Guest Bathroom Re-do

Some of you may remember from a previous post that I've been planning to rennovate our master bathroom for some time now.  Well, fast-forward several months of procrastinating later and now it's our guest bathroom that is at the top of my list! 

We had some electric work done on our home and the electrician mentioned that our vintage 80's jacuzzi tub was leaking internally.  I smiled and thanked him for the info and wondered how long I could ignore the issue.  Answer: about a month.  Evidence: the smell of mold and the appearance of bloated wood.

The timing was perfect, however, I must say, as I've recently found my favorite go to handyman ever! An engineer by training and a reformed general contractor who now enjoys the more laid back life that a handyman job offers.  G, as I will call him (his real name shall be withheld until after he is done with my bathroom!), is professional, courteous and capable, and best of all he's actually affordable!! 

In planning my master bathroom renovation I gathered several estimates for labor alone, all of which were exceeded the $10,000 mark.  Really??  Just for labor?  That doesn't even include a faucet, people, just the intangible elbow grease of the contractor. 

So, when my new favorite handyman said he could do the renovation if I wanted to take on designing the bathroom and selecting all the materails I hired him on the spot!  This was Wednesday.  It's now Saturday and we begin work Monday - yikes!!  That means I need to firm up my design and have everything selected and on order asap.  Hence, this blog posting where I will detail all my plans :). 

So once again I referenced my favorite site, Pinterest.com, for ideas and inspiration.  I then researched some of my ideas further using Google Image search.  I gathered most of the bathroom pics below from one of these sites. 

IMHO (in my humble opinion), the vanity or sink area makes the most sense as a starting point for any bathroom renovation.  Due to limited space, I was considering a clean and classic pedestal sink, but my husband thought it would be too old-fashioned.  Instead, wev'e decided to go with a custom vanity to be made by, you guessed it, best handyman ever!  I am now in search of a perfect granite or marble remnant, which will become the vanity top.  We plan to have a vessel sink, similar to the one in the picture above. 

Our custom vanity will (hopefully) be similar to the one in this picture (above), only painted white.  I'm not sure we'll actually get wood details, or drawers, but it should resemble a small table with a marble (or quartz or granite) top.  I really like the openess of this style vanity.  Solid pieces have such a heavy look and this is clean and light and airy, a must for our small spaces

We also plan to have a wall mounted faucet such as the one you see above, and I love the rustic wood of the mirror, a nice juxtaposition to the very chic wall sconces!

And here's another custom vanity very similar to the look we hope to achieve.  I love the classic elegance of this bathroom and the extra thick baseboards, another item on my wish list!  The hardwood floors in the picture are also very similar to our current bathroom floors, which we hope to retain in the design.  Why change such a classic and beautiful floor? 

We plan to buy a 'drop in' bathtub and have G do custom panelling along the front like the tub in the pic above.  Doesn't it look classy?  This bathroom showcases a couple other classic bathroom ideas we plan to incorporate into our design including beadboard along the walls (ours will hit a bit lower) and classic white subway tiles in the bathtub surround.  Seriously, you can't go wrong with beadboard and subway tiles - ever!!

Once I had a fairly good idea of the look I was going for, I set out to find the perfect pieces.  I searched sites like Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, Lowes, Lamps Plus, Home Depot, Overstock, eFaucets, etc. 

Kohler Memoirs toilet for $299 at Lowes.  Because every bathroom needs a toilet.

A beautiful and classic 'goose neck' wall-mounted faucet from eFaucets for $363.  I fell in love with these 'goose neck' faucets when I saw them on Restoration Hardware's site, but then found this comparable one for $200 less!

Vessel sinks can be found for as cheap as $78, but for some reason I'm really liking the look of this one from eFaucets for $188.  Really they're all just plain white bowls, but some have more appeal than others, don't ask me why!! 

And these gorgeous little sconces are from Restoration Hardware.  $85 each doesn't even cover the lamp shade, but I'm pretty sure they're worth it.  Don't you agree??

And now for our dash of rustic elegance we found this gorgeous reclaimed wood mirror at, you'll never guess ... Lowes!  At only $44 this piece is a true bargain!!  I think my chic little sconces will look absolutely sublime on either side of it.   

So that's the design in a nutshell. I can't wait to see how it all turns out!!  Stay tuned for before and after photos coming soon!!  Hope you all are enjoying your weekend and happy Saint Patty's day to all you Irish friends out there :).