Bathroom Renovation: Wet Room

Hi there. So I was away for awhile, got some sun, avoided reality, and am now back and settling back into it. Posting has been spotty, but this warmer weather and sunny days always motivates me to write more. So here is to hoping. 

A huge project on my mind right now is one that will hopefully be happening this Summer (let the permit gods bless us with a fast turnaround). We are doing a few small additions to the house, one of which will expand our master bath. I have been pouring over images for inspiration and ideas and working through sketches with the architect. One idea that came up was a wet room. Or really a huge shower with a small tub in it. I maybe use our current tub 3 times a year, maybe. So a tub is not a huge priority, but we still need one. The idea of a wet room seems like a good space saver for our particular floor plan. Here are some ideas: 

source unknown 

via: Dyna Contracting

via: David Coleman / Architecture

via: Shirley Meisels

via: Chris Pardo Design - Elemental Architecture

via: Nest Architectural Design, Inc.

via: Jane Kim Design

via: Jody Brettkelly

via: Glass Doctor

What do you think??? 

Our layout would be a steam shower with glass with the tub towards the back, two shower heads on each side. And don't even get started on tile and finishes, plenty of narrowing down to do before I start sharing. One step at a time. 

xo

Erin 

Malibu Monday

How was your weekend? We are having a little getaway to the city for a few days. It is freezing, but nice to switch up the routine. There have been some chilly walks, lots of (too much) Reese's eggs, bloody Mary's, and running after our little guy who went from sometimes walking to basically running overnight. 

Have I ever told you that I am a real estate broker? It is not something I write about often on the site, but I have been getting so many questions lately about the market that I thought I should at least divulge. I work for my own brokerage with just a couple of clients at a time, which I love since I can concentrate on those properties and clients with all of my attention. So if you ever need a broker (in Illinois) or just have a question, I am happy to help! 

Being a broker makes me infinitely curious about all properties, no matter the location. One of my new favorite sites is Curbed. It has unique properties and articles on them, including many celebrity properties that have sold recently or are up to sale. If you are ever feeling down about losing money on your property, having to change your price, etc. go read the celebrity real estate section, it is filled with properties that celebrities are losing millions on. Sounds so bad, but it makes you feel a bit better when you read that a Kardashian just had to lower their price $4 million or that Ryan Gosling sold his bachelor pad for half a million dollars less than he paid for it. 

They recently posted pictures of Pam Anderson's Malibu home that is on the market for $7.78 million. Apparently, she went so overboard with the renovations she can no longer afford to stay there. I love the work she had done on the house and also cannot get over how far your money goes in Malibu. No where. The house is light, chic, minimal and everything would never expect from Pammy. 

The downstairs has an open concept living/kitchen with doors that open wide to the terrace and pool. 

Love that mantel and the floors. 

Who doesn't need a piano on their patio? Love the modern picnic table. 

Love the bar stools and the giant fridge. 

Upstairs there is a master suite that matches the modern beach-y feel, with a touch of glam thrown in. Pam could not resist. 

The indoor/outdoor thing gets me really jealous since it is impossible to replicate here in the mosquito Midwest. 

Not really into the vanity and bath tub being part of the room, but how fab is that tiled wall? Just a little sparkle to offset the stark design. That would be such a great back splash in a bathroom. I want one of those flattering back lit mirrors, too. 

Looks like Pammy had lots of privacy, not that she really wanted it. 

Doesn't this house make you want to go on vacation? Check out more celeb real estate on Curbed. Such a fun Monday distraction 

xo

Erin 

Renovation Results: Family Room

This scary looking space....

Has become my favorite place to chill out and watch the little man play. 

All the construction, mess, waiting, has been more than worth it. 

And I am so in love with the sectional from Lee Industries (Vienna Navy). It is deep, soft and perfect for lounging. Kate Marker Interiors was sweet enough to help me with it. The rest of the furniture was from our old family room. I originally had those pillows in our condo in the city, but glad I relocated them. They are no longer available from the Etsy store I bought them from, but these are similar. Ideally, the treadmill would have another home, but I can live with it. Still am so in love with the teepee. 

We designed all the built ins with our contractor. It was literally a sketch that Matt drew up and it came to life beyond what we imagined. 

The bookshelves  still need styling, but that could take years. ha

I plan on having a pad made for the bench, which has the best toy storage hidden in it. Got to love a place to throw stuff in. 

The goal of keeping things light and bright really paid off. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Pebble Beach. See the rest of the renovation on this floor here. 

Now that the pictures are hung and the sofa is in use, I can finally say I am done. It was a labor of love and it is nice to just relax and enjoy it now. 

PS: Make no mistake that there are toys everywhere almost all of the time. Let's not pretend that my house looks this clean except for right after my housekeeper comes. We don't live in show rooms, right? 

xo

Erin 

Renovation Results

Renovations are truly labors of love. One day you are smitten with the vision you are seeing come together before your eyes, the next it is four months later and you are still trying to cross those final items off the list. 

