PHOTOS BY MORGAN SCHLEIF AND PAUL FLESSLAND
Marriage (and remodeling) is all about compromise. So when Tate stated, “I get to design MY bathroom.” I thought, “What the heck, he can’t mess it up that bad.”
After all, it’s his house too, and he should get a say in how it looks. Then I walked away and got some coffee since Tate had it all under control. This month, you get to see if Tate’s design skills are as good as his fishing skills.
BEFORE
I’m happy to report that a er ten years of marriage, I think we’ve got some common design styles, because Tate knocked it out of the park and I love it.
Under Construction
What was once a baby blue 1978 powder room, with carpet and all, is now a slate-floored throne, fit for a king. (Pun intended.)
Tate’s Must Haves
Tate had a few “must-haves” when he started the process. First, there must be a window in a man bathroom. I didn’t ask specifics. I believe I understood, so I just left it alone and let him put in a window. The natural light is nice, but I think it was the fresh air he was going for.
Up To Our Elbows
Also on the list of must-have items was a deep sink that he could get his elbows down in.
AFTER
Well, did you know that bathroom sinks aren’t meant for elbows? Me either. A er days of searching for a large bathroom sink, Tate decided to put a full-size kitchen sink in his bathroom. To add a little drama to the room, he made it black. I love it.
Then came the faucet. He really wanted one of those fancy faucets that came out of the wall.
They just look cool. So, to save some money, he ordered one online. We had it months in advance, which made us feel ahead of the game, but we also learned a valuable lesson.
Always run your fancy faucets by your plumber. When it came time to actually install it, the plumber pointed out that it wasn’t really meant to be a wall mount faucet.
So, what started out as us being ahead of schedule turned out to holding up the tile guy and the plumber for over two weeks. Lesson learned, always run things by your plumber and stay o the internet if you are a novice home remodeler…or a fisherman.
In the end, we got this amazing Rohl Faucet from Ferguson and I must admit it sure adds some bling to this room.
Manly Rustic
Since this bathroom is adjacent to the men’s guest room we featured two months ago, Tate kept with the same theme of a rustic wood ceiling. The original ceiling had a popcorn texture we wanted to do away with. We needed to punch some new holes for the hanging metal pendants, so finishing it o with planked wood seemed like a perfect solution and match for the style of the room.
The vanity was custom built by Grain Designs and finished by me with Annie Sloan Dark wax. The warm brown color gives some warmth to the room and feels nice and manly without being too rustic.
Once the room was finished, Tate let me come in and put a few finishing touches on the room, but I will admit the wood cut-out deer was picked out and hung by Tate and the vintage deer art above the towel rack was a “thoughtful” gift from a friend.
Get the Look:
- Vanity – Grain Designs
- Flooring and tile – Lowes
- Tile installation – Dave Meth, Tile Tech
- Plumbing installation – Joe’s Pluming
- Painting – Gene’s Painting
- Carpentry – Stacey, SJS Carpentry
- Faucet on sink – Ferguson Bath, Kitchen & Lighting Gallery
- Shower faucet – Home Depot
- Accessories – Eco Chic Boutique
- Vintage deer art – A thoughtful friend named Searle Swedlund
- Black pendant lights – Eco Chic Boutique
