Master Bath Redo!

Transforming our master bath from blah to sophisticated

The master bath in this condo is really big! We liked the overall layout and the storage but the gold color on the walls was way not working for us!  And the little "potty parlor" felt a bit cave-like despite the transom window over the door.  

My husband's request was that it not end up being too feminine - I think we're good there! And I wanted to try my hand at shiplap but didn't want to go too nuts as it's very trendy.  

Instead of removing the long mirror, I framed it out so that it looks like two separate mirrors. They are still really large (another request of the hubs) but not overpowering.  Painting the cabinets was much easier than I thought it would be and we switched out the stainless pulls for a rustic square black knob.

The ship lap effect was time consuming but got easier as we went along. I bought 2 sheets of 4'x8'x1/4" finished plywood at Lowes and had them rip them down to 5" planks - this saves a TON of time!!  A few words of caution - 1. their policy is no more than two cuts per board so catch them when it's not busy! 2. be sure the person cutting is experienced. The first board we had was ripped by a guy who generally works in that department and they were all exactly 5". The second was done by someone filling in and they ranged from 5" to 5.25" which became a major issue in lining up the seams etc.

I used liquid nails to adhere the boards to the walls and tile spacer to get an even space between them. I only used one or two nails per board which gave a smoother look and made things move more quickly.  

Priming and painting a first coat on the boards ahead of time was also a great time saver! If you decide to try this type of "faux" shiplap, remember to paint the wall you are going to ship lap as the spaces will show that wall and be sure to paint the edges of each board which also show once installed. 

The shower was a fiberglas insert meant to look like white tile - but didn't! We noticed some mold issues around the seams and that was the impetus to splurge on a shower re-do. The transom window in the shower was definitely a cool touching the bathroom, but you only saw it from inside the shower as the curtain covered it. We knew we wanted to go with a glass shower front/door and were able to find one on Wayfair for much less than getting a custom system at a glass store. We opted to do a standard pan on the floor vs. tile which also saved us considerably. The subway tile was an off the shelf line from Lowes so most of the cost was labor. The best part was that we were able to enlarge the shower by nearly a foot in depth. A major overall upgrade to the bathroom but it didn't break the bank.

And finally, I painted the tile floor using a special 3 part system designed for tile. It transformed the bland tan tiles to white to match the shower tile and I found a grout paint pen in the exact same color as the dark gray grout from the shower. This was a time consuming project but worth it and very affordable.

For decorating the room, I used a bunch of things I already had and then went to Home Goods and did some damage in their clearance section to find a few key items including the big clock.  The dried lavender between the mirrors added the dimension I was looking for and a nice pop of color. Thanks to my bestie Lee for that suggestion!