When Matt and I bought our house in February 2011 we bravely tackled several do-it-yourself projects like removing a laundry chute, replacing a toilet, painting, and creating a vegetable garden. One project that we did not tackle was our ugly, pink and black master bathroom. The bathroom – well, the whole master “suite,” to be honest – was really unattractive. All of the trim was painted gloss black, the walls were purple, the tiles were deep fuschia, and the tub, toilet, and sinks were black. Oh, and let’s not forget the brassy gold faucets. Can you tell why I didn’t like this bathroom?!
The master bathroom was SO bad that we decided to bring in professional help. We made some initial floor plan designs, settled on a rough budget and found a contractor that we liked. Demolition began in late April (it was great to see that black toilet go!) and the whole project took about 8 weeks.
We chose a fairly contemporary style with a neutral gray color palette, natural stacked stone cladding on one wall, a frameless glass shower, and white vessel sinks with sleek chrome fixtures. We’re thrilled with how the bathroom turned out so I thought I would share a few photos here on my blog!
My dream bathroom! This is the view from the shower.
Our shower floor is covered in smooth black river rocks. They feel great under tired bare feet!
Our huge shower! The dimmable light in the shower contains a hidden exhaust fan.
For anyone in the Delaware County, PA area looking for bathroom remodeling help, here are the companies that we worked with. We were very happy with all of them so please feel free to contact me if you want to know more about them!
Contractor: Gavin Design-Build (Media, PA)
Fixtures / Vanity: Ferguson (King of Prussia, PA)
Tile / Stone Cladding: Avalon Carpet, Tile and Flooring (Wilmington, DE)
How do you clean a shower like that? The rocks?
Hi Marcella – thanks for visiting my blog! Good question about the cleaning. We’ve been using the shower for about 3 months now and the rock wall has stayed really clean without me having to do anything. I think that’s a combination of a few factors – we have a water softener so there’s no mineral build-up, the shower is big enough so that we’re not constantly getting soapy water on the wall, and the space drains and dries out really well between showers due to the sloped floor and exhaust fan. When the time does come that I need to clean the rocks I think I’ll just use a soft-bristled brush and mild cleaning solution. That is how I would clean the river rocks on the floor, too.
I thought maybe the contractor would have given you instructions for that. Anyway, it is a beautiful improvement over what you had before! Enjoy it! It’s like showering outdoors! : – )
Oh, wow!! I’m officially jealous! It’s so gorgeous!!! Definitely an improvement
I can’t wait for the day that we redo our upstairs bathroom, but we bought a fixerupper… there’s a lot of projects to be done first :/
Thanks! We were lucky to only have to wait about 15 months with the pink and black bathroom (I actually must admit that I never used the black toilet in there at all during that time!) and it was very rewarding to finally do the renovation.
Beautiful!
Thank you!
Very beautiful! Details always make a room special and choosing river rocks for your shower floor really made your entire bathroom look sleek, modern, and luxurious. And maybe if you add a rain shower head and steam unit, you’ll have your own little piece of heaven!
Thank you for your comments! We really wanted a steam shower but it just wasn’t in the budget. The new shower is still a huge step up from the old one so I’m happy!
What color of grout did you use?
I’ll have to check… do you mean for the floor tiles or the river rock?
Both if you have it!!
Hi Dj – I haven’t forgotten about you! I found my selection sheet from Avalon tile and it has the following grout colors listed:
- Floor grout: Charcoal Gray
- Shower Floor and wall grout: Light Pewter
- Tub backsplash grout: Silverado
I know that we have the leftover grout in our basement or garage — I can confirm the brand name when I find it, but after doing a quick web search for the color names I’m pretty sure that it was TEC Powder Grout (http://www.tecpowergrout.com/product-detail/power-grout-powder).
~Annie
Beautiful space ! 2 questions: The lights by vanity are great, which brand are they ? Also, what type of tile is that on the shower wall that has the shower head on it ?
Hi Mark,
Thanks for stopping by! The vanity lights are Z-Lite #1901-1V from their Tidal Collection (http://www.z-lite.com/product/1901-1v/).
The tile on the shower walls is the same as the floors except in a slightly lighter shade to better complement the stone cladding wall. The shower wall is tiled with offset 12×24″ Crossover Argento porcelain tile and the bathroom floor and tub deck are done with Basalto Nero 12×24″ offset porcelain tile.
~Annie
I love that stacked stone cladding. Can I ask where you purchased it? Do you know the manufacturer and model number? I very much appreciate your help. Congratulations on a simply stunning bathroom!
Thanks Peter! We purchased it from Avalon Tile in Wilmington, Delaware. It’s Island Stone Cladding in color Himarchal White. (http://www.islandstone.net/gallery_archives.php)