Bath Remodel: Fixtures and Vendors
If you missed the bathroom reveal, it’s here!
I don’t know how anyone designed their dream bathroom, prior to the advent of online-shopping. I mean, I understand it if you are a hedge-fund manager. Or a time-share magnate… But if you are not? And you actually want to have money left over to buy shampoo? The internet is a magical place full of treasure and discount bathroom fixtures.
The only price of admission is your commitment.
Your commitment to looking. And looking and looking. And comparing. And having seventy-two browser-windows, full of 18,956 tabs, all of which are on different design sites… that you CANNOT FORGET TO GO BACK TO.
Your commitment, to spending all your brainpower scrolling, scrolling, scrolling… through inspiration photos and chat boards, and Pinterest, and the abyss of Google image searches.
And? Since I am nothing, if not committed? I spent a truly outrageous amount of time on the internet… I bought everything except our tile online.
The DIY large medicine cabinet is my favorite element… and it cost next to nothing!
If you’re new to our bath remodel, you should read this post first. It’s ALL about how much I LOVED the whole DIY aspect. And how EASY it was to design. And how much FUN I had trying to cram all my ideas in a small and narrow bathroom..
Here are my sources and vendors and reviews for the bathroom fixtures I chose.
I am unable to be brief about any topic… so this will no doubt be far longer than necessary.
If the price is listed as something crazy, I assure you I did not pay that.
If it’s only moderately crazy, I may have paid that.
Tub Faucet
I CANNOT tell you how much I love this fixture. If I could afford to buy another one to wear as a necklace, I totally would.
KOHLER Antique Rite-Temp Pressure-Balancing Bath and Shower Faucet Trim
When I was shopping, the best price I could find was about $900 for the whole set.
Which? Um? What? No.
So initially, I tried to figure out how to buy/use JUST the fancy, porcelain dial part. I don’t actually care about the internal, thermostatic hi-tech stuff. The actual function is irrelevant to me. The inside could be made of paper plates and tinfoil, and I’d be fine with it.
Be warned, with Kohler products to read the fine print… I was sucked in, a couple of times, thinking I’d found a bargain, only to realize that the description said things like: requires kit #470. And when you look up kit #470, it’s $900.
I ended up buying an open box on eBay… from a guy who’d bought it at an estate auction, and could not guarantee that all the pieces were there.
I also bought it outside of eBay, in my one and only illegal bathroom transaction… You can imagine I was pretty sure I’d just bought a box of unusable crap; but it was FINE.
My final cost for the whole dial/shower head/tub faucet/ internal stuff was $300. Part of me thinks that’s a good price. Especially for something you really love and use everyday.
Another part of me thinks it’s way too much. You can get a perfectly nice shower dial for far less than that.
At the time, I told myself it was fine, since we were DIY-ing so much other stuff, including the medicine cabinet— which if we bought anything retail that was similarly large and fancy, would have been incredibly expensive.
But now? I think it was just design madness… where you spend too much time looking at other people’s luxury bathrooms… and you start to think you cannot live without some particular element.
Also? I saw a $5,000 faucet. And in comparison? Anything else looks like a bargain.
Sink Faucet
For all the bathroom fixtures, I chose polished chrome.
Allow me to be the dominant voice on the divisive issue of Polished Nickel vs. Polished Chrome… According to research conducted only in my own house, and only according to my own taste: Polished Chrome is better.
It is shinier.
I did an entire other bath in Polished Nickel, and am happier with the chrome.
I bought our Rohl faucet at HomePerfect.com Their online reviews are not encouraging, and they don’t include photos of their items… but my personal review is that they were fantastic. I got the faucet literally overnight. I paid $256.00.
Their website does not have pictures or descriptions, just the model number… and giving them my credit card was leap of faith that goes against all common sense and everything everyone tells you about not trusting people on the internet.
Surprisingly, in every case where I could not actually see a picture of what I was buying, I received it quickly, and in perfect condition. I imagine this isn’t always the case, but I guess by that point, the bath gods felt they had tortured me enough.
Water Shutoffs
I originally ordered less expensive shutoffs from Vintage Tub and Bath. But when they came, I really didn’t like them…I ended up exchanging them for the Restoration Hardware Universal Traditional Water Supply Kit.
I didn’t want to. Even at the time, I was aware it was sheer idiocy. I wanted to be practical and less insane. And to stop having opinions on every last tiny detail.
