Friday, April 20, 2012

Cottage Bathroom Renovation


Today I would like to share a Grand *Before and After* story 
about the bathroom in our little cottage in Michigan.
I'm starting with an "After" picture 
because I don't want to scare you away with the "Before" pictures...
 


This was the bathroom in our cottage in Michigan before the renovation.
Some of the fixtures were original, 
but all were neglected and outdated and basically disgusting.



 I don't know how long they had this toilet or why the sticker was never removed, 
but it looks pretty good, right?  Love the plywood floor, too...
and the commercial doormats for area rugs. Sweet.


At some point, someone had some taste, because the wall color was good, 
but the rest of the room was seriously awful.  
And before you start to tell me, oh that claw foot tub is so great, 
how could you get rid of that?
I want you to know that we did find a good home for it!  
Our neighbor lusted after it and we were more than happy to let her have it.  
It was cleaned up and re-plumbed and is nestled nicely in her cottage.  
We felt that we really needed a shower instead and so it was a win-win situation.

My brother, Paul came for a "visit" and we spent some quality time together working on this room.  
I am gonna brag a little here - TOOT!- and tell you that I cut every single piece of tile in this bathroom, so keep that in mind when you are marveling at the tile work.  
Paul would call out the sizes and I would run outside and cut the tiles on our trusty wet saw.  
He would then set the tiles while I was cutting the next ones.  
We did some serious bonding in that bathroom.  
And on the beach at night....

Here are some pics of the bathroom in progress.
The new shower - one wall done, two to go.  
The cutouts are for the soap dishes.


Here the wall tile has been grouted.
I have to tell you that scrubbing tile after it has been grouted 
to remove the film is not my favorite thing. 
 Especially since I insisted we tile the ceiling of the shower...



New toilet and pedestal sink installed - yay!  
After six months of renovations, we can finally sleep in the cottage overnight!



Floor tile before grout:


I love to set tile on the diagonal, especially in a small room 
because I think it expands the space visually.  
And if the walls are not perfectly square, it is much more forgiving.
And this room was definitely NOT square.

Here's the floor tile with grout:

If the tile looks familiar to you, it's because I have used this color and combination before.  
Why should our hall bathroom have all the fun? 

Here's a picture from our hall bathroom at home:


Here are some pictures of the finished bathroom...
It is very, very tiny and hard to take pictures of the whole room,
 but these will give you the idea.
I love how it turned out.







and some decorating details:







The shower curtain is made from the same indoor/outdoor fabric I used here and here.
It was my inspiration fabric for the color scheme for the entire cottage. 





This cottage has such good Karma now!
So many great people have had a hand in helping us restore it.
You can read about them here (kitchen renovation) and here (furniture from salvaged wood).

Here's Paulie, relaxing with me at the beach after a very long day tiling...
This was in April!  No coats!


Sunsets.  Lots of drama in the sky that night!  
Perfect. 


Absolutely Perfect.



Linking to:
Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Inspiration Friday at The Picket Fence
Metamorphosis Monday at between Naps on the Porch
DIY Project Parade at DIY Showoff
Show Off Your Cottage Monday at House in the Roses
Nifty Thrifty at Coastal Charm
Masterpiece Monday at Boogie Board Cottage
Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

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28 comments:

  1. So lovely! Great transformation :)
    Visiting from Feathered Nest Friday
    Greetings from Australia♥
    ~Pernilla

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  2. WOW!! What a transformation. I LOVE the tile work and shower curtain!! You have great taste!

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  3. How lovely and my colors too! - Little Paul!!! all growed up....and yes, the end of a perfect day - doesn't get any better - how talented you are Erin, a professional interior decorator and a wonderful writer.....nice way to start my day, cw

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  4. Very pretty! I love that mosaic tile!!!

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  5. So cute! I have that same exact shelf...painted white too! Well done makeover : D
    ♥Linsey

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  6. What week did you say you were loaning me your cottage? lol Every element of that bathroom is perfect! ~ Maureen

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  7. Your bathroom floor tile is so pretty - reminds me of the ocean!

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  8. Truly remarkable transition.
    I like the photo of you floating in the water Erin!
    And how did you convince Kleenex to design a box to match your bathroom?
    Enjoy the weekend,
    Mark

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  9. What a beautiful transformation, Erin! I love that tile ~ it makes me think of water!

    visiting from Feathered Nest Friday : )

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  10. VERY pretty! I love the iridescent tiles.

    cathy

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  11. Oh my goodness... This is SO AMAZING!!! I am beyond loving it! Great job you guys!

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  12. Ahhhhhhh now that was some scary before photos! Almost as bad as my bathroom 'before' shots but I dont think anything can be worse than purple bathware. It still gives me nightmares!
    What a difference the new tiles and paint has made, it looks so clean and fresh and funky. Great job :)

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  13. Love your new bathroom~What a awesome transformation. It looks so ocean breezy!

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  14. too funny to see "paulie" after all of these years! i'm sending a link to this post so my brother and husband can check him out!

    your bathroom is stunning, as expected. i love how you "wowed' up the floors w/ the iridescent blue tile--so unexpected!

    you have fantastic taste!!

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  15. I like the subway tile. Nice work. Very clean.
    I assume this is in Grand Beach, MI ?

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  16. Erin this bathroom has gone through such a dramatic change!! Love the tile work and color and the fabric is just beautiful!

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  17. Gorgeous - love the turquoise on the floor and inset into the shower. What a lot of work, but so worth it.

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  18. I seriously love that floor tile. Beautiful. The whole bathroom is fabulous

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  19. I'm a huge fan of blue and white ... and cottages, for that matter. I love all your choices for the bathroom. Great reno!

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  20. Love the color...love those 1" tiles...and I am absolutely swooning over that FABRIC!! Very lovely!! Nicely done....excited to follow!

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  21. You did awesome with your renovation! The bathroom tiles you chose are fabulous! The aqua blue theme harmonizes well with the overall bathroom ambiance. Also, the sunset in that photo is breathtaking! Well, everything is truly worth it in the end. ;)

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  22. I'm not usually a big fan of the teeny-tiny tile styles, but you made it match up perfectly with the tone of the other colors around the room. I especially like the portrait frame, well done!

    -Irwin Zinkin

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  23. It looks just like your Hall Bathroom that was also remodeled! The pedestal sink and the floor are almost the same with the bathroom in your home. It looks much better now. No more old and rusted sink and tub. Everything’s new! The bathroom looks livelier and brighter with the blue & white color on the walls.

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  24. Love this transformation. The shower curtain fabric is beautiful.

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  25. I look at house tours every day as decorating is my passion. But your sweet lake cottage has become my absolute favorite and I saved the link and I look at it every day and it has inspired me in many ways. Thank you for sharing it.

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    Replies
    1. Love the blue tile!!! Can you share where you got it? I would love to use it as trim on a bath I am going to build for my 12 year old son!!!

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    2. It was made by Daltile but it's been a few years.
      Try Googling Daltile glass mosaic. There are tons of colors.

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