Moving into their new home in the middle of a Michigan snow storm this past winter, these new homeowners first tackled their kitchen then this full-of-potential half-bathroom. The changes they made, both in color and surface, make such an impact on this tiny space that it quickly became one of their favorites in their new home. Go on and click over, Color Curists, you'll be delightfully pleased by this classic overhaul!
The Color Cure: How long have you lived in your home?
Christian: We bought our house in January of this year (2011) and moved in February in the middle of a Michigan snow storm. We are only the 3rd owners since it was built in 1928—so it hasn't seen a lot of upgrades over the years.
The Color Cure: When did you overhaul the space?
Christian: The bathroom was finished this March after we completed our kitchen (it is right off the kitchen).
The Color Cure: How long did it take?
Christian: The bathroom was done in about a week with me doing the demo and electrical and a contractor doing the tile work and plumbing.
The Color Cure: Where did you find your color and design inspiration?
Christian: The wall color is Benjamin Moore Soot and we borrowed the idea of a flat black room from the blog Door Sixteen (I think their bedroom was this same color).
The Color Cure: How much planning did you put into the project?
Christian: We didn't have to spend a lot of time planning since we wanted to keep a quasi-historically-accurate look. So elements like the subway tile and hex floor tile were a no-brainer. The black paint was just sort of a chance we took and loved the outcome.
The Color Cure: What was the most challenging part of the project?
Christian: The hardest part of dealing with the room is the size, there is so little room that even just painting became a huge chore. Ditto that for removing the wallpaper. I think we spent 4 days prepping the room and 3 days putting it back together. Finding bits and pieces to fit in the space was also a challenge—there was only 1 toilet that would fit, limited number of corner wall mount sinks and limited number of faucets that would work in a tight corner.
The Color Cure: Are you happy with the outcome?
Christian: We are very happy with the way it turned out and love that we were able to take an unusual space and make it one of our favorite rooms in the house.
The Color Cure: What, if anything, would you do differently next time around?
Christian: We have a bit of a gap between the toilet and the back wall than we would have preferred. In retrospect, it would have been a big benefit to move the drain back a few inches to close up the gap and get an inch or two more between the toilet and the swing of the door.
The Color Cure: If you had one piece of advice for Apartment Therapy readers, what would it be?
Christian: Paint is cheap and easy to change so trying out a crazy color really isn't much of a risk.
Do you have a Before & After or a Color Inspiration Story to share with The Color Cure? Go ahead and get your entries in soon. We can't wait to hear from you!
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Wow. Just wow. The transformation is absolutely stunning and your bathroom looks amazing. I love the black and white. Very period appropriate and just, well, wow.
Elegant and beautiful. Would not change a thing. Love the black. Love the white. Love the tile. Love that little sink to pieces.
Not sure how this fits into the "color cure," though. Black and white are neutrals. So... the towel and the little bottles on the windowsill plus the container on the toilet tank represent the 20% of color? Oh well, never mind... it was a dumb 'rule' anyway. You did well to ignore it.
Love the wall treatment! But I find it a shame that you didn't keep the original wash basin, only replacing the tap with another retro-style one, and looked for a less modern-looking toilet to match the basin style
I have the same type of tight space and have been looking for a corner sink forever...where did you find that one?
That looks great!
Ownage. You kicked that bathroom's a**!
I love that it is modern but still remains true to the house. It's an excellent transformation and I am jealous.
It looks great! I love how you used the subway tile and hex tile without it looking too dated. It looks timeless.
Great job! Clean, and simple. Great color choices, and love the "frosted glass" instead of a window treatment.
Wonderful transformation!
Since I like to change things up in my house from time to time, what I really like is that if you ever get tired of the black painted walls, you've left the rest of the room neutral enough that you could pretty much choose any other color paint and still have a lovely room.
Wow!! I'm in awe, this is a truly a perfect before and after.
Gorgeous. I love keeping true to the period of the house. There's a site out of Detroit called lookintheattic that sells period style hardware that would be perfect for this type of project.
very cute colors. great to see black walls. and love the tile job. were the old sink and toilet unusable? I really prefer their lines to the newer ones.
Love this! Was the kitchen renovation posted?
EFFING FABBO!!!
Love with exception to the cheap looking framed sign and the grassy thing on the back of the toliet. They don't fit.
Love this! Wonderful job! I love black walls when done well and you guys got it totally right!