But? That is who I am: someone with strong opinions about faucet handles that go under your sink where you cannot see them.
And? The whole bathroom was just a tide of insanity… once it started coming in, there was no avoiding it. Exemption after exemption just piled up, until it was just like, oh whatever—I am the Imelda Marcos of water shutoffs.
SINK
Paul campaigned for a vanity with a base cabinet—from both a practical standpoint, and price consideration. But I really love the clean, spare look of a white porcelain sink against subway tile. Plus, it keeps the aesthetic of a vintage bath.
And since this is not a large bathroom, I think a base cabinet would have been overwhelming.
We considered a pedestal sink, since the footprint would be even smaller. But I like the larger counter space on a console sink.
I cannot recommend the website for the sink…they sent me three different sets of defective legs. And then told me they didn’t have any more.
And that I would have to pay to send back one-hundred pounds of unusable porcelain.
And I was all like– Oh? Hi? Clearly you don’t know me at all or you would not be suggesting ANYTHING so ridiculous.
When I went to look up the sink for you, they don’t even carry it anymore.
I found one that is kind of similar, and only kind of obnoxiously expensive:
Porcelain console sink
Intermission:
Can you believe anyone could have THIS much to say about their bathroom fixtures?
My apologies.
End Intermission.
TOILET
We got the toilet on Amazon: American Standard, Tropic. Concealed trapway, skirted, elongated, ADA.
Here is my original post about getting the toilet, and how much I love the concealed trapway, skirted style.
SCONCES
My search for the perfect bathroom lighting required:
- A vintage look.
- Polished chrome.
- Fairly tall—this is not a shy mirror.
- Something that would look good mounted through the mirror.
- Depth of only about 5”
Which? Does not exist. Finding shallow, low-profile bath lighting? Forget it. Everything that really appealed to me was way too bulky. And the sleeker, streamlined options all fall on the side of decidedly not vintage.
So I expanded my options to more modern designs. I also upped the original budget. Because? If you cannot find something IN your price range… you can almost certainly find something outside your price range.
Notice the size of the window in our shower, reflected in the mirror…
Ginger 4581-1/PC Columnar Single Ada Hall Light, Polished Chrome
Floor Tile:
Peronda Museum, 18×18, polished, porcelain, bianca carrara:
I have covered our floor tile in exhaustive detail. I cannot even muster a summary for you. I wrote a thousand posts about my epic quest for the perfect marble-lookalike porcelain tile… here is the one where I finally pick a tile.
Restoration Hardware- reproduction vintage glass towel bars.
Subway Tile:
Apparently there is no standard shade of white porcelain… The tub, the toilet, the sink, and all the subway tile samples I looked at… were all varying shades of white.
For us, Lowes American Olean was the best match when compared with everything… and they had the curved cove molding for the base tile, which I like… And which used to be standard in vintage baths… And which Paul says is unnecessary unless you’re doing a commercial installation. (What does he know?)
Lowes doesn’t have a lot of fancy trim or molding options, but I wanted to keep the subway tile very simple, so that was fine for us… the one thing I didn’t get hung up on was the wall tile.
If you’re doing an authentic reproduction of an old bathroom– you will be horrified at my choice. I can live with that.
We also built a storage tower at the end of the tub, added a transom window.
But now I am exhausted. Surely you are too. I had thought I could cram in the DIY aspects in a brief and informative detour… but that will have to be another post.
What’s that? You’re NOT exhausted? You want to see more of the bathroom?
It’s broken down into categories on my PROJECT PAGE.
Or, check out my About the House page. I just updated it with 50 “before” photos.
I’ll love you EVEN MORE… If you share me with your friends!
February 6, 2013 @ 9:39 am
Thanks for the coffee and pastries. 🙂
So, this is really beautiful. I think my favorite part is the door. Yes, I’m serious. I’d love to have a transom in my bathroom door. I really wood. I’ve got three males with whom I share a bath and it’d be lovely. (Alas, my house is post-WWII cookie-cutter new-suburb and has only the one bath.)
The hardware gleams (I like chrome, too, but I tend to go myself with that old oiled brass look) and the tile is perfect. *nods*
Thank you for sharing your smile-winning enthusiasm. 🙂
February 6, 2013 @ 10:14 am
We did the bathroom last, of all the rooms on the second floor… and after we put the transom in, I realized that we REALLY missed out on adding them to all the rooms. It would have been a totally time-intensive, huge-crazy-unnecessary project… but the end result would have been AMAZING.
