Bathroom gets extreme makeover

For most bathroom remodels, where the rough plumbing terminates doesn’t change provided the layout is functional. In a standard five-by-eight-foot bathroom, the tub is often at the far end of the space, the sink and vanity are closest to the door and the toilet fills the gap in between. Seeing this oversized cottage-country three-piece bathroom for the first time was truly baffling — clearly, the amenities would require relocation to provide optimum usage of the space.

You’d think that a six-by-nine-foot bathroom would provide a ton of room. Not the case in this instance — the existing layout was congested, and actually wasted roughly 12 square feet at the far end of the room. Prior to the renovation, entering the bathroom led you to a tiny three-by-three-foot upright corner shower unit. Immediately to the right side of the entryway was an undersized 30-inch vanity, and the toilet was awkwardly positioned midway along the shower stall wall, generating a large void at the far end of the room. Luckily, the plumbing for this cottage bathroom was easily accessible from below, and a new layout was imminent.

Once the entire space was gutted, all electrical elements were repositioned to accommodate the new design; three separate sources of lighting include the main bathroom light, the vanity light and a newly introduced shower stall light. A ceiling exhaust fan was also installed, and a GFI outlet was relocated to the proposed vanity location. The rough plumbing was also reconfigured; the new layout includes a 60-inch vanity that faces you upon entering the bathroom. The toilet was repositioned along the back wall to fill the gap between the vanity and newly planned walk-in 36-by-72-inch shower stall that now fills the once-wasted area at the far end of the bathroom. Once the rough plumbing was successfully remapped from below, it was time to tackle the new shower stall.

Most barn-style sliding glass shower doors come in the standard size of 60 inches. To remain on budget, the shower stall was framed in such a way as to provide this 60-inch open space for a standard-sized door, by framing in a partial wall that hides a 12-inch bench that protrudes from the opposing shower stall wall. The shower floor was then prepped with a tapered waterproof base, upon which a stone mosaic was installed. The shower stall walls, bench and step received a grey-white 12-by-24-inch marble-esque ceramic tile, edged with chrome along every outer seam. A decorative blue-grey glass mosaic tile creates a horizontal stripe, featured along all shower walls, and also serves as the backsplash for the sink vanity. To keep the esthetics lineal, the height of the shower stripe purposely matches the height of the backsplash.

Once the tiling had been completed and the walls and ceilings painted, a grey wood-grain vinyl laminate was installed throughout. The casings around the door and all required baseboards were installed before the vanity was set permanently into position. A multi-function shower column was mounted on the far wall of the shower stall, and the five-foot glass shower door was secured along the shower opening. Lastly, the new toilet was secured into place. A few final touches such as wall art and tabletop decorations really converted this once-awkward space into a beachy, fully functional spa-like bathroom.

It sometimes makes me wonder why a space was initially laid out so poorly; is it primarily due to lack of planning? Or a lack of resources? With an oversized bathroom potential, there’s no reason why it cannot be optimized from the onset for the best possible use of available space. If location is the main reason to buy a house, the placement should be the main aspect of a room design. A proper design layout never goes out of style, no matter how you dress it. And this bathroom now has both function and style.

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