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)
The Little GSP 
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)
Who is the manufacturer of the shower light fixture/exhaust fan? I need to install an exhaust above our shower, and this seems to be the perfect solution. Thanks!
Hi Sarah,
Thanks for your question. Unfortunately I don’t know the exact model number of the combo fan/light in the shower. A Panasonic unit was originally spec’d in but we didn’t end up getting that particular model… I’m guessing the final model was likely also made by Panasonic though.
Annie
Really love each of these steam showers
This is a really beautiful bathroom. We have decided to put stone tiles in our bath/toilette too. Did you lay the tiles first and then put up the bathroom furniture, or did you lay the tiles around them? And how did you seal the sink/the board to the tile? With silicone?
Love the colors!
Hi Lisa, sorry it took me so long to reply! Our contractor laid the tiles first before placing the vanity and toilet. I’m not 100% sure how the vanity is sealed. There’s no visible silicone line between the sink and stone wall but the wall itself is sealed and the vanity is more or less freestanding so maybe the two aren’t actually sealed together. Either way, we haven’t had any issues with water so it’s working out well for us!
Hey! This is awesome! I have the exact same shower except mine has no glass. The stone is on both sides. I am having a problem with it leaking though. Didn’t notice until I washed the stone walls (throwing water on them) and it came pouring into the bedroom downstairs. What exactly did you put behind the stone walls? Do you have one of those rubber membranes completely around the entire shower? I love my shower…and so does everyone else. But I cant use it right now. Also…what kind of sealer did you put on the stone. Any detailed info or suggestions would be wonderful. I was glad to see yours and that it was like mine and thought you could help. Thank you!
Hi Caroll,
Thanks for your comment and sorry to hear that your shower is leaking. 😦 Our entire shower enclosure (walls and floor) was built using a Wedi Shower system — basically a completely sealed paneling system that the tiles get installed directly onto. (See http://us.wedi.de/ for more info.) The stones do have some sort of clear sealant on them but I don’t know exactly what it is. Good luck with your shower!
Annie
Hi Just wondering if you could tell what tile you have on the wall with shower head? Thanks.. Beautiful bathroom
Hi Colleen,
Thanks for stopping by! 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
do you know what type of rock you used for the walls?
It’s beautiful by the way!
Hi Anne, thanks for your comment! The stacked stone cladding is Island Stone Cladding in color Himarchal White. (http://www.islandstone.net/gallery_archives.php). We purchased it from Avalon Tile in Wilmington, Delaware.
Any idea what mortar was used on the shower floor? We used a pre-mix and let it sit for 48 hours before grout after 2 showers the mortar began to seep up thrill the rocks 😦
Hi Deanna! Sorry to hear that your river rocks are giving you trouble. Our contractor used TEC powder grout on both the shower floor and walls. (TEC Power Grout
http://www.tecpowergrout.com/product-detail/power-grout-powder). I don’t know the process or timing that he used during application though, sorry!
hi I was wondering which river rock tile you used? it would be perfect for our shower floor we are about to do. thanks so much
It’s been a few years and I don’t have the name of the river rock tile handy (looks like I shared names of all of the other tile in previous comments but NOT that one!). I’ll look around in my notes from the project and see if I can find it!
Thank you soooo very much!
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