apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

This is my favorite so far. I love the blue tile, and the tub, and the well-planned use of space. I'd almost like to see the beige wall tiles used on the floor--the many different types and colors of surface treatments is almost a bit much--but it works, and I bet in person the effect is much better. Love the dual shower heads too :) My only constructive idea would be to install glass sliding doors instead of the curtain--IMHO this would help elevate the overall peaceful effect of the bathroom, but I have this personal vendetta against shower curtains :) Great entry.

This is so not my taste that I find it interesting that it's doing so well in the poll! (Obviously, I will not be one to predict winners.)

I find this very disjointed, but I'm guessing maybe that's what people are finding appealing? There's just a lot going on, and looking at it all stresses me out. I would like to offer constructive suggestions, but everything seems pretty permanent. While the bathmat goes with the floor, the floor doesn't seem to go with anything else--so that's not all that constructive, given it's unlikely that will change! I guess it's just a matter of different tastes, since I think all the pieces are nice--it's just a little overwhelming grouped together.

I have been wanting to do tile like that in my bathroom (after seeing a pic. in an expo adv.) - a few questions -
how easy/hard is it to clean?
Did you do the tiling yourself, or did you pay someone to do it? (does you 10K price include the contractor) If so whom, and would you recc. them.

Although the sight of the toilet paper hanging off the counter where the vessel sink sits is kind of jarring, I like the resourceful determination to customize this whole thing from different parts to achieve what you're after.

I kind of wish that little hand-made mirror were a more epic scale.

And a couple who make the ability to shower together a priority has got to get some kind of serious credit, too. And I think that THAT is one of those funny little things that really would probably end up translating into helping re-sale (although once you have your bathroom like you want it, why EVER move?).

Now that the world has vessel sinks, which do not look like sinks, seems like toilets that do not look toilets should be next, although methinx glass bowls would not quite be the best way to go for those. Perhaps made to look like whimsical enormous enameled slop jars, just to follow through with the fact that vessel sinks are kind of made to look like the concept of old-fashioned wash-stands.

This seems like such a serene place!I really love it.

I want that shower!!!!

I'm with Fiona. At first look, it looks like you're half-way through a remodeling job. Nothing really matches, or compliments each other. Love the tiles, though.

Not my taste but very nice and the best makeover. The amount spent is excellent.

Doesn't work so well for me. Kinda disjointed. I like the elements, but I don't like them combined. It's like a pot luck dinner where the individual dishes are great but the flavors combined in your mouth taste not so good.

i heart your tiles. i'm with fiona and others about the disjointedness of this bathroom. all of the elements are cool and interesting, but they don't really tie together. there are A LOT of different materials in there. i think the color of the vessel sink sort of clashes with the dark blue tile (maybe having interspersed lighter aqua tiles would have helped, but too late now). i'm wondering if the bathmat and all other extra accessories were white (and maybe even painting [or powder coating?] the vanity white) would help bring it all together. it is a really cool bathroom. i want little tiles!

I gave it a rocks, because I really love the quality of worksmanship and the blue and gray tiles. (I've been wanting to do the same). You've done a great job. But the beige floor and the wood/slate or granite vanity look like they could belong to a different bathroom. The wood could go with either, but I think the black top is throwing me. Was also jarred by the tp holder coming off the vanity. Love the sink though. In fact, I would love for the mosaic mirror to be sea glass to compliment the frosted glass sink. Like you, I'm also pro-shower curtain and anti-shower door. I have a heavy white linen shower curtain with large grommets which would look great here. I think a white canvas one would work well too. Of course, I'm largely nitpicking. Well done.

Lose the sink... otherwise it's VERY nice.

I really love the blue shower, it must look amazing while in the shower. I think the floor goes well given the beach theme, Beach sand is usually yellowish/tan, not perfectly white. And the vessel, oooh I love that vessel sink! I think while the bathroom is small, you have done a great job creating your dream of a bathroom that looks like a beach. Love it!

I have to agree with Fiona and Todd. Individual elements I like, but it doesn't all pull together yet. Blue is my least favorite interior color so maybe that's what's bugging me.

Hm. Like the concept, love the tile - but certain things not working for me. Some things that probably can't be changed - the floor (I've never really understood the laying on the angle thing) doesn't *quite* seem to harmonize with the rest, the sink color (as noted above) ditto.

