Fall 2021 One Room Challenge: The Bathroom Reveal

We made it!! The One Room Challenge has official wrapped up and everyone is revealing their spaces this week. I am so relieved, excited, tired, grateful and happy that we pushed to finish this bathroom. I am so ready to share it with all of you and hear what you think! I told Ty that after you stare at something long enough you’re not even sure that it looks good anymore (ha! But really…), so I’m excited for all of your fresh eyes and input on this little space that we poured lots of energy into the past two months. First, let’s refresh ourselves on where we started:

the before

The existing bathroom was poorly planned, had a tiny shower, a clunky vanity with little usable storage and structural issues to the floor and walls. We made a plan to maximize the space while keeping the existing footprint, creating an inviting bathroom for guests and a functional space for our young family. Here is the final result!

after

It feels like a breath of fresh air stepping into this room now! My focus for the design was keeping an emphasis on materials, drawing out the different textures and unique features of the tile and stone. For the vanity we went with this quick ship option from Home Depot; I really loved the marble top and open base with quite a bit of closed storage. I wanted a creamy, saturated color on the vanity and trim so I painted everything Swiss Coffee by Benjamin Moore. I also swapped the existing hardware on the vanity for these cute round knobs and I love how they lend a hint of that laid-back cottage feel to the room. The walls are Benjamin Moore Simply White.

The way the vanity transitions into the shower wall is really pretty, so that when you’re standing in the space you can really take in all of the different tile and textures at once.

The shower is my favorite part of the room. It’s big, so it feels roomy and luxurious. By mixing up the tile finishes it lends an eclectic feel that’s not too formal for a guest bath off of our mudroom. We were also very thoughtful in how we roughed in the plumbing; I wanted to be able to turn the water on without stepping into the shower or getting wet so we placed it on the adjacent wall for easy access from the threshold.

Give me all the tile. I really wanted to tie the vanity top into the shower without doing marble all over, so we did this pretty mosaic on the floor plus a marble shower curb and kept the walls simple with 4×4 ceramic tile.

The details on the shower curb really make this one of my favorite moments in the bathroom – the way all of the materials come together it so beautiful and thoughtful.

But the real stunner that – that everyone wants to know about – is the floor tile. This tile almost didn’t make it into the design (you can read more about that here) but I’m really glad we went with it because the result is really striking.

You can shop all of the tile we used in the Week 3 post linked below:

I decided on using chrome fixtures to keep the space feeling light and classic. I love the little cross handles on this faucet.

And, of course, the lighting. I think this was my first purchase for this remodel! I love the scale and seeded glass on the sconces that gives of the prettiest glow at nighttime.

A major space-saver was installing this pocket door. I don’t always love pocket doors because the hardware can feel questionable (“is this thing actually locked?“) so I researched a bit and found door hardware that looks nice with an obvious latch that feels nice and secure when in use.

When choosing art for the space, one thing I knew I wanted to incorporate was this photo of the kids. I snapped it while we were on a Lowes run one night which became out new normal for the past few months. Getting this project done meant that Ty and I would divide and conquer nearly every night, without much fun or family time spent together. Doing a project like this is one thing – but throwing little kids into the mix was a whole new level of difficult at times. I want to always remember this season: the good, the hard, the sacrifice it took and how we did it all as a family. This photo is the perfect representation of what life has been like while doing this project and I never want to forget it.

And just like that… we’re finished! We will definitely be taking lots of naps, playing with the kids, putting up Christmas decorations and enjoying our new bathroom for the next week or so. Thanks so much for following along on this journey with us and all of the excitement & encouragement you lent along the way — it really kept me going when I felt like throwing in the towel. I will be sharing a video walk through and answering any questions later today on Instagram, so be sure to check in there as well!

You can also check out all of the Official and Guest Participants spaces here and continue to be inspired. Happy reading!