You are here: Home / Archives for bathroom remodel ideas

Remodeling series-week 11

Mrs S corner dilemma

OK, So remember this issue last week? (shown above) The question was, what to do with the corner? Butte joint or miter?? Well after careful consideration and much thought, I decided that a cut miter was the way to go. So Ritchie, laid the radiant flooring first…..

Radient flooring

And then he poured a fine layer of thin set on top, and started laying the tile border. (and you can see my mitered corner)

Thin set covers radient floors

And here is my mitered corner up close..may I say, perfection?

Mitered corner here in the right bottom corner--------------->

I have to say it was the right choice, a butte joint would have looked undone, and personally, like I laid the tile…no one wants that!

View from the water closet

The entire week was pretty much consumed with laying tile, measuring, and cutting. The shower was completed,

Shower interior

and with much excitement, the floor is complete!

Bathroom entrance

And seriously, would the floor look this beautiful if the black marble border was not in it? Mrs S was really concerned about the black border and I told her to just trust me…..and I have to say, it completely makes the floor! Thank-you Mrs S for trusting me, and taking a leap of faith…

Floor from closet

Stunning. It is really starting to take shape! The vanities are now in production, and the fancy back splash is being ordered this week.

iPhoto

Fancy backsplash

iPhoto

Now this is where I advised Mrs S to throw caution to the wind. There are places to cut the budget to keep things in line, and there are places where expense is absolutely necessary. The backsplash for this bathroom was an area that needed those extra dollars, and where they mattered. Mrs S has what I call the “a” wall vanity. Meaning the most visible vanity, most visible wall in the whole bathroom. Her space is the first point of contact, or introduction to the bathroom. A great “how do you do” if you will. So her vanity, backsplash, mirror, sconces….everything needs to be stunning. This back splash ties everything together, but more importantly it’s classic, timeless and beautiful. Remember when Mrs S and I went back to the plumbing store to reselect our plumbing fixtures? Well we went back to re-select plumbing fixtures that brought the budget down, to offset the cost of this border tile. At $106 a piece, (yes each 4×12 piece is $106) and we need approximately 13-15 pieces, something had to give! But I guarantee that this is going to make the bathroom!

Week 11 in all it’s glory…..Progress!

If you missed week one, click here.

If you missed week two, Click here

If you missed week three, click here

If you missed week four and five, click here

If you missed week six, click here

If you missed week seven, click here

If you missed week eight, click here

If you missed week nine, click here!

If you missed week ten, click here

Have questions? See something that you want more clarification on? Send me your comments and let us know your thoughts. We will post questions and answers here on the blog.

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

Want more designer tricks, tips and trade secrets, delivered to your inbox, all for FREE? Click here for our monthly newsletter!


AB Homes Interiors Blog
Posted: August 4, 2011 by Amanda Gates |Filed Under: Before and after | How-to's | bathrooms | design | design 101 | design education | remodeling | tile design | , , , , , , , , , , , , , 4 Comments
AB Homes Interiors Blog


Remodeling series-Week 10

Before I left for Atlanta, Richie and I had a meeting at my office to discuss the upcoming week of events for the bathroom. ( he has a tendency to get crazy when unsupervised) and I don’t want to come back to a pink bathroom that’s been moved to the opposite side of the house. We determined that he’d be doing a dry run of the tile for the floor,  laying the radiant floor and hooking up the floor thermostat. The biggest issue is what to do with the most noticeable corner in the bathroom:

iPhoto

Bathroom corner

1) To butte or miter, that is the question

If the opposite side of the bathroom lined up with the tile design, (as I drew it above) there wouldn’t be an issue. But the two points are actually 20″ apart. OY! So the question is, do we make it a butte joint, or a miter? Well my first instinct was to blurt out, MITER! But of course, it wasn’t that easy. The tile border is being cut down from 24″ pieces, into 6″x24″ strips. Laying tile doesn’t follow the philosophy of fuzzy math, that I commonly stand behind. The pieces are not long enough to create a clean miter, so in order to miter the corner we need to make an extension with a 6″x6″ piece…..UM, Huh? Mrs Burdge,…..You say….I din’t get that! See below:

mail 800×600 pixels

Major bathroom corner

mail 800×600 pixels

Butte joint or miter

The decision to be made? To butte joint (shown in pink) or  miter (shown in black). The strips don’t match up, so we either cut them down for the butte joint, or create a mitered corner from a 6″x6″ piece.The decision we choose will be revealed next week. Oh the suspense! Can you stand it?

