Month: September 2017

So let’s talk about agreeable gray…..and why it’s now adorning the walls of my master bath. First, to frame this discussion, I have to relate the experience of visiting a lot of model homes over the summer, as I was gearing up for this remodel, and finding that gray is this year’s “it” color. I had declared that I would not be using gray, ever, in my own home but I have to now confess that may have been an aversion to “me too”-ness!!

The existing color in my house is something between sand and beige but let’s not kid ourselves about the generic blandness of beige. It’s a pleasant enough background for the palette of colors my home presently sports but I really wanted something new and different. After ridding myself of a “gray” prejudice that I could’t really rationalize, I went with “agreeable gray” because it really does appear to work well with the new color palette of the bath.

Granted, some of the colors, like the granite countertop, are not here yet and only exist in photos or in my head, I really think this will work well.

My walls are painted agreeable gray with white ceilings. The last of the shower trim is in place. The Habana Cherry vanity is now installed and will be mated to its granite countertop on Monday. The baseboard trim, as well as the framed mirror, sconce lights, and electrical plugs will all be installed on Monday as well. That will only leave the frameless glass for the middle of the week.

The Gray Is Agreeable

   

   

Getting down to the final body of work. A lot of the sheetrock from behind the old vanity was damaged and needed to be replaced….plus the adjustment of things like electrical plugs and mounting areas for light fixtures. Putting in new sheetrock and taping and floating is something I was familiar with but I had never seen the application of texture before. There’s a little artistry to it….like a painter. You could think of it as a lumpy fresco that is all one color.

There is some additional plumbing that needs to be adjusted since I’m moving from a vanity with 2 sinks to a vanity with 1. Pipes and such will be consolidated and some additional sheetrock work will follow. I still think I will end the week with painting complete and new baseboard in as well.

The shower fixture trim is starting to go in as well. That will be a real moment to see how well I have done with fixture selection. Will this new shower look as good in reality as it did in my head when I dreamed it up.

Sheetrock, Texture, and Trim

   

   

After a week of wet saw noise and activity, the tile is all in and grouted. I only needed to scramble for 4 more of the decorative border pieces than I had originally purchased so my budgeting for “cuts and partials” was pretty close. I have extra marble for any future mishaps but everything looks great.

The shower floor is a basket weave pattern and really compliments the other design elements. The shower bench is purely there for any potential resale inducement but it also forms the half-wall where the frameless glass enclosure will attach (as well as along the curb on the floor).

Finished Tile

   

   

 

This and a follow-on post will show all the tiling work but it took a full week. That’s due to the complex tile design I dreamed up. Personally I blame the overwhelming number of bathroom and kitchen examples fully built out at The Tile Shop….inspiration overload. Couple that with my natural level of OCD tendencies and I found myself caught in “analysis paralysis”.

“Can I make the Hampton Carrera marble blend well enough with my Imperial Slate floor tile?”

“Does the Queen Beige marble bring out the browns of my floor better?”

“Are the Emperador Dark Polished accent tiles just a little too dark?”

‘Which glass mosaic tile might work best here……Emperador With Crema Small Broken?……Nantucket Dune Blend??”

Ultimately I settled on the Queen Beige marble with the Nantucket Dune Blend mosaic tile. The mosaic tile was selected for an “in wall” niche below the exterior window, a decorative section of the wall where the shower fixtures are attached, and a decorative part of the shower bench. I used border tile pieces to frame the decorative sections and some bullnose to frame out whole of the shower. What I couldn’t have guessed at where the sheer number of cuts required at the wet saw to bring this design into being. That led to a full week of tile work but the results speak for themselves……I think anyway.

The Tile Goes In

   

   

   

   

Adding the new plumbing was a little complicated. I drew up a design on paper and then we had to translate that, virtually, over exposed 2×6 wall structure. This included a thermostatic control/mixer, 2 body sprays, a shower wand, and a shower/rain head mounted high on the wall. Next came a concrete pan for the shower that was followed by fiberglass work to waterproof the entire bottom structure of the new shower stall.

There’s an interesting aspect to laying down the fiberglass and allowing it to cure…..it stinks. It permeates the entire house for several days. I was warned about this fact and I moved from my bedroom to the guest bedroom in preparation. I think I’ll just stay there till it’s all finished.

Plumbing, pan, and waterproofing