Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Bathroom Renovation, Process and Economy

Recently we started a renovation in our main bathroom. This process entails economy in many ways. I think it’s a good word to describe the style we lean towards. Inspiration at work and at home come in many forms and guides our design process and choices. Human concepts, good reads, visuals snippets of what we find beautiful--from modern to rustic to audio to print all combined spur insight into what works well with us.



Note to oneself:
Beautiful and functional objects by KOH I NOOR - Italian made toothbrushes!
Art for the bathroom--I imagine this cool print of STEVE MCQUEEN about to shoot just above the toilet 
BROOKLYN MODERN published by RIZZOLI. This book seems to be not only eye tantalizing but full of interesting factoids on the architecture in Brooklyn. I am always attracted to raw materials and the very interesting way they can look old and modern all at once. 

Some of the initial decisions for the bathroom makeover were tiles, fixtures and wall color. The workmen had to strip the wall of the previous tiles and then re-stucco the walls, which they did with limestone. I really liked the color and overall effect left over-- a soft neutral. Rather than try to find paint to mimic it, we chose to keep what was already there.  
The SANT’AGOSTINO warm grey tiles were bought some years back with the intention to use them in a kitchen project, but that changed. No worries, we figured they’d get used in another home project sooner or later like the bathroom... 


We decided to use them on the walls and needed to buy a few extra for the floor--excited as half of the tiles were already bought! So we asked our supplier for more of the same tiles and were told that the factory which produced that very tile was near L’Aquila. The entire stock had been demolished in the earthquake of 2009. 
This meant we indeed had a small “economy" of tiles we could work with or not. Being design minded I chose to use what I had and use them sparingly and in essential points -- the shower and backsplash for the sink. Lighter floor tiles were later chosen and coordinated which, luckily in the end, added more visual and color interest.