2) Tile layout, pre-run

So Richie continued with his dry run lay out, to get all his cuts, and make sure there were no other hiccups. Here is a sneak peek: ( Fill in oooooo’s, and awwwwwww’s here!

Dry run

3) Radiant flooring

OK, back to the regularly scheduled program. Before the tile can be laid, Richie has to put down the radiant floors. What’s that you say? Well it’s this fancy orange stuff that is essentially a heated blanket under your tile. It makes your footsies feel warm and fuzzy in the middle of winter when it’s coldy. Pretty awesome!

Warm and fuzzies

This will be hard wired into the electrical, and Mrs S will be able to control the thermostat via a remote control panel that hangs on the wall. Purty cool!

4) Cabinet vanity

Along with tile, we made final decisions on the vanity and it will go into production next week.

Mrs S bathroom vanity

There are a few things that have been tweaked and changed from this drawing, but this gives you the general idea! And I am ready to get this built. I feel like this imaginary box of wood with pretty detail and paint has been floating around in my head for months. I am ready to SEE it!

There you have it, week 10! So what do you think so far? Think you’re ready to remodel? Not quite as fast as they make it on those home decorating shows now is it? haha, stay tuned!

If you missed week one, click here.

If you missed week two, Click here

If you missed week three, click here

If you missed week four and five, click here

If you missed week six, click here

Have questions? See something that you want more clarification on? Send me your comments and let us know your thoughts. We will post questions and answers here on the blog.

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

Want more designer tricks, tips and trade secrets, delivered to your inbox, all for FREE? Click here for our monthly newsletter!

If you missed week seven, click here

If you missed week eight, click here

If you missed week nine, click here!


AB Homes Interiors Blog
Posted: July 27, 2011 by Amanda Gates |Filed Under: Before and after | Interiors | bathrooms | design 101 | design basics | design education | design tips | remodeling | , , , , , 6 Comments
AB Homes Interiors Blog


Remodeling series-week three

Knowing that I was heading into vacation for a week, this particular week for the Mrs S remodel was hectic. I wanted to make sure that everything was in order, decided on and ready to go for my contractor Ritchie, while I was out of town. I rarely go out of town, and vacation is only once or twice a year. SO when I leave, I do not want to think about work. I want to think about morning coffee on the porch, moms old fashion cooking, and stiff drinks on the lake surrounded by laughter and funny memories. My biggest stress of the day: What time do we eat, go out in the boat, and who do we want to see. Serious stress!

This week the new boards for the floor were completed so new drywall could go up.

New tub drywall

Walkway to toilet

His vanity and shower

Her vanity

This week Mrs S and I had to reselect several of our original plumbing pieces. They came in over budget and they were not things she felt were items worth being over budget, and I agreed with that decision. Original tub selection was fine but we had to purchase faucets after finding out old ones could not be reused, and reselect our shower hardware and tub hardware. We kept Kohler as our brand but selected a line that was less expensive.

New faucets and shower hardware

In addition to re selecting our plumbing, we also went to the slab yard to select our counter slabs. We picked a beautiful polished marble:

Carrera Marble

Never choose your counter tops from a small 4×4 square. A lot of kitchen and bath companies will have little samples for you to choose from which is great to get an idea of the direction you want to go. However, always go to the slab yard and select THE slab that will go in your home. Marble and granite are natural materials and each slab is different. The veining is different and oftentimes the slabs will have blobs, smudges, and boogers in them (and yes those are technical terms!) Some people love the variances and others absolutely hate them.

