Well friends can you believe it has already been a year since we moved back into the house? I realized I still hadn’t gotten out some renovation posts for the different spaces. When we moved in last July and there were a lot of things getting finished. By fall most things were done. I thought you might like to see the before/after shots and the materials I used in the boy’s bathroom which is one of the best parts of the renovation to me!
Let’s start with the before..The bathroom mostly retains the same footprint. We removed the cabinet adjacent to the counter, enlarged the window and changed it to obscured glass, and removed the tub to make a glass enclosed shower. It wasn’t a bad little bath, but the single sink was not ideal with two kids, especially now that they are 18 and 21.

When the spare bedroom was removed we got to annex the space that was previously a closet into this bath. That space is behind the wall above, behind the towel bar. The plan was to have cabinets built there for more storage. Still, the room would essentially be the same in size. Instead, my builder, Mike McCloud suggested we open the bathroom up more, and do the shower with a glass corner and keep that former closet space as an open area.

Look at the difference! You can see it feel much more spacious and open and it gives more room to move about and hang towels too.

I added pegs there and my cabinet guys built me a towel tower behind the door.
The vanity stayed in the same spot and we took over the end cabinet to give a longer counter and space for two sinks.

I love how these cabinets were configured. The boy’s bath has long pull outs at either end for tall bottles. (See below.) The wood is oak and has a stain called Blanco on it and is not varnished. All of the cabinets in my house were done by a father/son company called MJS Fine Cabinetry.

This is a few of the inspiration photos for the boy’s bath. I knew I loved this rustic kind of brick/stone look for the shower, black fixtures, and two modern mirrors and light counters and dark floors..
In the end, I didn’t go with the cool trough sink my designer Debbie who helped design the house layout, had suggested. I was worried we wouldn’t have enough counter space. One thing I do wish I had done was wall mounted faucets. The boys are always leaving their counters wet and the area around the fixtures especially. With kids, wall mounted faucets may be neater and less water on fixtures, and less water spots, or in the case of black fixtures, leaving some calcification.
For the floor I knew I wanted to use one of those beautiful wood look tiles. I went with this fantastic Statale tile from Walker Zanger that has a pickled color and with varying wood grain and rifts in it. It feels and looks like real wood. I love the tones of this line. We went with the Fumo and a grout called truffle. Perfect for dirty boy feet!

It feel great underfoot too and has some grooves to prevent it being slippery.
I found a rustic tile for the shower in almost the same color and look as my inspiration photo, in varied sizes at my local tile shop. I like the light, but not white in this small space to brighten and be a contrast with the dark floor. The tile is an Italian tile called Pave Brick by Sichenia, and the light color I used is called SIPBSO.

This is supposed to have a weathered painted brick look, but it’s a long wearing porcelain tile. Hard to find online- some about it here. Also to note for locals, I sourced this at Tile Fantastic in San Jose and a wonderful designer there, Caroline, helped me pull all the elements together with my photos.
Laying out the look here:

The stone floor is one of those preset natural stones mosaics. It’s by a company called Island Stone, also bought at Tile Fantastic.
The finished look:


For their vanity counter, I went with a slab of Vadara, a man made quartz that is pretty indestructible. I loved the mix of grey and brown veining in the Calacatta Bellezza. The slabs are 63 x 120 and two were enough for the boy’s bath and also my the laundry counter and pool bath vanity.

The faucets are Newport Brass matte black faucets . They look nice with the black window casings and the black shower door pull.

Their sinks are Lacava Cube sinks – flat bottomed and square 19.5 inch size.

The Shower Fittings are also Newport Brass. The black has been challenging to keep clean. Unlike chrome it shows water spots in a white film. You have to be good about wiping it off regularly. Not sure if I would choose it again in a high use bathroom, but I do like the look. You can see on the hose it has already worn off on some parts in just one year..

I chose a rain shower and a shower arm on a sliding bar that is adjustable as they are quite tall.
Because they are guys, I always have wanted a Toto wall-mounted toilet. This was a tight space, so it gives more room when getting out of the shower and it tucks behind the cabinets. Americans aren’t used to these as much as Europeans, but the main difference is the tank is in the wall, and to service the toilet you reach the works through the buttons on the wall. The plate just comes off. In general this whole toilet system is a lot easier to keep clean, you can put a rug under it, less toilet to wipe down and I would suggest it to anyone with boys.

For the lighting, I chose these RH Utilitaire Pendants that have black cords, but a splash of gold and a masculine wrench detail on the inside. They sit in front of black mirrors..

I just noticed the stickers are still on the pendants.. I hate that! Gotta figure some way to get up there and remove them.. Why don’t the electricians ever do that?

I also went with two of these Infinity Black Rectangle Mirrors, 24 x 36 from CB2. They are beautiful in person, excellent quality and had a modern yet heavy luxe look to them. ( Aren’t these tissue box covers cool? They are by Kouboo and I have them in all my baths. You can buy them here.)

