An easy step-by-step guide to designing a bathroom from online sources. It’s as hassle-free as it’s going to get (plus pro tips!)
Bathrooms seem to be one of the most extensive redecoration projects. Forget the hours spent sitting on the floor of the tile store. Believe it or not, it is possible to design your bathroom from the comfort of your home. It takes just a few steps…and clicks. The only tricky part left will be hiring the labor.
The number one first step is to have an inspiration picture. You need to know what you want your bathroom to look like, and picking out images of similar bathrooms you like (Pinterest is a great source of inspiration) is the necessary first step. This goes for any and all spaces! Once you have inspiration pics chosen, you are leaps ahead! After that, let’s go in this order:
- Choosing Inspiration Pictures
- Tile, of course!
- Hardware – faucets, shower heads etc.
- Vanities
- Lighting
- Vanity mirror
1. Inspiration picture
These were my inspiration pictures for a master bath I recently did. The only instructions my client gave me were calm, light and transitional. We both loved the calm feeling these photos gave. One thing they all have in common is that square, color varied, Moroccan looking tile – this was a must. They all show gold hardware, and light wood-colored vanities. I also loved the dimensions the arched mirror gave to the room in the last picture. 4 great starting points for me to get working.
2. Tiles, of course!
After browsing through some reputable websites (some of my favorites are Tile bar, Wayfair, Tile club, Zia tile, and Floor and Décor) I found lots of variations of the square tile I was looking for. In order to narrow my search and nail down exactly what I was looking for in terms of texture, sheen and color I ordered tons of samples straight to both mine and my client’s doorstep. Some were even as low as $1! It’s a must to order the samples first, as they can look very different in person vs. the way they do online.
This Portmore White 4×4 Glazed Ceramic Tile from Tile bar ended up being the winner. I chose a smaller complimenting tile for the shower floor.
Since I didn’t find any inspiration I loved with regards to floor tiles, I focused my search in alignment with some of my clients instructions for the floor. She didn’t want lots of grout (read, big tiles) but also didn’t want a tile that looked like it was too big for the room (read, no tile bigger than 24×24), she didn’t want anything that shows a lot of dirt (read, NOT shiny! Those floor tiles show it all!), and most of all wanted “calm.” I didn’t end up ordering too many samples for the floor because I found what I wanted right away. This Emser Tile from Wayfair was our final pick!
3. Hardware
Gold hardware was key here. Since I knew exactly what color I needed, I headed to build.com and filtered my search to only gold hardware. I wanted bit of a traditional but still contemporary look for the hardware design and landed up on this Delta collection almost immediately. Safe to say this was the easiest part of this bathroom! Note: When choosing hardware, you need the right coordinating rough in plumbing too, see tips below. This was the faucet, the shower head, hand shower, tub faucet, and even the bathroom hooks coordinated.
Pro tip:
- Build.com has great customer service. It is overwhelming to figure out which rough in plumbing (all the stuff behind the wall that makes the pretty stuff work properly) is needed for all of your pretty hardware. Give them a call and they can tell you which rough in plumbing goes with which hardware. They will even add it all to your cart for you and check you out if needed.
- When it comes to brand name hardware companies (in my experience, the extra cost is worth it for quality and warranty purposes), Delta stands out as the most affordable (generally) option.
4. Vanities
A Light wood color vanity was important for warmth in this bath. I had a 56-inch space and the client didn’t want to go custom. I got straight to searching and landed this gorgeous 55 inch (semi-custom size but wasn’t custom at all) vanity from Houzz for an excellent price point.
5. Transforming with Lighting:
Funnily enough, I was inspired from the stock photo of my vanity and loved the traditional element the sconces above it brought to the space. I found the perfect sconces on Amazon, yes! Amazon!
6. Vanity mirror
Last but certainly not least, I knew I wanted an arched mirror from the second I saw the mirror in my last inspo pic. I wanted a more traditional arch than the one I saw to pair with my sconces and also wanted a contrasting element to all the gold I had going on. This mirror from Wayfair was my final choice.
With the right tools and a creative vision, you can bring your dreams to life, one click at a time.
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