Our new house had been completely renovated recently, except for the basement level. While finished, it needed a complete gut. We took everything down to the studs (about 1200 sq ft) and came up with a simple design that would be functional, airy, and satisfy our needs for years to come. 

Since it was a basement, the entire concept was to keep it fresh and light. Matt and I worked alone with our contractor, which was a learning experience, especially for me. My desire to use a designer was trumped by our enthusiasm to conquer this project ourselves. The outcome is fantastic, but I absolutely learned a lot. While there are a few details I overlooked because of my "amateur" status, they most likely would never be noticed by anyone else. 

The basement consists of a large family room, half kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. It was not a walkout basement when we started, so we had a door cut (through the foundation) into the stairwell to the outside. This alone took two more weeks than we had planned, but it is amazing to have that access to the backyard. 

We are still waiting for furniture for the family room, so I will wait to share pictures of that space. I have also not decorated the spaces yet. Nothing on the walls, accessories, etc. All in due time! I am so excited to show you what we have done. 

Bathroom...

To make all the spaces cohesive, we used Benjamin Moore Pebble Beach on all of the walls with white trim. To contrast with the light walls and ceiling, we picked slate tiles on the floors. 

The granite is absolute black to keep it really clean looking. We used very affordable fixtures throughout since this space will not be used very often. Everything is from the Moen Banbury line. The nautical light fixtures are from Shades of Light. We chose white subway tile to keep it classic with one band of cobalt glass tiles to break it up a bit. My contractor used some extra trim to build the mirror.

 Bedroom...

The nice thing about this bedroom is that it has a full size window, something you do not normally see in basements. The carpet (wish I would have vacuumed it before taking the picture!) is Martha Stewart in Thunderhead. 

Everything was from our old house except for the dresser, which I got at Ikea. I am obsessed with the glossy white front and patina colored wood. 

Kitchen...

We used the same materials in the kitchen as the bath to be cohesive. The granite bar top matches the bathroom, then we used butcher block for the rest of the space. I am really into the mix of materials. We used a carpenter to build everything, including the counter tops. It took a lot less time then ordering them through a cabinetry company. 

He built these deep drawers and tons of space to hold just about everything in our house. I am on the hunt for some art to hang on that empty wall. 

While tiles was not our first choice to finish out the ceiling, we decided on not dry walling since we are unsure of other work we might want to do soon. Tiles make it a lot easier to get to any duct work, wiring, etc. The washer and dryer is a bit bigger than we anticipated, but the fact we have a second set of full size machines makes me giddy. The microwave is also a convection, which doubles up the cooking appliances. 

And there it is! Months of work and still working on the rest of it. It has been so fun to start using the space a bit and this "in-law" suite will be well used over the holidays. Once the couch that Kate Marker Interiors ordered for me comes in, I will share the family room. Think tons of built ins, toy chest bench, and a comfy deep navy couch to curl up on. 

xo

Erin 

RH Lighting Sale

I have settled on a light fixture for the great room in the house. Three of these nineteen inch pendants will be hanging in between the high beams in satin nickel. 

Best part is that Restoration Hardware is having their lighting sale until October 18th on ALL lighting. Take advantage if you are looking to get any of their fantastic pieces. 

Another tip that I learned is that you can lock in that price for 90 days without actually having purchased it yet. So if you are in a bit of a pinch for the cash right now, you can call before the 18th of October, place your order, then call back within 90 days to be charged and have them shipped. 

This worked great for me this week since we placed the carpet order and painted this week for the basement. Almost done! 

Then of course I started looking for other places to take advantage of this sale. I am liking this flush mount for our hallway. Very nautical and maybe I will order as well. I have two more weeks to decide...

Here is to a weekend of lots of little surprises that make your day better. 

xo

Erin 

Gut Job

Since doing a full gut job in the basement, there have been workers here every day. That was over a month ago and even though you cannot see much progress from these photos, there has been so much done. From electric, plumbing, dry wall, etc. I really had no idea how much work this was going to take. The good news is that a lot of the fun stuff is coming. In the mean time I can share some photos so you can see where we began and where we are now. 

Before and not quite after photos...

We decided on lots of built in storage to get ahead of the toy situation that is in our future. Plus, a nice spot for the tv. This room will be a nice family room and play space. 

We will have a half kitchen with another washer and dryer in this space. There will also be a bar in the cut out. We also decided to do a ton of storage in this space, you can never have enough. 

This bathroom is hard because it is dark and only has one window in the shower. White cabinets, white subway tile and dark floors should keep it light and bright. 

If you have ever done a full renovation like this, you know it seems never ending. But I am hoping that in the next month I can post some much more fun pictures of how this space is coming together. I also do not want to move onto other rooms of the house until this is done. 

Oh and let's not forget that we added a walk out door in the middle of this project just to keep things interesting. It is very nice to have an entrance to the backyard. It makes this space also much more like an in-law suite. Perfect for grandmas and grandpas. 

Any advice from those that have gone through projects like this is much appreciated! 

xo

Erin