Knobs are by Top Knobs and have a finger groove under them.

Door hardware is Helios by Emtek in Flat Black. I went these handles and with single panel doors in the whole house, except in the master where I did glass knobs.

Believe it or not, I am still waiting on the towel rings I want and a few other things like wall art and the perfect rug in here, but I hope you get a little idea of how this bath came out.
Stay tuned my media room/den reveal is coming later this week! I also plan to show you all the details from the other baths and a list of the house materials, which is long overdue.
This has been a strange year with the pandemic and I realize I’ve got to get back to the renovation. Thanks for your patience if you’re still out there! I promise it is all coming soon!
Kim

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Looks amazing. Good job. How overwhelming was it picking everything?
Thanks Rachael so much. I actually changed the look for this room from when I first looked at tiles. I just went shopping for tiles, with no idea and it was better when I went back with pictures and a vision in my head of how it should look. For the tile, the woman at Tile Fantastic helped me find the materials for the look and so I am grateful. Doing it all alone, even when you know what you want, can be daunting. Looking online can be maddening too as in the showrooms, there are often too many choices!! I absolutely recommend getting the help of those people at the showrooms, if you already have a vision. They are life savers. At the end when it got down to details like picking knobs, etc. I thought I was going to lose it when I realized i needed to choose over 100 knobs for the house. Online doing it was too expensive- so I eventually went to Belmont Hardware in Cupertino and a great woman there, Michelle, helped me choose and map out the whole thing in less than an hour after I suffered for days at home on websites. Let me know when you do your remodel! Excited for you. xo
Wow Kim, it’s all absolutely amazing! The cabinetry is so beautiful. You made fantastic choices. Your boys are so very lucky!
Thank you so much Patricia. I wish we could have done it when they were younger, as they are almost out of the house. We were fortunate this was completed before the pandemic with us all here 24/7 now! I do think they are lucky too! xo
I HAVE SEEN IT IN PERSON AND EVEN USED THE TOTO TOILET !!!!!!!!!
A BEAUTIFUL SPACE AND YOUR EYE FOR DETAIL IS SUBLIME!
ALL THAT HARD WORK AND SOURCING PAID OFF!
I remember your DECORATOR QUIT soon AFTER you got started!
WELL, That was a GODSEND as LOOK WHAT YOU CAN DO MISSY!!!!!!!!!!!!
BRAVA,JOB WELL DONE!
XOXO
Elizabeth you are so cute. I’m glad you like the TOTO!! The decorator didn’t quit, but I decided to do my own design work on the materials for the baths, kitchens, paint, doors, lighting and details as my design budget was depleted. My builder helped me too. The designer Debbie did help configure the initial space layout of the house which we loved and then she sent to an architect. I have to give her credit for the way the house has opened up and moving the kitchen to the center. She came up with a lot of ideas for us.
Looks great. You should probably be a designer! I just used Emtek hardware in my kitchen. Love their quality! I just finished a full dining/kitchen redo and pulled down 2 walls. Took 7 months due to Covid etc but turned out great!
Judy thank you for saying that. I kind of am learning as I go. I just know what I love, but this has definitely an experience and I could do it again now with a lot less stress. I would love to see yours!! I bet it is lovely. We also took down load bearing walls. So worth it though right? You had the challenge of doing it during this pandemic too. Wow. Emtek has some great hardware don’t they? I think they are on half of the knobs and all the handles. xo
This is wonderful Kim!
Thank you so much Lisa!
Great job!
Looks amazing!!!
Thank you Therese! xo
Hi Kim,
I love it!
You have a great eye when it comes to texture and colors. Don’t second guess your decision to do a shower only. You guys live in the house, you know how you use it. I think designing for some future unknown family is the wrong way to approach a remodel, unless of course you are planning on selling immediately. Otherwise, I say do what will make you happy!
I love those TOTO in the wall toilets. We almost went that way, they are everywhere in Europe, and so streamlined!
XO Heidi
Kim, I love ti and it was worth the wait! You chose your materials beautifully, it’s such a cohesive and serene look …very spa like. Your boys must love it! I appreciate the look of wall mounted faucets too but never thought about them being easier to keep clean. Now I wish I’d gone that route as well. Your comments on the wall mounted toilet are interesting too. I’m all for anything that makes maintenance and cleaning less of a hassle. I can’t believe it’s been a year since you moved back in. What a year it’s been. Looking forward to your media room reveal. xo
Hi Kim, love this look! I’m going to try to find the Pave Brick by Sichenia here in southern California. Can you share what color grout you used for the shower wall and the grout for the shower floor?
Thank you,
Elaine
Elaine, I bought it at Tile Fantastic in San Jose, who could probably get it for you. I looked at my order and all I have written is caulk for the grout.. I don’t have any other grout colors listed for that bathroom! I think I picked a darker grey for the shower floor. I hope that helps!