The bathroom had always been less than desirable, but after a six year hiatus and the last occupants moving out, it was beyond gross. Since I knew I had no intention of actually setting foot in a bathroom in this condition, we devised a plan for a complete bathroom overhaul.

The bathroom renovation ended up revolving around the idea that I desperately wanted a vintage clawfoot tub. After roughly 10 trips to the local salvage store, I finally found a pristine porcelain tub with the original feet still intact. I also knew that while I wanted a luxurious soaking tub, I preferred to have a separate shower. So the next step was adding a shower stall as well. These decisions also meant we would need to enlarge the current space, but given the small footprint of the original bathroom, it was pretty much a no-brainer regardless. After these key factors, everything else pretty much fell into place.

The apartment that my S.O. and I shared prior to our new digs was the typical black and white tiled bathroom. While it was a pretty nice bathroom — as far as rental bathrooms go — I'm a clean freak and could not stand the upkeep of white tile floors any longer! So in came the next decision. Bye-bye white floors, hello to the neutral grey and dirt-friendly tiles. A friend recommended her new eco-friendly Toto toilet — I followed suit and also splurged on the handsome maple wood soft-close seat. The sink cabinet base was picked up at the Restoration Hardware warehouse sale for almost half the price, and exactly what I wanted with tons of hidden storage. We decked the sink out with a custom concrete countertop with embedded shells and recycled glass from Icestone.

The bathroom has become one of my favorite rooms in the house. It gets tons of natural light from the skylight that straddles the bathroom and stairwell, also making the room a great place for a few of my beloved houseplants. And the tub makes baths a real pleasure; in my opinion nothing beats a porcelain tub in this department. It is amazing how long the hot water actually stays hot! Of course, as with most renovations, there are still a few things left to do (like adding the shoe molding!), but for now we're quite content with the results.

Images: Kimberly Watson

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