Hey all,
We have 3 bathrooms in our new house. Neither of which is very big. There is one in the basement with sink, toilet and standup shower. The main floor powder room (situated right at the back entrance) which measures 48" X 48". And then the main bath upstairs that I don't have the measurements for...but isn't much bigger than the powder room. LOL.
I want to completely overhaul the powder room to make it absolutely beautiful. I'm hoping to use glass mosaic tiles..kind of expensive yes, but in such a tiny space we can afford to indulge. My question is this, how much tile should I use? Should I tile the entire thing? Or just one wall? Or perhaps just a tiled border all around the room? I've been searching online but haven't found any pics that are exactly what I'm looking for. Any thoughts comments pics to share?? I'm also on the hunt for an oval shaped medicine cabinet. I hate the way a rectangular shaped mirror looks above a rounded edge pedestal sink. And, I really need the storage that a medicine cabinet provides in such a tiny bathroom. Has anyone seen one of these? (that isn't $500??)
Now, onto the main bath. It is tiled in 4"? white square tiles. Not bad....but every now and then, there is a LILAC coloured tile poked into the mix. (shudder) Since the white tiles are in such great shape, I really would like to keep them. Is there any way to simply "pop" out the lilac tiles and replace them? Or, another thing I've seen are these stick on gel tiles at Home Depot. Could I simply stick on a different coloured gel tile on top of the lilac ones? Or...maybe get my talented sister to handpaint something over the lilac??? Help!?!?
I guess thats all the questions for now. The basement bathroom needs the least amount of work...so we'll leave it for now.
Thanks!!!!
Mel
Comment Guidelines
We welcome your feedback on Houseandhome.com. H&H reserves the right to remove any unsuitable personal remarks made about the bloggers, hosts, homeowners and/or guests we feature. Please keep your comments focused on decorating, design, cooking and other lifestyle topics. Adopt a tone you would be willing to use in person and do not make slanderous remarks or use denigrating language. If you see a comment that you believe violates any of the guidelines outlined above, please click “Alert a Moderator.” Thank you.
Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions!!! I actually found a pedestal sink that I like and an oval shaped medicine cabinet!!! And, the best part.....the medicine cabinet is only $99!!
I don't have any pics of the lilac tiles. My sister borrowed my camera for her vacation...and my phone takes crappy pics. I will post some later.
I'll keep in touch.
Mel
Mel, I just saw an oval mirror medicine cabinet at Lowes for $123. I bought mine at Home Depot, and they may still have it, too. I think I paid more than the $123 at Lowe's but definitely less than $200. Mine can be either surface mounted or recessed (if your studs are in the right place to be allow it to be centred over the sink, but that's probably a long-shot). Not sure about the one at Lowes.
This vanity and sink is $269 at Rona, called the Jellybean. It comes in a red cabinet also.
Maybe it's time to replace the toilet anyway with a more water efficient model plus most municipalities offer a rebate too.
I think the others are right - that toilet is too bulky for that space. Maybe you can use it in one of your other bathrooms where you have more room.
Something like one of these (with slender tanks) would open up your space - then you could get a narrow cabinet and maybe a small vessel sink on top of it. Add a narrower mirror that's centered above the cabinet and the space will look and feel less crowded.
Where's the lilac tile?
I hate how the toilet is jammed up next to the sink.
Is there space to move the sink to the other side of the powder room?
Or what about moving the sink to the right wall?
Moving a sink isn't that costly especially if your basement ceiling isn't finished.
I think a cabinet for storage is a good idea, I saw some smallish ones at Rona the other week, they had a nice rounded front and looked nice and functional instead of clunky and utilitarian.
The toilet in the ensuite here is in a space 24" wide yet it doesn't feel closed in at all, I agree that a smaller toilet would help in that space too.
Now I can see why they call them closets! You really don't have a lot of space there and having seen the actual room you need to do what DBD suggests an go looking for a smaller toilet and then get a nice pedestal sink.
Right now it looks and is crowded- so opening it up would be really good.:)
Yes it just might fit better. You might also want to check out toilets as they are making them a lot narrower now (smaller tanks) and that might give you the room for a small cabinet.
I will say my tiny bathroom has about as much space and the same configuration of toilet beside sink. It was the same in my first house except it had a cabinet while this one had a hanging (and now pedestal) sink. The big difference is the feeling of space when there is no cabinet. Having a seat there can feel very crowded with a cabinet while just a sink doesn't have that feel at all.
Thanks for all the replies! Here's a pic of the powder room...I don't think that vanity will fit Pearl. I feel like a pedestal sink would be better in the teensy space. Any thoughts??
If you really want inexpensive and easy to get rid of those lilac tiles, get to a craft store and buy ceramcoat paint. It's a 3 step process with a primer, paint, top coat and that stuff looks absolutely believable when it's done and will withstand a lot of abuse (no baking or anything else required as I recall). You could just cover the lilac with another colour or have at it and do something arty.
As the others noted, you can replace them but boy what a pain. The ceramcoat could get you through until you decide to knock the whole place apart and it would cost you about $10.
In the powder room are the toilet and sink on opposite walls? If so, I can see doing a beautiful irridecent glass tile on the entire sink wall, with a beautiful framed mirror mounted over it. I'm thinking more the opaque type galss tile, rather than the clear. Depending on what you went with this would be probably either very modern, or could be very ornate/traditional. If the toilet and sink are on the same wall, or If you just want a simpler look, do a white subway tile wainscoating all around the room with a band of glass tile in it. This will be a classic, timeless look and a tiny fraction of the cost.
Lilac Lavendar inspirations:
For the powder room put in a great flooring, bath fixtures (if necessaru to change), mirror, facets and towel bars. I would forgo tiling the wall/s. Tiling may be overkill for this small space. A dramatic paint or wallpaper will give the pop. I would opt for paint.
Do I assume correctly that you HATE the lilac? :-) If so, of the suggestions you mentioned, I would go with the talented sister option. Placing stickers on the unwanted tile will, IMO, look make-do, and removing the unwanted tiles may cause you more trouble than it's worth...seriously!!
The only other suggestion I have is to add grey (light OR dark) accents that will tone down the lilac....
Lilac is a trendy - actually I have been seeing a resurgence of lilacs and grays.
(Isn't poster Smoogie here who decorates well with this colour scheme ?)
Not seeing a pic makes it difficult to judge/comment.
Picturing in my mind/imagination, lots of black, greys, mauve and purples in toweling, accessories fitting in:confused:
Post a pic of the lilac tile, some lilacs are more on the gray side so you can pretend it's gray.[/QUOTE]
Hun....its soooooooooooo not gray!!! Lol
I think you should just glass tiles as an accent border because they can look super gaudy where there are too many of them. A wall would be too many for me. They don't look the same when they are mortared on a wall either, they loose their translucense.
I have seen oval shaped medecine cabinets at HD, not sure how much they are though.
Depending on how infrequent the lilac tile is you might be able to just downplay the lilac with your wall colour. Or just hide it with paint or put a sticker over it. You can remove broken tiles for example, and replace, but what a PITA it is. It's a fiddly and time consuming job. I think I would just live with the lilac or paint over first before replacing IMO. Post a pic of the lilac tile, some lilacs are more on the gray side so you can pretend it's gray.