about 95 percent ground natural quartz with 5 percent polymer resins. Brands of quartz countertops such as CeaserStone and SileStone have created a somewhat marble look to their slabs. Here are some options to get that marble look.

 

Q Premium Natural Quartz: Fairy White
 

Bianco River by Silestone USA

Natural Quartzite:
This may be the answer to my prayers. Quartzite is quartz so it has the durability. But unlike it's engineered counterpart, it comes from a quarry (a.k.a. The Earth). Like other natural stones of marble and granite, quartzite has a natural movement of lines running through it. Once I discovered this, I was in search of a quartzite that looked like marble.

Ladies and Gentlemen, introducing.......
           White Macaubus Quartzite!!!!!

Contemporary Kitchen by Cherry Hill Tile, Stone & Countertops Stoneshop

       OOOOOOO! AAAAAAAA!

Traditional Kitchen by Chicago Interior Designers & Decorators TZS Design
 

I recently talked with a very knowledgeable lady, Laura, at Global Granite. She explained how great this stone is as an alternative to marble. Laura also explained that sometimes it can be difficult to work with the very linier veins of White Macaubus. Apparently because the veins run somewhat uniformly in the same direction, it is hard to seam it together in U shaped kitchens. She is the first person, out of many, that I have asked who actually knows about this type of quartzite. We have sent her our kitchen plan and she will tell us if it is workable or not. Fingers crossed!

So there it is, the bits of inspiration that created our future kitchen. I am so excited to see our kitchen come to life and LIVE in it!

**Again, I am not a professional designer. These are all just opinions from my experiences. :-)