Bed Stuy Reno: Completed Bathrooms
Designing the bathrooms in a narrow house was a challenge. One option was to forgo having an office to accommodate a massive long master bathroom. I’ve never been the type of person that needed a huge home or bathroom — and I always wondered who were those people on HGTV that insisted on having double…
Designing the bathrooms in a narrow house was a challenge. One option was to forgo having an office to accommodate a massive long master bathroom. I’ve never been the type of person that needed a huge home or bathroom — and I always wondered who were those people on HGTV that insisted on having double vanities. So the smaller but fully functional master bath won out.
Now, don’t get me wrong. The en suite master bath is in no way tiny. It does have a tub and standing shower but there isn’t much room in there except for the necessities and I’m fine with that. The master floor tiles came from a company in California. I searched high and low for inexpensive patterned concrete tiles and there isn’t such a thing.
And the electrician put the bathroom sconce too low. To remedy that problem, I need to a find a horizontal medicine cabinet.
To save on costs, the new guest bathroom is actually an existing bathroom off the hall in the old house configuration. Crazy how much money you can save by not moving plumbing. The downside is that things are really tight but cozy. The Moroccan-inspired floor tiles in the guest bathroom, pictured above, were also pricey but luckily I didn’t need a lot. And at the store where I purchased them, if your designer or architect places the order then you get a 10 to 15 percent discount, depending on the style. The wall tiles are from Overstock.com.
I’m debating adding a shower enclosure to the claw foot tub. Reviews from my few overnight guests have been mixed. My mom loved not having an enclosure, as did my friends who stayed over with their kids. But another set of friends said the current setup was awkward. But I must say, I love not sharing a bathroom with guests.
And finally, the half bath is on the parlor floor. Nothing special here, just some turquoise paint, an old gold mirror and some relatively inexpensive floor tile. My one regret on this bathroom is that I didn’t just splurge again and select marble for the floor tile.
The toilets in all the bathrooms are dual flush. Better for the environment and only slightly more expensive than a traditional flush toilet.
Click through to see photos of the other bathrooms.
Our Bed Stuy Reno blogger chronicles a budget renovation with a 203K loan. She also blogs at The Bed Stuy Reno Blog.Â
Above and below, the en suite master bath, which has a walk-in shower and a standalone tub.
Below, the powder room on the parlor floor.
Congrats, bedstuyreno! The three bathrooms look great! I have a very specific question about the blue-and-white tile that you used in the guest bathroom: is it cement tile or is it porcelain printed to look like cement? I’m designing a bath of a similar size and hopefully equally accomplished look, but I have been reluctant to use cement tiles because of the need to seal them and, generally, the need for additional maintenance, but I’ve also been disappointed by the limited choices in porcelain that looks (or tries to look) like cement. How did you chose them?
The tiles are cement. And yes, you do have to seal them before grouting. The maintenance of the tile will really depend on the quality of the seal job. But I’ve come to accept that cement tile will only look shiny and new for about 2 weeks and as it ages the look will change- and you have to be fine with that if you’re going to use cement.
Yes, sorry- the ceiling in the bath enclosure is tiled. Which is required for code. But the rest of the bathroom is not.
A wet bath would be great and would make cleaning easier.
I’m not a dude 🙂 And I do indeed wash my hair from time to time but I use the hand held.
Dude at the very least you should wash your hair from time to time.
I shower every day without getting my hair wet. The master bath has a glass enclosure.
And the ceiling aren’t tiled.
The guest bath doesn’t have curtain and we’re still debating on whether this is a good idea. Feedback so far has been mixed.
Thanks MM. That’s a great compliment!
I think most cement tile shops are in California. The master bath tiles came from Cle Tile.
The guest tile from a store in Flatiron.
No spotting on the guest bath tiles. The master bath tiles have had some spotting but I think that was from using the wrong cleaner. Overall they are much easier to clean than the marble I used in the rental.