Thursday, February 21, 2013

Up in the Tub

Remember me telling you that we found a floor sample tub at the Merchandise Mart that is perfect for our space? Here she be.


She fits the space perfectly. 

With (unfinished) firebox for perspective.

Our original idea had been to get a larger tub and build a deck around it. That would have closed up an already tight space, I'm so glad we went with free-standing instead. I really like the simplicity of it. Also, something about that spout coming directly out of the wall really does it for me. Not saying I can't hang with the free-standing faucets, but for this space it just all seems so right. 

Here's what it's looking like from the bedroom. We're still questioning how far we want to take Benjamin Moore's Hot Spring Stones paint color on the bathroom and accent walls here. Should it be that entire wall with door openings to the bathroom and closet? Or kept inside the bathroom only? The outside facade of the firebox will, eventually, be surfaced in mosaic stone. This is going to be one of those things where the decision will be made based on how things are looking as we go. So far, so good I think.


Peek-a-boo, I see you tub.

9 comments:

  1. alright, i liked you fine until i saw that tub. now im just insanely jealous.
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    (um, kidding)

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  2. Sara,

    You know I'm going for a wild-fire effect with this blog. Next up, your bathroom. May the design-within-reach angels be with you.

    P.S. Is AT really sponsoring renos these days? Hook.it.UP.

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  3. its like 90% planned in my head. now i just need to lock down my employment plans in Calgary so we can go ahead with it.

    but questions for you, I want to do white subway tile around the whole room (its small, and there are two boys), and probably octagon and dot on the floor -
    What brands should I be looking at? Is dal tile the way to go?
    For the tile - plain white? shiny or matte?
    What do you do at the floor joint where one would typically put a baseboard if you ahve tile to tile? A tile baseboard? Nothing?

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  4. oh, and more questions -

    standing vs floating sink vanity - pros and cons of each?
    do you have a single sink with two taps? how wide does it have to be for it to fit the 2?
    vanity/sink configuration? this is the main family bathroom (we just have one), options are a 28" wide sink with a single bottom drawer, or a narrower sink (18") with drawers on the side and either a leaf door or a sink drawer below

    thoughts?

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  5. I like a subway + octagon look!

    If you're going with beautiful, basic tile, then you can go with pretty much any tile store. A plain subway tile from Ann Sacks doesn't look much different than one from Century Tile once it's up on the wall, y'know?

    Me, personally I'd go for a baseboard, just so you could caulk up the seams and then cover it up. (But you don't have to.)

    As for the color and finish, it really depends on your vibe and the lighting. Which brings me to the issue of grout (this is something where quality does make a whole heck of a difference), what color were you thinking? If you can hang with something dark, that would take a lot of pressure off trying to keep a boys' bathroom sparkling clean. Like this:
    http://pinterest.com/pin/124200902195641830/

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  6. I have many thoughts on vanities. First of all, don't go with IKEA. I know, rough. We bought a vanity from them and that was a wash (no pun intended) because after we built it our contractor told us he couldn't in good conscience install that piece of you-know-what.

    In contrast, the IKEA sink tops are just fine, and they come in difference finishes. The 'composite' one looks very flat, more plastic-y.

    The smallest double sink and vanity combo we could find on the internet was 40"W.

    I'm a fan of wider sinks myself. If there's no plumbing or other stuff hidden in the walls, you could install more storage in the form of a medicine cabinet. (This wasn't an option for us).

    Likewise, floating the vanity wasn't an option for us because we couldn't anchor it to the wall. I love the hovering look, though. It's also nice because you could put a step stool underneath it. There are also some combo-types I've seen on Wayfair where there's a discreet leg underneath to add support.

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  7. Thanks for the tip on IKEA. I think I'm going to go with Viola Park, they make bathroom vanities as well (though not advertised on their website).
    I like some of the IKEA sinks but I cant find one that would fit (28").

    http://pinterest.com/pin/202450945721337563/ this one might work, of course more expensive. The IKEA one I like is http://www.ikea.com/ca/en/catalog/products/60196443/. I guess you could use it with a countertop? But I feel like that would look funny? Maybe the cheaper solution is a custom cabinet and the IKEA sink. I have to remeasure, now that I say it I think the 30" might be too wide for the space to meet current code for toilet clearance.

    Good point on the floating, I think we will go with that if its an option for the stepstool if nothing else.

    I love the lighter grout but the keeping it clean, ugh. Have to ponder that one. The plan is all white tiles (maybe grey accents in the dot floor, not sure) and then a bright colored vanity front, yellow or orange probably.

    The one thing (probably only tihng) Christoph cares about in all of this is the toilet, he wants a toto bidet seat. I guess you can take the European out of Europe but you cant take the Europe, etc. I have a friend who has one and raves about it though.

    The tub is in good shape at least, all it needs is a new deck in front. Not sure but thinking of tiling that as well.

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  8. Heh heh, funny you should mention bidet. . . We went to Japan and Tim developed the same need to have it! We actually found a Japanese toilet seat at COSTCO of all places, so that's what we're installing next.

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  9. ha, thats hilarious! Tim and Christoph have to meet and discuss their love of Japanese toilet seats.

    so what about bathroom faucets/shower fixtures? any tips on what to look for there? quality vs price?

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