Before: The Tuscan Styled Master Bathroom Monstrosity
Our house was built in the early 2000’s, and what was super popular back then was Tuscan Inspired decor. We tried to update the bathroom with a new vanity, and countertop, but that really wasn’t the best option. Determining our budget and what we wanted to do is not as complicated as you would think. On an investment standpoint we looked at comparable homes in our area just to see what common features newer homes had. Our home is in the inner city of Houston in an area called River Oaks, and the area is very sought after for its beautiful homes, greenspace and accessibility. As a designer myself I noticed the comparable homes were in the high end range where they had custom cabinetry, a large shower and cast iron soaking tubs. The finishes tended to be higher quality, and more classic in style which would prolong the life of the bathroom. If we were to design the bathroom based on current design trends, it would look awful with the style of house that we live in. Although we haven’t defined the actual style of the house, we know its super traditional.
The Awful Bathroom:
You know, back when the house was built this bathroom was sought after, now it’s just dated.
Our Plans to Fix this Monstrosity of a Bathroom:
The things we knew we wanted personally took high priority, but we had to make sure those things were what most people generally desire. We wanted a soaking tub that doesn’t hold as much water as the 60 gallon tub you see to your right. The shower we had was so small for the size of the bathroom so we decided to make this area larger by extending out the shower pan. What would really define this bathroom and make it truly special would be adding architectural character so we planned all of the cabinetry to be inset paneled, a tall crown moulding that will help enhance the height of the room, and each wall would have interesting paneled woodwork.
Plans:
This is not the finished space, it’s a rendering of what the space will be. As a designer I normally provide this 3D rendering service to my clients, but please know it’s very expensive, but for the cost of our space, we knew we needed to do this. We started our journey to this design by selecting the tile. We ended up with a custom mosaic for the floor because the space is so large and what was on the market was so small in scale. Then we selected the counter material which we wanted to be durable.
Can you believe this is the same space?
The floors consistently looked dirty. Then having the piece of wood base moulding not continue through just made me so irritable. But what really dates the space is the framed shower surround. We plan to install floor to ceiling glass to encapsulate the shower for a more enjoyable showering experience.
Design Invested 