It has been too long since I’ve written about this little gem of a guest bath. Since then, there has been a ton of progress! As a reminder of where we started here is a peek back at the listing photo:
The bathroom BEFORE
What did we save: we saved the 1) Duravit 1930s pedestal sink, 2) subway tiles
What did we add: we added the 1) Kohler Underscore Bathtub, 2) Ming herringbone Ann Sacks floors, 3×12 blocks, 3) molding to update the subway look including baseboards, finishing molding and a rope detail, 4) updated Grohe fixtures on everything including the sink, 5) Kohler Verdura LED medicine cabinet (built in, for storage). Here is where we are today with some work still remaining:
Bathroom with new Grohe fixtures, Kohler toilet and tub and Ming floors by Ann SacksThe tile floor is such a great compliment to the Bird & Thistle guest room
While initially we wanted to try to save the toilet, we ended up needing to replace it anyways since the original wasn’t the appropriate rough-in size for the space. Compare the traditional Kohler above (10″ rough-in) with the Duravit 1930s style toilet that we replaced, below.
This toilet was a 12″ rough-in which was too big for the space and had to be replaced
The ming tiles (custom cut 3×12 by Ann Sacks) made a huge difference in overhauling the look and feel of the space.
The floor in process with new baseboards
The rope and finishing molding in addition to the baseboards finished up the subway that was already in place.
Rope and finishing molding was added to the subway that was already in place
There are still a few details left before this bathroom is complete including painting, updating the can lights and potentially adding glass sliding doors to the shower / bath.
The Ann Sacks custom floors will be delivered the first week of May. It is going to be a long haul waiting for them this month! Until then, the floors are making their way on a ship from Hong Kong. The finished product with 3″ overage for the master bath floorpan is as follows:
Ann Sacks custom Hillcrest for Master Bath
The orientation is such that the entry to the bathroom is actually at the top right of the image, with the first pedestal sink in that first jog out, toilet at bottom right, second pedestal bottom left and shower top left. The fixtures will all be brass Waterworks and we will be installing two of my favorite Kohler LED Verdura medicine cabinets for great lighting and even better storage.
The custom floors have been in production for approx 4 weeks now and I just got my first peek at them! I misunderstood the timeline and had thought they would be delivered in 4-6 weeks, but both the production process AND shipping EACH take 4-6 weeks. Needless to say, the floors are not here yet!
As a reminder, the rendering of the stones we selected, for our specific floorplan, looked like this:
Production just came back with a swatch of floor for approval before they start to produce the entire footprint. Here it is:
It has a nice neutral look to it, while being bold and forward. It will go really well in this traditional home. The only stone that is missing from this swatch is the rubicon black (stripe), but otherwise this is the finished product.
I’m very excited for these floors to be installed.
The custom Kelly Wearstler floors are in production and will be delivered in 4-6 weeks. You may remember that we initially planned to incorporate a green stone. We ultimately swapped out the green in favor of a striped Zebrino and it looks great. The best way to make a decision on stone, particularly geometric stone patterns, is to look first at the swatches in the showroom and then have the showroom pull the lot photos from the stone yard. The lot photos often look much different than the smaller swatches available in the showroom so it is important to at least see a photograph of them. The current lot photo of Zebrino is below and it is less warm than the swatch would have led me to believe. However, I like it.
Zebrino lot photo
The Ann Sacks showroom mocked up two variations to decide between based on the swatches we looked at in the showroom and the lot photos that were ultimately pulled.
Emperador Dark (brown) stone stripes
The Emperador Dark was an afterthought at the drawing board, but we looped in this brown-striped option and decided to have it mocked-up by the Ann Sacks team.
Emperador Dark lot photo
The brown stone was beautiful and has so much variation!
Rubicon (black) stone stripes
The black stone is a classic match to the Calacatta Oro, Zebrino and Travertino Red.
Final stone colors for the Kelly Wearstler design from Ann Sacks – samples from the stone yard
We ultimately decided on the Rubicon stripes, my original instinct and a classic choice that will pair nicely with the brass finishes. The stone samples above are all current from the current lot. When comparing to the showroom stone boards, the difference between the Zebrino current lot and the Zebrino swatch above is particularly noticeable to me. Overall, contrast is what makes these geometric floors awesome and you almost cannot go wrong in mixing and matching stones, so pick the stones that you gravitate to and go with it! I never planned to have orange stripes but I loved the color and feel of this stone in person which is why we leaned into it and made it a material part of the project.
The master bathroom demo is underway and all floors and the privacy wall have been removed. The master bathroom previously had hex tiles and a very traditional look and feel with 1930’s style fixtures that will be kept.
The master bathroom floors and privacy wall are goneThe Perrin & Rowe fixtures will be updated to an unlacquered brass from WaterworksThe floors will be replaced with a custom Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks geometric design
All fixtures will be replaced with Waterworks unlacquered brass Highgate and Easton Classic fixtures.
Waterworks Highgate Faucet with White Porcelain Lever HandlesWaterworks Highgate Thermostatic Valve Trim
The hand shower will be removed and an in-wall shower head will be added. The fixtures have been delivered as we wait for the ceramic trim and baseboards to arrive with medicine cabinets, lighting, ceiling fan and geometric floor design to be ordered.