It lets so much light into the hallway, multiplied by the other three doors would have been perfect. It’s on the list for the next house. 🙂
February 6, 2013 @ 9:39 am
Victoria,
Having done both bathrooms in our house, I identify with all of your decisions, which appear to be fabulous! When I remodeled our Master Bath I didn’t have enough tech-sense to actually take advantage of the great savings I could have probably scored. That was back in 2001…it’s almost time to redo some of that bathroom, I’ll be better this time.
On your chrome choice…when I redid our guest bath one year ago I went with chrome, love it. The decision was based on our decision to go with Oil Rubbed Bronze in the Master and spending a fortune for the silly drain grate in the shower and finding 6 years out that the Newport Brass faucet (another fortune) is loosing the finish, it looks like brass in the heavily worn areas.
Your bathroom really looks fabulous. I love the large mirror and the sconces on the glass! {Great job, Paul}.
Karen
P.S. I voted for you!
February 6, 2013 @ 10:18 am
I would guess that 2001 was pre-internet awesomeness. And you didn’t miss out on anything. You should probably brace yourself for the onslaught of options… I think the internet IS great. But also maybe just a little too much. Like, there should be a place where it stops. So you could feel like it was a mall… where you did the loop and saw it all, and then could decide… rather than an endless road to nowhere.
Interesting about the Newport Brass… they’re supposed to be excellent, so that’s disappointing for you. You should call them! Tell them you’re a high-powered blogger and will expose their faulty craftsmanship if they don’t make it right!
February 6, 2013 @ 9:47 am
Voted for you! 🙂
Also, I feel your pain re: fixtures!
I know it might sounds obvious but have you tried eBay? We found the taps we really wanted in the DIY store for almost £100 each but found them for less than half the price on eBay! If you know exactly what you’re looking for, i think that helps 🙂 x
February 6, 2013 @ 3:38 pm
Hey! You voted for me!! I owe you one… collect anytime! 🙂
Literally everything other than the dial that I tried to buy on eBay was the same price as the online-discount stores. I’ve gotten some really good deals there, so I was disappointed with the lack of selection. I guess it’s kind of hit or miss, but it seemed like a lot of stores have started selling on eBay? Or, maybe it was just the particular things I was looking for
February 6, 2013 @ 10:38 am
Love this post. Love the product reviews b/c that’s exactly what I do with every darn thing in our home when I am trying to consciously not buy anything from IKEA (which for me is well, impossible it seems). I love your bathroom as much as I love our DELTA faucet which I to this day marvel at how awesome price matching is between home improvement stores at getting discounts.
You’ve got my vote!
February 6, 2013 @ 3:43 pm
I REALLY do not understand the wild price differences… the big online vendors sell something at retail price, but you can get it for about half that… I don’t get who is buying it at full price, when a simple Google search will give you 50 places to buy it cheaper.
With the exception of refrigerators… I have yet to find one of those I love at a store, and then go home and find it super cheap online. Maybe you and I need to start a discount refrigerator chain.
February 6, 2013 @ 11:29 am
I have no idea how anyone renovated without the internet. I suppose they hired fancy shmancy decorators to special order things and paid out the nose or were stuck with the “stock” at your local hardware store. YUCK! Just about everything… NO, EVERYTHING in my bathroom and kitchen were bought online…. even my oven. Which by the way is fabulous. I never fought crowds, argued with my husband, or had a heart attack over him loading it into his truck. I’m all about adding things to my “shopping cart” and seeing it at my front door in a few days! You feel so in control… like anything is possible. 🙂
Your fixtures are gorgeous but I expect nothing less. Your taste is exquisite. I certainly appreciate your determination to find what you want at the price you can manage. That toilet makes me want to FLUSH my current one and follow your lead. So pretty. (I never thought I’d say “I love your toilet”)
It’s agonizing to choose all of this. It’s such a big deal and it adds up so fast. Awesome job, V. Love it all and of course the DIY cabinet has always had a place in my heart. So pretty.
February 6, 2013 @ 4:12 pm
How did people do *anything* before the internet?? I had started ordering cat food from Amazon a while ago… and they stopped carrying the brand I buy, and I was all like, seriously? Now I have to go The Pet Store??? Like it was an unbelievable inconvenience.