Also think the walls need to be warmed up a bit - perhaps a warm taupe or something in that family. I know many people favor "fresh" colors - but the white just isn't doing it for me. Also - god, i'm sorry - but the sister's mirror just doesn't fit. It's too small, it's awkwardly placed, and the tile frame, instead of echoing the walls, competes with it.

I think with a little tweaking, this could be stunning.

(that is, competes with "them" - walls, plural)

It's pretty great - I'd suggest painting the drywall area above the tile some vibrant hue of...(yellow? lime green? coral?). Or maybe even a khaki to match the off-white tones in the tile.

The overall color effect seems COOL to me. I want to liven it up a bit.

It doesn't feel disjointed to me, although you do give the eye a nice workout with the variety of materials. So maybe in the slideshow format, that's a drawback, but in reality, in the space, a nice reward/diversion?

Kudos for taking the shower tile all the way up to the ceiling. One of my (many?) pet peeves is when tile makes it just past the shower curtain rod then stops dead, leaving a weird band of drywall above the tile. Argh.

Like seeing the color of the glass repeated in the towel color opposite. Would love to see one other reference to the wood of the sink support somewhere else in the room. I also think glass shower doors might be a better fit stylistically here than a fabric curtain.

Also hard to tell from the photos what the lighting situation is, as I think the photos might be flattening evrything out a bit.

I'm torn on this vessel sink, because I love love LOVE the "color" of glass, even in vessel sink form. But it's proximity to the toilet and tub makes me want to see a (safer) white porcelain solution.

At any rate, don't take these notes as an indication that I dislike the end result!!

(ditto on wanting to see at least a second reference to the stone countertop)

ps--
Love the integral shower cubby
Love how the (West Elm?) rug integrates the floor color and the porcelain color
Love the attention to detail in the grate selection... a throw-away item turned into feature through attention to detail

Do you have a problem with water getting on the counter and/or you when using the vessel sink? I love the look of vessel sinks but have heard splashback can be a problem. Thanks!

I actually don't get why people say that about vessel sinks... a regular sink is also a bowl shape, so as long as the spigot is positioned properly (regardless of type of sink) splashback shouldn't be a problem either way.

Although "splashback" sooo makes it sound like you are peeing in the sink.

Here are my thoughts. And I'm just thinking out loud here... If you can sacrifice the storage space, I would suggest at some point (maybe down the road) taking out the medicine cabinet, and having a full-width/full-height mirror custom-fitted on the wall behind the sink and toilet, and another mirror custom fitted on the adjacent wall so that it butts up against the doorway, creating an L-shape of mirrored half-walls. Obviously, the bottom edge of the mirrored half-walls would be along the top edge of the blue tiles. (Custom mirrors aren't very expensive and can be installed in an hour.)

A glass shower enclosure with hinged door (as opposed to glass sliders) would add a clean look, if you have the room to accomodate a hinged door. If not, consider having the enclosure cover the three-quarters of the length of the tub, leaving the last quarter open for entry/exit. (I've seen this look used in the shower stalls of smaller rooms at the W Hotel, San Diego--to really great effect.)

I think the overall effect of those two suggestions would be to open up the space a lot more visually, as well as adding a spa-like feel. Since you love the glass tile and glass vessel sink, I think that adding more glass elements (i.e. shower enclosure, mirrored half-walls) will accentuate them. I think the mirrors would visually tie in all of your beatiful glass tilework (by reflection) and add more continuity.

Patrick has some good suggestions of visually echoing the wood tones of the cabinet and dark color of the countertop visually with other accessories in the room. Hold Everything has some great medium-hued teak and bamboo bath accessories that might work for you.

Final thoughts... Make sure that the halogen light fixture is a "wet location" installation. Its proximity to the shower might be a possible electrocution hazard, but probably not. (Better safe than sorry.) Love the grate and cubbyhole, very clever. The double shower heads are very decadent and sexy. (I actually have been eye-ing a chrome double-headed shower head that the Westin Hotel website has been selling under their "Heavenly Bath" line.)

Congratulations on the renovation. It's nice to see the end result of all the hard work, right?

P.S. Love the spigot faucet with the vessel sink. It looks like the exact same one I have!

I love the fixed "partial wall of glass" idea of Enrique's and could totally see it in a sandblasted glass... perhaps at the opposite side of the bathroom from the sink?

p(too) -
inadequate shower tiling is one of my pet peeves too, i hate it (and unfortunately suffer from it as well)!! why oh why do they do this? to save money? to me, it always looks like they ran out of tiles 3/4 of the way through & just said, the hell w/ it.

