Adding an En-suite Master Bath
Our house used to be a 3-bedroom, 1.5 bathroom home. There is a first-floor powder room and all three bedrooms shared a teeny tiny full bath upstairs. In February, we began renovations to update the existing hall bath and add a master en suite! What was slated to be a 6-week renovation ended up taking closer to 6 months due to supply chain shortages and other delays. That being said, we are finally 99% of the way there so I’m excited to share some photos!
But first, let’s take a walk down memory lane. Check out my post ‘Bedroom Renovation - Phase 1” to see the space when we first bought the house. Below, the photo below on the left was the abovementioned teeny tiny bathroom that was shared by three bedrooms. Alex and I could barely fit in here at the same time to brush our teeth. The bathtub was original to the house and about 80 years old. Overall, pretty dull and not very functional.
On the right is our master bedroom the morning we began renovations. We had already moved most of our larger furniture so that construction could begin. In this photo, you can tell that the bedroom is very large; it runs from the front of the house to the back of the house. The new bathroom and closet were added to the far end of the room. The existing radiator posed the biggest design question - how to work it into the new master bathroom? It was too expensive to relocate it and add a new heat source for the bathroom.
Here we are, many, many months later!
You can see how we added the master bathroom and a small walk-in (yes! you can even stand in it!) closet to the far end of the room. One of the other concerns we had while planning was making sure to keep as much natural light in the space as possible. To accomplish this, we opted for a pocket door to the bathroom, which we keep open most of the time to allow the bright, southern exposure to flood the room.
We ended up wrapping the countertop above the radiator to allow for extra countertop space. This was important because our oversized sink took up much of the righthand countertop. I love having extra room for my hair dryer, makeup, etc. while getting ready!
Alex and I always get ready at the same time, both in the morning and at night. It was really important to me that we could comfortably be in the bathroom at the same time. Unfortunately, with the radiator to deal with, the space was too narrow for double sinks. But thanks to wonderful Pinterest, I got the idea to do a single large basin with two faucets. The sink is Lacava and the stunning single hole bathroom faucets are Kohler. The space works perfectly for our needs and there is plenty of room to stand side-by-side at the sink. We are thrilled with how it turned out despite the tighter dimensions.
The Terrain recycled-glass vase, large stick and magnolia flower all bring a touch of relaxing nature inside. I love mixing metals so I chose a brass, Vendome Sconce from One Kings Lane to mount over the Home Depot mirror. My new Weezie towels, piped in green, are the perfect accent!
Opposite the sink, our shower and toilet now share a wall with the hall bath. The toilets are back-to-back, which made plumbing much easier. The biscuit subway tile is from Home Depot and the Carrera White Marble 3” Hexagon floor tile is from Stone Center Online.
I wanted a rain-shower head, but the style seems too modern for our older home. Plus, if the shower head comes straight out of the ceiling, there isn’t room for a light. I opted for the Kohler Artifacts Shower System to match the Kohler sink faucets. I love the vintage feel while having the rain head effect.
Above the toilet on the right, we added built-in shelving for additional storage. Unfortunately, the shelves had to be off center due to some existing ductwork that ran up the wall between the second floor and the attic. I was debating to skip the built-ins altogether because I thought it would look really strange off center. I’m happy I added them in the end because it is a lot of extra storage which I think future homeowners will appreciate. I’m still not sure if I should hang something to fill the space (maybe a narrow mirror or a painting?) or if I should leave it empty and not crowd the space.
A separate post to come with the renovated hall bath. It will be fun to compare the hall bath in the very first picture above to the newly transformed space!
