Simple . Clean . Elegant.

It’s been a while since I renovated a bathroom.  No. 1 to be exact.  The last of my three major renovations to the Charlestown apartment, I wasn’t exactly intent on converting my 39SF in a fiscally responsible manner.  I had been living for three years with ACT tiles that were stained and broken, bad can lights, grasscloth wall covering that was peeling at every seam.  The 6 x 6 tiles were cracked in places, and the grout had a permanent dinge to it.  I wanted a spa bath – really I wanted a walk-in closet that led to my bain de salon, where I could escape and ring the butler for my martini, but my little space simply would not expand to accommodate my imagination.  boo hoo.

Changing the traditional orientation can add pizazz to the tried and true.  

Now I will say it’s exceedingly difficult to renovate on a budget if you don’t know what your budget is.  I don’t care much for the fuzziness of this approach.  How can I pull from one bucket to create wow moments throughout if I don’t know where the buckets are?  What are the non-negotiables, what am I working with here?  This is my recommendation to you all.  Have an overall budget from which to work.  Decide where you want to make an impact, and concede elsewhere to using lower cost materials, and finishes.  You can always paint, and paint can have amazingly transformational qualities.

So my first round recommendations are:

• Subway tile in the shower
• Shiplap on one full wall
• Simple 1 x 1 ceramic tile in white on the floor
• Navy blue painted vanity
• White cesar stone vanity top
• Chrome fixtures (Kohler or Grohe)
• HD Mirrored Medicine Cabinet
• Possini Euro Design Emmitt 23 1/2 wide vanity fixture
• Turkish Oushak Runner
• Ship Painting

Em Henderson Design . Fish scale tiles – so perfect for Cape Cod.

2nd Bath Recommendation:

• White fish scale tile in shower (small)
• Large white fish scale tile on floor
• Vanity wall to 18″ above sink – navy penny tile
• Roburn Medicine Cabinet
• Chrome Fixtures
• Decorators White – Benjamin Moore

These two options, I don’t believe are terribly expensive, but expense is relative.  Of all the rooms in the house, I feel strongly that the bathrooms and the kitchen should show a little personality in the design.

Classic Penny still packs a punch.

Here’s to hoping we can reach financial consensus…deep breath.  I may need a bubble bath to “noodle over” additional options, as my work partner in crime says when we reach a creative impasse.

Rossini Euro . Lampsplus.com

Suggestions welcome.