Bathroom Project -- Done!!

I don't know what the deal is with bathrooms. There seems to be two schools of thought: First, that bathrooms are a place of business...you enter the bathroom for a specific purpose and then get out, or, second, that bathrooms are some sort of recreational venue...a destination in itself where one spends a great deal of time.  I didn't get the memo on the recreational uses of bathrooms and I'm always amazed by people who want to load up bathrooms with all sorts of toys and amenities. My idea of a bathroom is a place that is simple and one where you are in and out and on your way as easily as possible. I don't want to have to mop up the place when I'm finished taking a shower because it is cool or fashionable not to have the shower enclosed. I know from experience that a bench in the shower is a good thing -- not everyone is healthy or steady enough to stand in a shower.  Tubs should be big enough for one person to comfortably take a bath if they want...I'm a shower person but tubs are nice sometimes. My experience with a two person tub is that it is mostly a slippery experience made up mostly of elbows and knees.  His and her sinks are nice if you have the room and important if you have only one bathroom or too few bathrooms for the number of people trying to use the sinks at the same time.


The HGTV crowd has pushed the recreational bathroom idea for so long that many, maybe most, home buyers think they should have a bathing arena equipped with fog machines and rain forest showers and sound systems attached to strobe lights.  Years ago we took a vacation to Wisconsin and visited the Kohler plumbing factory where they have a huge showroom of bathrooms...dozens of bathrooms that they redesign periodically to keep up with the trends. They are showing off their products and they have all kinds of fixtures but they show a wide variety of bathrooms. Not all of their bathrooms are huge or look like they are playing host to a rock concert or part of the Star Wars set.

So, my project this spring was to modestly redo my two upstairs bathrooms in my 25-year old house. These actually are the last rooms, along with the laundry room, to have some sort of a recent make-over and getting these areas fixed up is part of my strategy to sell the house.

The hall bathroom was bright pink - very bright pink. Joanne had a vision for that bathroom and, while a little skeptical at the time, I liked it and thought she did a great job and I really didn't want to change the room much. The problem was that most people didn't "get" the room....all they saw was pink paint. After a struggle I decided that it was time to change the room but not her design. I wanted to keep most of what her vision was because this is pretty much the last big project that she did and it reminds me so much of her.  This bathroom has the only tub in the house.

















The master bath is really small and is integrated into the master bedroom. The toilet and shower are enclosed in a small room but the sink and vanity are actually in an alcove of the master bedroom and without an enclosure but the space is defined by a half-wall that resembles the half-wall in the foyer and in the family room. The master bath area is painted a different color from the master bedroom which also helps define the space.  It is small but it gets the job done and fits nicely as part of the master bedroom.