(btw, p(too), i don't want to seem like i'm always just parroting your remarks, b/c i'm not, honest! it's just that you have this annoying habit of saying what i'm thinking before i get a chance to post--not always, of course, but often enough to be uncanny. i wonder if anyone else here has experienced this?)

p.s. integral shower cubby niche-things should be required in all bathrooms. i want one.

I like this room. A lot. I don't think the different surfaces are discordant. It certainly feels very beachy and clean. I'm not particularly fond of vessel sinks but this one is like a piece of beach glass rubbed by the sea and found on the edge of a tide pool (the dark surface of the vanity). I would not use green in the towels, though. I think the vessel sink should be the only thing in the room with that tone, although they might add a bit of beach glass in that tone

All this for 10K is amazing.

Thank you all so much for all of your feedback and mostly constructive criticism. HereÂ’s our attempt to answer some of the questions you posed and our reactions to some of your comments.

First, things first. I misspoke on the “interview.” The glass tiles are Hakatai tiles (www.hakatai.com).

I agree that looking at the pictures the colors/materials are a little crazy. IÂ’m not sure if it is because the bathroom is so small, but it doesnÂ’t really come across that way in person.

The vanity is probably my least favorite item in the bath. The wood/gray scheme actually matches with the kitchen counter/cabinetry of the apartment (which is right outside the bath). It does look a little strange out of this context. I have been considering changing the countertop (also extending it to the wall on the left as things have a knack of rolling off that side).

M - the tiles are fairly easy to clean. The grout is a light gray and the off-white tiles are actually a blend of different off-white shades so it all hides grime pretty well. We have mostly just used scrubbing bubbles and a scrub brush every so often and it cleans easily.

The tiling was done by our contractor (the bath was part of a greater gut renovation of the whole apartment). I wouldnÂ’t particularly recommend this guy as he had some issues particularly with dealing with the edging (and cutting small pieces of tile). I actually had some parts of the edges and around the cubby hole redone as they werenÂ’t done right the first time. I recommend that you get someone that does this type of tile as a specialty (ask the Bella Tile people if they have recommendations).

Jean – We don’t have any problem with splash-back. Actually the bowl is a bit larger than a regular sink so I think there is actually less splash-back. That is, unless you are going crazy washing your hair in the sink or something.

Enrique – Thanks for the mirror suggestions. Balancing the aesthetics and the practicality of it is a challenge as it is our only bath and not a “show” bath. So we probably won’t ditch the med. cabinet. I wanted it flush with the wall, but there was piping considerations that prevented it. Thanks for the heads-up on the halogen light I will look into that.

Keep the constructive suggestions coming.

-R and B

I love the blue tile on the walls and the "sandy" tile on the floor and, for its size, it functionality and modernization. You can see the quality of work. Luv it.

Rob--
I like the idea that you have related this countertop to countertops in the kitchen. I love that strategy, and just goes to show that rooms taken out of context when they were "designed into the space" don't present their own full and true merits.

That said, I also heard a designer (perhaps the all-knowing Candace Olsen?) say that she liked to have all horizontal surfaces relate in a space (so, countertops to flooring), so if reconsidering the bathroom countertop as you say you might, perhaps get your inspiration from the floor color? Or I could also see a bright white or white-with flecks (Silestone or Corian or similar) really being nice choices, both really making that glass sink sing.

to Enrique's point about a tile-to-ceiling mirror where the medicine cabinet is...
Since Rob still wants to maintain that cabinet as storage, what about if the medicine cabinet (if plumbing and wiring permit) got relocated to the wall to the left of the sink? Would still creat an "el" of mirror, give you opportunity to do a sheet of mirror on the wall behind/above the sink, and still maintain the storage.

Again, not meant to indicate the bathroom falls short... it's just great fun to decorate vicariously, especially when the starting point is so fun to work with!!

The two shower heads look great and very convenient to use. The sink is unique and wall tiles are very colorful.

Holy hypoglycemia, Batman. This bathroom made me dizzy and reminded me that I haven't eaten since 5.

I lurve that capricious, jeweled mirror! To paraphrase a recap from Television w/o Pity, I lurve it with all my squee.

But otherwise, I'm off to find some orange juice.

Wow - 10 grand for a blue and white and slate and sand and green and wood and brushed nickel bathroom... I'd pay that much to REMOVE it! Not enough money for a radient floor? Try like $150.00 if you knew how to search the net right. But, in all fairness, everyone loves their ugly child.