Thanks for all the comments. The sink was purchased online from Signature Hardware in Kentucky and I think the model is the Galen Round. They have a good selection of odd shaped and small sinks.
The toilet and old basin did function but were in terrible shape and would have needed to be refinished if kept. The toilet used a frivolous amount of water and the basin had separate hot and cold faucets--lots of character, hopeless function. After using it for a few months and splashing hot and cold water from left hand to right hand we abandoned that design for something more usable. The toilet (Kohler Rialto) is the shortest one that we could find in the US and basically the only one that would fit without the door hitting it.
The kitchen isn't up on AT but it can be checked out on our blog:
http://beechwood1928.wordpress.com/2011/04/14/were-calling-it-done/
Thanks again everyone.
FANTASTIC! I am in love with this room...so jealous! I wouldn't change one thing about it and you will still love it in ten years!
Very nice job
Fantastic Job overall! Love the towel bar attached to the sink and the window looks perfect.
reply to: aks4
There's a salvage place in NH that sells vintage corner sinks: http://www.noreast1.com
Not sure if that's local for you, but maybe they ship.
What an improvement!
Normally I'm not a fan of grays, but I love this! Especially the floor and sink
I love the bathroom!
I never would have thought of putting such a dark color in such a small space, but this looks amazing!
wowsie wow wow!
Yippee! Took my breath away. Great vision.
A week???? Seriously? Wow.
What a big difference. Oddly enough, it looks bigger with the dark color. It's very elegant and the window looks great.
Amazing! I love it!
I love the tile work, both on the walls and the floor, with those sooty black walls. A lovely renovation, I'm amazed that a room so tiny can look so great!
Awesome. Teensy but awesome. (Not worrying about authenticity, I might have tried to get more square footage somehow, but what you chose to do looks fantastic!)
I LOVE how you mixed modern & vintage by keeping the original sink. The room "feels" bigger. Way to go!!!
Absolutely TERRIFIC tile selection!
Do these people have a blog? I definitely want to follow it if they do.
We have one but it is poorly organized and not updated very often....apologies in advance
http://beechwood1928.wordpress.com/
LOVE everything except the faucet!
Very tastefully done! I'm loving the black and white together with the black being dominate.
Incredible. Very well done.
fantastic! it looks amazing and its a very clever transformation.
Fantastic! Love the artwork, too.
Wow. Job well done! I love black in the bathroom!
Looks great!
Fan Damn-tastic. I am a fan of the soot color. I want hex tiles.
un. be. liev. able.
But I find it a shame that you didn't keep the original wash basin, only replacing the tap with another retro-style one, and looked for a less modern-looking toilet to match the basin style
The new basin has a built-in towel rail, obviating the need for the one screwed into the windowframe in the Before. Very clever!
I also like the new freestanding toilet paper holder. It looks classier.
So nice... what an amazing transformation.become classy.
My $.02: it's just fine to mix "contemporary" and "traditional" as long as everything is good quality and hopefully won't look dated in a few years.
Great job in a tiny, funky little space!
Excellent! Congrats :)
Utterly spectacular. The title of this post is spot on...definitely one for the ages.
This actually took my breath away. I gasped. I love it THAT much.
That sink is spectacular.
Stunning...
wow!!!
What is the black paint? I need it now.. ;)
Add my voice to the amen choir.
Good heavens, this has to be the smartest and chic-est transformation of a teeny-tiny bath I have ever seen. Gives new meaning to the words "jewel box."
Horrible!! What were you thinking?
You made an abysmally small toilet room even smaller!! Vomit!
Great job! This was a wonderful transformation and very useful to me as I'm getting ready to overhaul my bathroom.
wow! excellent work!
Wonderful! And you've done it in a way that allows you to change the colour of the paint at any time to any colour you wish, and it will still look great!
You DID really kick a** and in such a classy way. I totally see someone in a long black dress walking in, silently looking around, turning on the 4 in jimmy choo strappy heals in black, gold trimmed, with little bows randomly placed along one side of each shoe, lifting her skirt, sitting down on the bowl and saying "Oh my. I want to take a bath in here, now. Could you bring the cognac and a glass? I'm going to be longer than I expected. And bring my phone" Its elegant and I love it. I love it. I love it.
I love the use of colour!
I love the vintage look, absolutely amazing!
Silly question, is there a reason you can't change the hinges on the door so it swings out instead of in?
Love love the sink with built in towel bar!
What a stunning transformation! The tiles! The tiles! I adore them. One day, when I own my own home I'm stealing your idea.