Blob

This slab above was rejected by Mrs S. She hated that large, dark vein. She preferred the more subtle and consistent slab that we chose above. I have worked in three major cities as a designer and every slab yard has a terrific team of experts that will move these gargantuan slabs around so you can find the perfect one for your home and preference.
After we selected our slabs we went to the door and window company to choose our doors. The bathroom layout is unique in that it has four doors. There are two closets, one for her, one for him, there is a door for a linen closet, and finally a water closet housing the toilet. Because Mrs S has a small bathroom with a lot of doors, I wanted to highlight the doors and make them an architectural feature. I also wanted them to be glass to make the bathroom appear larger than it was, and allow more light into the closets.

Bathroom doors

This is the door we will use, but ours will be a three panel not a five. Mrs S also prefers that the glass be frosted so both of the closet doors will have a light frosted glass, and the linen closet will have mirrors. A decision Mrs S came up with, that I thought was a terrific idea! It is also important to note that design is a group effort. Oftentimes design will start with a strong direction from the designer but will typically unfold and come into it’s own style as decisions are made by the client. Never underestimate your style and creativity. Many of my clients think that they are not creative and unable to do design, but often their contributions to the project are what solidify and define the look and feel that makes it extraordinary!
So there you have it. If you missed week one, click here.
If you missed week two, click here.

Have questions? See something that you want more clarification on? Send me your comments and let us know your thoughts. We will post questions and answers here on the blog.

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

Want more designer tricks, tips and trade secrets, delivered to your inbox, all for FREE? Click here for our monthly newsletter!

AB Homes Interiors Blog
Posted: June 15, 2011 by Amanda Gates |Filed Under: Interiors | bathrooms | design tips | remodeling | , , , , 12 Comments
AB Homes Interiors Blog


Remodeling Series-The evolution of a master bedroom and bath

In my twelve years of doing business I have found that clients are always baffled about the remodeling process, and it’s associated costs. First, they never believe the budgets that are necessary to do what they are wanting to do, and second, the actual process of living in a make-shift environment for weeks at a time seems easy until you are living in it. And if you are prone to watching those decorating shows….you know who they are…..they misguide and mislead the homeowner into thinking it is a seamless, effortless undertaking, that happens in a short time (like an hour) and the results are amazing. The good news is the results ARE amazing! But the 6, 8, or 10 weeks of make-shift living, unexpected delays, unexpected problems, dirt, dust, and people coming and going out of your house at unthinkable hours, is never painless.

So in an effort to educate, and help those who are about to enter this process, I will post a remodel in real time so you can fully understand what a true remodel is like and how it really unfolds! And thanks to my lovely client, whom we will deem Mrs. S, has graciously allowed me into her home to take pictures of the good, the bad and the ugly!

1) Consultation to review project, (this occurred in March), Starting budget $35,000.

Existing hers vanity

Existing his vanity

Existing tub area

Existing shower

Existing bedroom and entrance to bathroom

So this is an introduction into this project. As I mentioned above the consultation occurred in March and demo started May 9th. From here on out, every Wednesday, I will post updated photos as the process unfolds, along with the hiccups, the unexpected’s, the think-on-our-feet-for-an-immediate-solutions, and of course the running numbers.

Have questions? See something that you want more clarification on? Send me your comments and let us know your thoughts. We will post questions and answers here on the blog.

Ready to get your room started? Contact us. We offer an array of services to meet your design needs whether you live in our area, or out of state. Click here for more info!

Want more designer tricks, tips and trade secrets, delivered to your inbox, all for FREE? Click here for our monthly newsletter!

AB Homes Interiors Blog
Posted: May 23, 2011 by Amanda Gates |Filed Under: Interiors | bathrooms | darryl carter | decorating a guest room | decorating for the seasons | design basics | design education | design on a dime | design trends | , , , , , , , , 5 Comments
AB Homes Interiors Blog



Google