Here's a little story about an architect and an interior designer couple who decided to gut and put back together a bathroom for their four kids. Circa 2001 - this bathroom was in sad shape.
1. BEFORE 2. POST-DEMO
After demo we installed a cement board sub-floor and then began the process of tiling the floor with large-format porcelain tile - Vitra/Uptown White/12"x24" Field Rectified. We chose an epoxy grout because of its waterproof and stain resistant properties.
Did I mention we did all the work ourselves? Yes, always an interesting choice when you have never tiled before in your life! Learning to work with the tile was tricky at first, but we started getting the hang of it. I personally enjoyed cutting the tiles with the (borrowed - thanks Cindy!) wet tile saw as I discovered I have a fascination for power tools.
1. CEMENT BOARD 2. LAYOUT OF FLOOR TILE
Next came the wall tile installation - United Tile/Settecento/New Yorker Series/Matte White/Field Tile 3"x12". The floor tile, while much heavier to move around, was much easier to install (gravity working for you) while the subway wall tile was a bit more tricky (gravity working against you) plus the fact that there were so many to handle. We worked the upper portion of wall tile first so that it would be set and not weigh down the lower portion - gravity again.
1. MORTAR FOR THE WALL TILE 2. PARTIALLY COMPLETED WALL
We chose a 1" x 1" trapezoid-shaped, glass mosaic tile for an accent - United Tile Lunada Bay/Tozen/Copper/1"x1" Wings/Straight Set/Natural. Because the glass tile was half the thickness of the ceramic subway tile, we had to add a backing behind the glass tile to make it flush with the subway tiles. That solution involved an urgent run to the hardware store before it closed at 8 pm on a Sunday night!
Once the glass tile was set we were able to add the finishing touch of 1/2" x 12" quarter-round trim pieces - United Tile/Settecento/New Yorker/White/1/2"x12" Quarter Round/Matte. For the baseboard (on the painted wall) we ran a row of field tile along the floor, topping it off with the trim pieces. I was quite pleased with the end result!
1. ACCENT TILE 2. WALL TILE WITH GROUT 3. TILE AND TRIM BASEBOARD
Once the tile and grouting was completed, we used white silicone caulking to seal all the joints between the wall and floor and the joints were two walls met.
Next it was on to the finishing touches. We selected a colorful shower curtain, plus ready-made sinks and vanities which made that process easy. The lighting took a couple of weeks as I selected a non-standard metal finish and glass globe combination. The shower curtain rod is the rounded type that gives more room in the shower - no more plastic shower curtains sticking to your arm. We purchased new switch plate and outlet covers to spruce it up - man, those old ones were grimy after 15 years and four kids in our house!
1. CABINETS AND SINKS 2. LIGHTING, MIRROR, AND FAUCETS
We still have a few items to install (the towel bars are on back order) but the room is fully functional and the kids love it! I am happy to say that we are out of the construction dust until next remodel....
Coming next - a blog devoted to our process of selecting finishes for our remodeled bath.