Dallas Blog | Material Girls | Dallas Interior Design

Last year when we were presented with a project in which we would gut a guest bathroom and convert it into a master bath in Hollywood Heights in Dallas, I knew it would be no easy feat.  It was a very tough decision for EJ Interiors to make when deciding whether or not to take on the project because the client is legendary for being the biggest perfectionist and most picky client of all time.  You might know her? Her name is Emily Johnston Larkin (A.K.A. me)

I’ve heard it time and again from showrooms- “You are one of our nicest designers but you are also our pickiest designer….dont worry that is a good thing…?”  (awkward silence)

I just can’t help it- it’s in my blood!  I started planning this project last December (and no, not December 2013, December 2012). My bathroom was more than 80 years old, so I wanted to make sure that if I was going to change “history”, then I needed to do it in a way that would flow with the rest of my little 1930′s English tudor home so I planned and I planned (and then planned some more).

Here is a “Before” photo of the bathroom before we moved in- can you say yikes?!!

In this bathroom was a 1980′s vanity, the original black and white tile from the 1930′s, and a shower that even Twiggy could not fit in.  It became our guest bathroom when we moved in and was so NOT functional.

Oh yes, this is the lovely coffin sized shower where I would have to kick the door open just to shave my legs! This was not going to work for very long….

Once we moved in, we got rid of that awful pinky cream wall color and the brass around the shower door, but that wasn’t enough- the 1980′s vanity was still staring me in the face every day.

You are probably asking- well what about your other bathroom? (the one that is considered the actual “master”) Why couldn’t you just use that bathroom? Well, this is why…..

And how we decided to move into this house upon seeing the above photo in our home’s listing, is beyond me! But this bathroom is a story for another day…

Back to the guest bath!

 

Ben and I were on a time crunch because we were leaving on a trip to Europe so we hurried and hired a contractor (the amazing Kirk Eppler of Eppler Construction).  And by amazing, I mean that it was a miracle he didn’t quit on me.  At one of our first meetings when he came out to measure, I already had all the new walls taped out with blue scotch tape and proceeded to move the tape 1/20th of an inch to make sure the door openings and such were juuuuust right.

 

We started the demo while we were in Europe since we knew it was going to be crazy messy.  We essentially eliminated a hallway (that went from the guest bedroom to our den) to give us more space in our bathroom and then we merged two smaller closets into one larger one.

Thankfully, Material Boy Nathan was there to take photos of the demo while I was gone-

Next order of business was to pick my materials!  Since my house is in a conservation district, I didn’t want to do anything too trendy nor too modern- I really wanted to stay classic. I decided to go with 2″ calacatta marble hexagons for the floor and 3×6 calacatta subways for the walls laid in a brick pattern with snow white grout (the tile would go all the way up to the ceiling in the shower and then to chair rail height on the other bathroom walls- a great suggestion by Material Girl Lauren- (a K&B designer who was so sweet in letting me bounce ideas off of her!)

I knew I wanted to do Calacatta gold marble because of it’s warmth (Carrara marble was way too cold for my house).  Calacatta looks best paired with polished nickel since it’s a warmer metal so I chose that for my fixtures versus the widely used and “colder” chrome.

As you probably already know, a designer is her own worst client (seriously).  We love so many different things that it is hard to commit to just one and the thought of this bathroom being so PERMANENT and not something I could just sell on Craig’s List the next week was a little terrifying.

Next I had to select and coordinate my vanity, sconces, and medicine cabinet.  I am a total organizational freak and someone who likes everything to look very clean, so I opted for a lucite washstand from Palmer instead of the traditional painted wood vanity cabinet (even though most people told me I was crazy to do this). Since I had limited square footage in this bathroom, I loved the idea of the lucite not taking up a lot of visual weight in the space and I also knew that if I had a washstand, I wouldn’t be able to throw a bunch of needless junk in it like I would probably end up doing with cabinets and drawers.

To solve the storage problem, I went with a large 1930′s inspired medicine cabinet from Restoration Hardware. I loved its atypical rounded edges and polished nickel frame!

I spotted these Visual Comfort Sconces by Barbara Barry at Taylors on Ten showroom and I just about died. They were exactly what I was looking for! And then I also purchased a Thomas O’Brien Bell Jar pendant from them for my ceiling fixture.

One of my many CAD drawings throughout the process…I’d make copies of them for everyone working on the bathroom just so we were all on the same page-

Once the marble got here, I decided to take it upon myself to go through every single box of it and separate out the ones that had “too much UT burnt orange in them”. I stayed up until 2 am one night and looked through thousands of individual tiles before the tile guy came and laid them the next day.

And even after I had hand picked every single marble subway that was to be installed in that bathroom, I STILL had the tile guy rip out a bunch that I didn’t like out of the wall the next day.  (and I ask again….how did Kirk the contractor not fire me throughout this process)?

{The incredibly sweet tile guy making my “edits”}

And then after my window got put in and the tile installed around it shrunk the actual size of the window, I analyzed how “small” it was for days. Now I can happily say that I am completely over it and love the size.

So after a lot of blood, sweat and tears, the bathroom was FINALLY done!  Here is the “new” master bathroom and connected closet-

{White linen monogrammed hand towels add a personal touch to the bathroom}

{One thing to keep in mind if you are considering a washstand is that ALL of the pipes and the bottom of the sink will show underneath the countertop….so it requires some extra special “pretty pipes” and a sink with a finished base to look presentable! I learned this the hard/expensive way}

{The best investment we made to our bathroom was the shower bench!  My husband and I both love having the bench and opted for a larger shower instead of double sinks (we are never getting ready at the same time so we felt that double sinks would be a waste of space for us}

{Towel and robe hooks are the vintage style hooks in polished nickel from Restoration Hardware. And it sounds crazy but my new black velvet hangers in the closet have been life changing!  My husband would beg to differ- he is still an advocate of the free wire hangers from the dry cleaner.

{We divided the closet into “his and her” sides and it’s a lot larger than what we had originally, but still a fairly small closet ,so organization in here is key.  We have belts, purses, scarves, hats, and necklaces all hung on different size hooks and then shoes are tucked into two lower shelves. We also have a shelf up top where I store things in baskets}

{We went with a frameless shower door that has polished nickel accents; faucet and fittings from Newport Brass}

{One of the details that I am most happy with in the bathroom is how we put the shampoo bottle niche and soap dish in the half wall in the shower so you don’t see any toiletry bottles in the shower upon entering the room. They are completely hidden!

{Remember how I said that most people thought I was crazy to not put in any cabinets in my bathroom? Well the only reason I am able to get away with this is because I did the built-in “x cabinet” and drawers in the adjoining closet. I put all my extra toiletries and towels in there as well as underwear, socks, tank tops, etc- perfect for having close by for when you get out of the shower!}

{I had considered putting a train rack for towels above the toilet ….but since I like to keep things hidden as much as possible, I went with black and white figure drawings framed in gold, instead!}

And now let’s take a trip down memory lane…..

Phew! Thank you for following my bathroom renovation- aren’t we glad it’s over?