I guess if you didn’t have a decorator you got a mauve color scheme from Sears? Paul’s parents have a powder room last redone in maybe 1990? They replaced the sink recently, and special ordered the matching color. I was like, Paul? Do you want to TELL them that they shouldn’t pay extra for a sink that no one in their right mind would install?? He didn’t, but I think he should have.
February 6, 2013 @ 12:26 pm
Well, VE – you have again put the finger (the one the clicks the mouse – or tablet if so inclined) on what is truly the real time-eater. It’s that dang internet. Sure our bathrooms are House Beautiful worthy – but by the time we scroll and bookmark and open half of the worldwide web on our monitors things seem to get a little muddled. Well, to each their own. Gotta run – I’m on the hunt for the perfect robe hook with a slotted screw attachment that won’t clash with my pedestal sink bolts and your blog is taking up valuable monitor space.
February 6, 2013 @ 4:02 pm
I haven’t separated myself from the mouse yet… I’ve played with other people’s iPads, and haven’t been able to give up the keyboard.
Yup… the screen full of options. Whenever I’m shopping for something it seems like my organizational system is made up entirely by reopening my browser history… imagine the simplicity of just going to Home Depot and buying whatever they have. Ugly? Maybe. But we’d save a lot of time!!
February 6, 2013 @ 2:46 pm
I have decided, that since I can not seem to get anything accomplished on my own, I am going to copy your bathroom. Yep. Copy it. You have put so much thought and effort into this remodel…..why should I bother. Your painstaking efforts will provide me and mine much needed direction. It’s a miracle!
We will have to do the total demo. The pipes are in the mud bed, the tub is a wreck, nothing works quite right – yep! We have the whole enchilada. So rest assured your efforts are not in vain and thank you thank you thank you.
( haven’t posted on my own site for months)
February 6, 2013 @ 3:32 pm
I’d wondered what was going on with you/your blog… although I also wonder how I have time for it myself, so I guess it’s not really a mystery. Good luck with your bath. I would be seriously thrilled to think anyone liked mine enough to copy it.
You can return the favor by finishing your kitchen remodel? And just telling me what to buy… I am exhausted just thinking about the coming decisions. I get tunnel-vision. And decision-paralysis. And that mindset where you feel like the solution is MORE options… rather than less.
p.s.- your gravatar pic is super glamorous.
February 6, 2013 @ 4:55 pm
We paid A LOT of money for our Kohler kitchen sink faucet. And then we added to it by getting a soap dispenser to match! We bought it at a real live plumbing supply store, and I can totally blame my hub-contractor who said he wanted a good faucet with a ceramic cartridge (not paper plates and aluminum foil!) Oh I can justify it — we bought our kitchen cabinets from a re-store and rehabbed them and they cost less than the faucet. (I told the faucet guy that, and he didn’t believe me…) But still I have total guilt about that gorgeous faucet. (Maybe because it isn’t in yet…) Just let me say, kitchen faucets are way pricier than bathroom faucets, so be prepared .
You pressed all the buttons in this one post! (Love your shower dial.)
February 6, 2013 @ 6:44 pm
Whoever owns Kohler must be richer than I can imagine… because I CANNOT believe what they are charging. There is no way some chrome/brass/copper/porcelain is actually worth $1,000… or five times that.
No matter… I have my justification for the kitchen faucet ALL picked out. It’s the item you use MOST in a kitchen. I SHOULD spend more on the faucet, than on the oven, because I only use the oven occasionally… see? Perfect logic.
Besides, scoring your cabinets at the re-store gives you so much wiggle room for rationalization on pretty much everything else.
February 6, 2013 @ 6:52 pm
Your bathroom is gorgeous. It looks so clean and bright. The faucets on your sink are almost identical to mine. You have such great taste. 😉 Our plumber tried to talk us into a single handle faucet for our shower. I refused because I hated the look of all the ones that I found, but yours is actually nice looking. Congratulations! Now will you come finish my bathroom? …….. Please?
February 7, 2013 @ 10:34 am
I LOVE the sink faucets. They came in a felt bag, and I didn’t even want to install them… I just wanted to LOOK at them. I usually like two-handles in the shower too. Especially for adjusting temperature and whatnot, but I fell in love with that porcelain dial… one of those things that sticks in your head and refuses to leave.
Congratulations on your Homie nomination… I just voted for you! It’s so fun to see people I actually know over there!
