Small but Spa-Like

My journey in blog land started with the posting of my Master Bathroom on Rate My Space web-site two years ago.

 I met a community of people that were like- minded in their love of all things related to design. I was invited by a couple of people to come and look at their blogs. Blog??!!! What the heck is a Blog?

 Well, you all know what happened next. A whole new world was opened to me. I had no idea that there were so many wonderful people writing about their design experiences and observations.

I was immediately hooked. I kept looking at more and more blogs and quickly realized they fell into categories. I sorted through them and found so many favorites that I liked to visit on a daily basis.

 I also was fortunate to be able to join in a couple of chat rooms and meet the most amazing lovely people and have developed blogging friendships. Many of these wonderful new friends encouraged me to write a blog. Of course I said,” No Way!!”

 I thought about it long and hard for over a year or more before I jumped in.

 I must say now I am so glad that I jumped. Blogging has been nothing but a positive experience for me. It is creative outlet that I did not even realize I needed at the time.

 So, my blogging friends that leads me to the present. I realized that I did my 100th post on Monday so in memory of where it all began I thought I would do a post on my, Small but Spa-like Bath!!

Here is the picture that started it all. It was actually featured on the HGTV website and used in one of their commercials that they posted.  It was a pretty fun experience for me since I had never done anything like this before.

I love the ocean so I knew I wanted ocean colors in my master bath. This room is 6ft wide by 10ft deep.That is why I called it Small, but Spa-like. The sink area is divided by a small wall and a pocket door for privacy.

The original design for the sink area had Thasos pure white marble. When the top came it had some discoloration so it was sent back and I compromised with white tile.

The white tile is handmade tile so it has more depth to it than some white tile. It is by Summer House, purchased at Expo, when they were still in business.

 The blue-green mosaic back wall tile is by Sicis Iridescent in the color Fern#3. When the lights are on , it shimmers with an iridescent quality. I knew I wanted this to be a focal wall and this was the perfect wall to do the entire wall.

I saved over $100 by not tiling behind the mirror. The vessel sink was chosen for it’s color. I love it but in hind-sight I might have chosen a white porcelain bowl instead

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I chose a rectangle frameless mirror. Since I had a round bowl and everything else was either square or rectangle I chose oval backed sconces in brushed nickel.

 This decision was made because right next to the entry to the sink area is my armoire which has a powder finish on brushed nickel. I love shiny nickel and wish I had chosen that.

You know what they say hind-sight is always twenty-twenty. I was careful to choose sconces that did not project out to far. They needed to feel as if they were a part of the whole back wall.

This picture shows my armoire and the pulls. I ordered extra pulls when I ordered my bedroom set from Ethan Allen and used them on the vanity.

 I designed the vanity with three components from Thomasville at Home Depot. The finish was so close to the armoire. I projected the middle section and angled the sides for interest. I have radiant heat flooring which is heavenly in the winter.

 The floor tile is porcelain and it looks very much like travertine but without the maintenance. It is  a very beach sand color with a soft  alabaster grout.

As you go through the pocket door you see the focal wall in my shower. I designed the back wall to be almost like a picture frame.

 I did not realize how much math skills would come into play in designing the back wall. I worked very closely with my tile man and this is how it came out………

I love everything about my shower. The shower head is incredible and puts out just the right amount of water to be soothing. I have two cut-outs on the side walls. Both have the mosaic tile backs.

 I actually got together all my shampoos and beauty products and measured them to figure out the size of the cut-out.

 I also have a bench and to figure out it’s dimensions I sat down and measured my toosh. Yes, you heard right I measured how much space I needed to sit!(I will never disclose this measurement!) I also put my foot up to see what would be a comfortable level  to shave my legs. I hope this is not TMI!

I wrapped this very small room with a tile wainscoting  in order to keep the eye flowing and to make it seem a bit larger. Here is a small corner of what it looks like……………

I learned a very expensive lesson about the clear glass shower door. Did you know that clear does not mean without color?

All glass has a green tint to it unless they take out what makes it have color.  When I placed my order I asked for clear glass and when it came in it was GREEN!

 Yikes! The company said I should have ordered the Diamond series to get colorless glass. I was not told of that option at the time. Long story short I  had to order Diamond series glass to get the clear without color.

 I now have a beautiful green custom cut shower door in my garage. Like I said it was a very expensive lesson. I had to have it custom cut because of the shower bench.

 The attached wall is 1/2 thick and the door is 3/8 thick. I also made it taller in order to not cut the tile frame work with the top of the door. Hard lesson but I do love the end result of my master bath.

Now you know the in and out’s of my Small but Spa-like master bath. I hope you have enjoyed the tour!

Thank you to all of my loyal readers for your constant support and your wonderful comments. It still is amazing to me that anyone is out their reading what I write. You all are the best community of clever and creative people around!!

“Enjoy the Process” Of:

 Blogging and meeting new creative people.

Kathysue

A Different Lighting Choice for ME!!

I am not sure why I wound up on Layla Grace’s website . I know I had been there before but it had been awhile. I of course looked at the lighting first. You know how I love lighting. I am going to show you just a few lights that I found intriguing and for a descent price. I loved the shapes. Although a bit industrial they were appealing to me. I love industrial in others homes but just have not found a piece to fit in mine, until now. See what you think about these Jamie Young lighting fixtures……….

The color green caught my eye immediately and then the shape was just so intriguing to me. It comes in other materials like these…..

This is mercury glass so the black line is actually a reflection it is not in the fixture.

Is it just me ? Or are these fixtures unusual and striking? I really love these.  I think these are a very reasonable price at $200.

I just had to share these with you, I love these!!

“Enjoy the Process” Of: Using different types of lighting in your home.

Kathysue

DISCOVERY!!

When I did the post on being brave one of the rooms I wish I was brave enough to do was an all white room. In looking at all white rooms something emerged. I saw the shapes,scale,and proportion of the design. Not just the patterns,color and the style.  I thought it might be fun to do a black and white image post to see what rooms are more appealing to me when they are void of color.

I find it so interesting when an image is black and white I notice the outline of the piece more. Do you? The scale and proportion are more evident. Let’s try a few more.

All the furniture is very straight lined in this room. I notice the sculptural affect of each piece do you?

 

I am amazed how much more the shape of all the pieces stand out. This is a good study for me. I don’t know about you but I am loving how each piece takes on a new life. Nothing is joined by color or even pattern to my eye. It is all about shape,scale and proportion.

When I compare the colored images I notice the textures and patterns more. In the black and white images I am getting a better sense of each individual piece in the room. I just find this so interesting.

I think when an image is black and white my eye stops at each individual piece.

I had fun doing a comparison of how my eye sees a room in black and white versus colored images. Did they look different to your eye? I know I am a detailed person but they truly look very different to me and I was amazed at what emerged in the black and whites. I think I should try this with some rooms in my own home. What do you think?

“Enjoy the Process”, Of: Making new discoveries in design.

Kathysue