Guest Bathroom Renovation (Part 1) – The Design

Mixing modern and traditional styles for a guest bathroom renovation featuring marble mosaic tile and vintage accents.

*This post is sponsored by The Home Depot.

Our guest bathroom renovation is officially on the books! Can one be equal parts overwhelmingly excited and completely terrified? Asking for a friend… You guys. Our next project is going to be epic and I can’t wait to take you along! I’m thrilled to be partnering with The Home Depot for this guest bathroom renovation – it’s going to be a total gut job and I’m pretty sure The Home Depot’s project calculator and mobile app will get me through it!

Ready to see my design board?

I’m still not sure how this will all shake out just yet, but I’m excited for the journey. And admittedly, I am totally scared out of my pants. I’ve never done anything like this before so there will be a lot for me to learn! We made a few changes to our powder room, but it was a cake walk compared to what we have in store for this guest bathroom. A few design choices may change, but I think this is a good starting point.

Here’s a look at our guest bathroom currently:

I love that our guest bedroom has its own ensuite bathroom, but there are a few things I’d like to improve upon. The space currently has a tiny shower stall insert, seashell pedestal sink, and almond toilet. The shower is embarrassingly small: measuring about 30”w x 32”d x 75”h! The overall space measures about 38 square feet.

There is a huge window in the room, but because of that tiny shower cave, you don’t get any of that beautiful natural light! Such a shame! So my plan is to rip out that shower kit, take the wall down to a pony wall, and add glass to allow the light to flood in.

I’ll also tile the shower, floor to ceiling, with large format marble-look tiles for a clean, classic look. I really wanted to use large format tiles on the shower walls because I assume they’ll be much easier to keep clean! Less grout lines = less places for mildew to grow, right? That’s my logic, anyway. I chose a classic basketweave marble mosaic tile for the shower floor so it’s not slippery.

Let’s talk about this gorgeous marble mosaic floor tile. It was a total splurge, but in such a small space, I felt I could afford to indulge a little. I searched high and low for an alternative, but kept coming back to this beautiful tile. In the end, I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger, and it became the jumping off point for the rest of the design.

I love mixing modern with traditional styles, which is why I chose this vintage-looking faucet with the most adorable hot and cold faucet handles! I’m hoping the warm wood vanity  and antique gold mirror will keep the space from feeling too cold and sterile.

Product Sources:

• Vintage Classic Widespread Faucet in Polished Nickel
• Kohler Elongated 2-Piece Toilet
• Marble Basketweave Shower Floor Tile
• Polished Porcelain Shower Wall Tile
• Marble Mosaic Floor Tile
• Polished Nickel Wall Sconce
• Antique Gold Wall Mirror
• Weathered Oak Vanity with Marble Top
• Shower System Kit
• Bath Hardware Set

Here’s our MASTER CHECKLIST:

Demolition

• Remove bathroom door temporarily to make room for demo?
• Turn off water and valves, empty pipes and tank
• Remove pedestal sink and toilet, plug holes
• Remove medicine cabinet, bathroom hardware, light fixture
• Remove shoe molding and baseboards
• Demo floor tile and cement board
• Demo and remove shower stall
• Remove insulation
• Clean up site

Plumbing Rough-In

• Move shower valves to opposite walls
• Repair shower drain
• Guidance on shower pan installation?
• Install shower system
• Install toilet

Electrical Rough-In

• Relocate outlet to adjacent wall
• Replace overhead vanity light with wall sconces?
• Replace vent fan
• Add lighting in shower?

Framing

• Demo shower walls
• Frame pony wall
• Don’t forget to add the toiletry niche (plan around tile size)

Floors

• Prime floors with underlayment primer
• Level floors with self-leveling underlayment

Shower Installation

• Check to ensure studs are plumb and even, shim if necessary
• Add insulation
• Install cement board, seal seams
• Roll on waterproofing membrane
• Install shower tray and curb
• Waterproof floor and curb

Walls

• Repair drywall where medicine cabinet used to be
• Molding?
• Paint
• Install baseboards and shoe molding

Tile

• Tile shower walls
• Tile shower floor
• Tile bathroom floor
• Grout and caulk

Vanity

• Install vanity (will it fit?)
• Install faucet and sink
• Hang mirror

Lighting

• Install wall sconces

Miscellaneous

• Order and install glass shower door
• Install toilet paper holder, towel bar, towel ring, towel hook
• Add artwork and accessories

We’ve got a ton of work ahead of us, so stay tuned. I’ll be sharing our progress here on the blog as well as on my social media channels – I’d love for you to follow along!