Transforming a Dark Bathroom into a Warm Oasis-Inspiration

What We Have

After almost 5 years in this house we are tackling the primary suite in our home. You can find a pre-move in home tour here. 

This space is dark! There are NO WINDOWS in the bathroom. It is super gloomy and eerie in there, you quickly do your business and run out. We rarely use it, to be honest, because the toilet always has problems where it is currently located. We are relegated to trekking clear across the long  hallway to use the kid’s jack and Jill bathroom (we are also installing a half bathroom during this project btw). It has not been nice sharing the bathroom with 3 kids.

What We Want

We want this space to feel like an oasis that is calm and warm.

Vanity and Floor

What draws me to these images is that they feel airy without being sterile or all white. Not that I have something against white, it’s just not the look and feel I am going for in the home. This is a ranch style home and I am trying to play that up in a modern way by using traditional “ranch” materials but in a fresh way. In the above images you can see that a wood vanity is a must for me (I would have also considered a black painted wood grain ) to achieve a sense of warmth.

THE STONE THE STONE THE STONE! I swoon over natural stone! Whether it’s marble or limestone or used as a vanity top or applied to the floor, I just love it and can’t get enough. It brings such depth and movement to a room. Natural stone ( or stone-look) also brings that element of warmth that I keep talking about.

Free Standing Tub

I really adore a free standing tub in a primary bath because there is something super luxe about it imo. I have never had the pleasure of installing one in our other homes and in this home we have the space . At first we were considering doing a combined shower /tub space, you know where the shower and the tub are both behind the shower glass, but when we started space planning there was too much wasted space. This was the perfect opportunity to give the tub area its time to shine.

I am particular to the feminine curves in these tubs because it softens the room. It also speaks back to some of the arch entryways we have. It’s important to have repetition throughout the home so the design feels cohesive throughout but allows each room to have its own personality.

Shower Material

I really want the shower to bring some earthy drama to the room. I have considered several materials for that: marble, zellige tile and tadelakt( a plaster). While, as I stated above, I love me some marble and would gladly clad ours in some Calcutta Viola (bottom left pic) I know our budget just can’t handle it. Especially since we will be spending almost half the budget on plumbing.

I have never used tadelakt or plaster in the shower, but I love the look of this. I also figured we may be able to save a few dollars by having Harlley do the application. But, ultimately, I decided against it because I think it would make the room feel too muted. I don’t think it achieves the drama I am looking for.

So Zellige it is…which is no consolation prize! Zellige is ahhhmazing. We are going with a glazed selection that gives that iridescent shine that I just cannot find in anything else. And while I think it is more cost effective than the marble, it’s not cheap.

Wall Color

And see? There are white walls in most of the inpso images but it is the canvas to bring all of these different elements together. I will probably used Sherwin Williams’ Alabaster because it has proven to be a great warm -neutral white in this home. And because we already have it on hand and there is nothing wrong with saving some coins where you can!

We are so excited for this project because it is one of the remaining big components to a completed home and it’s been a long time coming! Can you see my vision? Let me know your opinions below!