Sunday, February 21, 2010

Drawing inspiration: bathrooms

We're five days out* from being the proud owners of a late 1940s estate sale home in Decatur — with LOTS of room for updates. (I may have neglected to mention up to this point that the house will be the first place Dan and I picked out together — exciting!)

Even with a list of 35 bazillion things to do immediately (closing in the gaps between the chimney and the roof, rerouting the front yard drainage, skimming over the cracked walls in the bedrooms, etc.), I can't help but start dreaming about the purely cosmetic updates down the road.

I'm thinking: bathrooms and kitchens.

I got a good piece of advice this week from my good friend Megan (by way of her cousin): "The parts of the home that people invest the most money in are also the parts of the home that begin looking dated the quickest." That's something to consider.

Here are some of the bathrooms that are inspiring me lately. I like that these looks are classic and traditional but have notes of early-to-mid 20th century style. I love love love elements like wainscoting or beadboard, subway tile, black and white hexagon tile and pedestal sinks — especially with contemporary touches mixed in.

Just imagine it... we could take this:


and transform it along these lines:


Image from Beadboard.com (I like how the simple white mirror and the
granite countertop make this beadboard bathroom just a bit more modern).

Photo from the A Little Busy Blog.


Ahhh beadboard bathrooms. Be still my heart!

One question I have is: What kind of tub does one put in a bathroom like this? Hmmm.

Katy

*Fingers crossed everything pans out for Thursday's closing!


6 comments:

Brittaney said...

A clawfoot tub! Oh, I love beadboard bathrooms too. And clawfoot tubs look amazing in them!

The Orkins said...

I 2nd the clawfoot tub. We just ordered one for our renovation.

Kb_Mal said...

Good idea (re: clawfoot tub).

The conundrum is that we only have one bathroom (out of three total) that's large enough for a tub. Do we want our only tub to be a clawfoot? At least I have time to think about it!

B. Beck said...

After a year and a half with 2 different claw foot tubs, I will have to implore you not to journey down the road of extreme uncomfortableness. Get a tub that doesn't need a shower curtain on all sides! It is unbearable.

BTW, you said "What kind of tub does one put in a shower like this?", did you mean "what kind of tub/shower do you put in a bathroom like this?"

Anyway, get a tub/shower combo that uses a sliding door, and don't worry about the bead board. It will look great.

Kb_Mal said...

BSB, thanks for pointing out my typo. Your reading comprehension skills are keen today!

I'm recruiting you to help with installation! Jk. Thanks for the feedback, Benjamin.

Unknown said...

Hi Katy!

Thank you for your ideas and inspiration on your bathroom remodel project! I represent Luxury Bath, the bathroom remodeling manufacturing company that is the actual intellectual property owner of your "inspiration image" which was given credit to "my new digs" blog. I would love for your readers to visit our website at www.luxurybath.com for other ideas on how they can transform their bathroom using our products. Additionally if you could give us credit for the image, I would greatly appreciate it.

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly at janskymegan@luxbathinc.com or 800-822-7905.

Thank you

Megan Jansky
www.luxurybath.com