The master bathroom is all white subway and hex tiles, similar to the guest bathroom. While the subway walls will remain, we opened up the space by removing the privacy wall and will completely replace the hex floors. Here is the master bathroom today:
The master bathroom today has two sinks and hex floors that we will replaceThe privacy wall will be removed to give more space
The floors in process are a custom Ann Sacks, Kelly Wearstler Liason design. The pattern is part of the Liason Collection and called Hillcrest. The pattern looks like this:
Ann Sacks, Kelly Wearstler Hillcrest Tile
I’m working on custom color choices with the Chicago showroom and have begun to narrow down our choices. Initially we narrowed down to Chinese Verde Luna, Travertino Red, Calacatta Oro and Rubicon. When the lot samples arrived the Verde Luna was brighter than I expected so we went back to the drawing board to look at more samples.
Initial cast of colors for custom Ann Sacks / Kelly Wearstler Liason floor designInitial floorplan pattern sketch
There are three boards of colors to choose from for custom Kelly designs at Ann Sacks that give a broad array of options for different looks and styles. Here is the full spectrum of color choice – it is a great selection with some beautiful stones.
Neutral stone choices for Kelly Wearstler designs at Ann Sacks 1/3Neutral stone choices for Kelly Wearstler designs at Ann Sacks 2/3More colorful stone choices for Kelly Wearstler designs at Ann Sacks 3/3
Each stone can either be polished or honed, adding to the choices, but today we decided to lose the green stripe, pull in the Travertino Red stripe and incorporate the warm and neutral Zebrino stone into the design. The stones will be a mix of polished and honed.
We narrowed down to a more neutral palette, pulling in the Travertino Red stripeA more neutral palatte with a Travertino Red stripe resting on the Zebrino
These color selections have been sent back to the Ann Sacks team to be mocked up for production while the bathroom demo is underway!
The bathroom demo has begun and our crew is in the process of removing the sinks, toilets and floors from these tiny bathrooms so a bathtub can be installed and new floors can be put down. It is a bit messy for now, but progress is being made and I’m excited to share the results.
A pedestal graveyard in our guest room awaits new faucets.
The Duravit 1930’s pedestal sinks will be updated with new faucets and drains, and replaced back where they came from.
A new Kohler Underscore tub will be installed and the hex floors will be replaced.
This tiny bathroom will receive a new Kohler Underscore tub, 60″x30″ that will be tiled up the front and across the floor with a herringbone 3″x12″ Ming Green custom cut polished stone from Ann Sacks. The tile will compliment the Bird & Thistle wallpaper in the adjacent guest bedroom. Since Grohe fixtures were already installed, we will save the expense of updating the entire system by sticking with the Grohe brand for the guest bath, with the exception of the hand shower which will be a more traditional Brizo piece.
Brizo Traditional Hand ShowerGrohe Seabury Volume ControlGrohe Seabury Valve TrimGrohe Seabury Tub FillerGrohe Seabury faucet
All of the fixtures were purchased in the chrome finish. I found a perfect match for the subway tile and will install ceramic pencil tile and chair rail in addition to ceramic baseboard.
After reviewing a few different lots I chose Ming Green from Ann Sacks to be cut into 3×12 bricks.
The floors will be tiled in a chevron Ming Green stone that will continue up the front of the bath. I am most excited about these floors!
This bathroom is teensie. Let’s flash back to the listing photo:
Listing photos are always so perfect
Here is the bathroom today:
The bathroom, prior to renovation
The bathroom is nice, but it doesn’t have a tub and the floor tiles are not our favorite, so I will change them when we add the tub. The shower hardware is mixed brands and even has two “hot” knobs instead of one hot and one cold (why did that happen!?). We will keep the sink and toilet to save some money on this project.
I will be working in a space that is 6’1″ x 4’10” at its longest points.
The bathroom is approximately 73″ deep
And I will be fitting in a bathtub.
Width is 58″ from tile to tile, and the standard bathtub is 60″
We have started shopping for tiles and I’m tired of the all whites and grays. I am really working on getting away from what we’ve been seeing and selecting different things for this home.
This is NOT what I will be doing
Here are some different tile patterns that I liked at Waterworks (with different color schemes):
Kelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks Doheny SmallKelly Wearstler for Ann Sacks Liaison Collection
We will add a better vanity and have already removed the existing mirror and shelf. I will be selling everything that is salvageable on Ebay and Chairish.
The shelf and mirror have been removed and will be replaced with a lit medicine cabinet.
There are two medicine cabinets that I think are great for this space. The Astoria Medicine Cabinet from Restoration Hardware has a 1930’s look and is $455, or $364 for members for the polished chrome. It is 18 1/4″ wide x 30″ tall.
The small Astoria Medicine Cabinet from RH is the right dimension and has a 1930s look
The Kohler Verdera Medicine Cabinet is $911 (or $683.25 if you shop at Build.com) and is 20″ wide x 30″ tall. It has awesome lighting and would remove the necessity to put a light over the mirror, which would be nice. And yes – these lights DO make you look better!
Kohler Verdera has electrical in the cabinet which helps keeps counters clean
Instead of replacing the toilet which is from the Duravit 1930’s Collection, we have ordered the soft close cover and will keep it and the matching pedestal sink.
We have removed the hooks and will replace the base board with a ceramic version
To replace the toilet and sink it would cost $1,500+ so we are keeping the budget lower by keeping. However, we will replace the sink tap and drain.
The mirror and shelf have been removed the sink hardware will be replaced (the finish is chipped)
We will be replacing all of the sink and shower hardware, adding the bath filler and tub, re-tiling the floors, replacing the toilet seat and adding a medicine cabinet. My next step is to have my plumber price out this work and confirm that we can fit a 60″ bathtub in the space!
MY CHICAGO HOUSE. 