February 7, 2013 @ 10:53 am
Thank you for your vote and congratulations on your nomination as well. I was thrilled to see you and Stacey from http://agoodehouse.com/ I wish we could vote for more than one person!
February 7, 2013 @ 1:20 pm
You can actually vote for as many as you want… until they choose the top six… then you can only vote once. I’m sure of that because I voted for everyone who was ever nice to me. 🙂
February 6, 2013 @ 9:23 pm
Now that we’re home from work we can give your blog the attention it requires, rather than leaving rambling comments on older blog posts (I’d much prefer to leave rambling comments on current blog posts, thank you very much). The fact is, I think you’re right, we are blogger soul mates, but not in an Internet creepy sort of way. Pay no attention to your transom envy, for we have an extreme case of staircase envy. Newel posts, bannister, spindles, ability to deck the halls to the nines…drool.
The thing that got me, and the thing that will make me spend the rest of my Thursday evening reading back through your previous blog posts, your bathroom has the same door casing as some of our first floor’s original casings. No joke, that stuff is beautiful, heavy, and unique. There have only been a handful of homes I’ve seen it in, and that includes one home in a horror movie that I can’t recall the title of because I spent the whole movie looking at the house’s molding. I’ve spent the last 10 years stripping said fluted molding of 125 years of paint. My back and cumulative lead levels hate me but our home is better for it. These are the necessary sacrifices one must make.
As for your transom envy, have envy no more. The photo from our bedroom shows two transoms. The transom on the right is original to the house, the transom on the left (and the whole doorway in fact) is a new one that we built to match the old one on the right. I obsessed over the various decisions, dimensions, and even glass. We ended up using salvaged wavy glass, salvaged hinges, and salvaged transom lifts that I found in quite a state on eBay. I like your transoms, I like how they’re pivot style, and I like that they’re encased in molding similar to our home’s. But if you must, you can always change it out, it would probably only take a few days (or perhaps months).
Anyhow, I’m very glad to be among your newest followers. We’re following you on Twitter, I’ve added you to my reader, and I’ve voted for you in the Homies. Us old home homies need to stick together. And from the looks of the post I saw about your possible mansion with river views last summer…well, we probably shouldn’t be allowed to be in the same area together for too long. I fear we’d formulate some pretty amazing plans together that might bankrupt the lot of us.
February 6, 2013 @ 9:25 pm
And I’ve gone ahead and added you to our “Blog Roll” tab as well.
February 7, 2013 @ 10:19 am
Whoa. You’re in the top six over at the Homies (why is that that name so undignified?) I voted for you… and I will tell my small band of blog-buddies (and my mother) to vote for you too. Incase it comes down to five votes.
I didn’t realize I was chatting with internet superstars. Or I would have done a little more bowing and scraping… and I definitely wouldn’t have mocked your grout.
The house we lived in before this one had woodwork that the previous owners had started stripping… and Paul had finished the project before he met me… he will NEVER strip paint from molding again. Ever. I think he used the phrase— fool’s errand. On the other hand, I have sworn I will never again buy a house with painted molding. Ever. (I am the trim painter…) I think I’ve scrubbed and re-painted twelve full miles of trim/windows/sills/baseboard/spindles.
That mansion… was our dream house. Not getting it was almost as bad as getting it would have been. I have no doubt that we would have ended up divorced… but I would have made sure I got the house, so it would have been fine… We looked at another house last month… not the same epic scope. But still a huge project. And the whole time, I was like—why are we here?? Oooo look at that! What a mess! Ooooo an elevator!!
I have to say I’m a little overwhelmed by your blog. You seem to have covered everything thoroughly and with great photos and descriptions and enviable beautiful outcome (eventually)… You’re one of those sites where I am like—HOW are they doing ALL of this AND writing about it? And theoretically finding time to eat/bathe/go to work? I’ve come to the realization that posting once a week is not the path to world domination, and that I will need to step it up in order to achieve blog-supremacy… or just win a Homie.
Which up until a few months ago wasn’t even an issue, but now this blog itself has become a huge project. Paul wants help with house-stuff, and I’m like—I’m sorry, but I don’t have time … I HAVE TO DO MY BLOG. Combined with the sad knowledge that truly, the LAST thing the world needs is YET another blog.
I just moved and redesigned my site… I haven’t set up a blogroll yet, but you will be first.
February 8, 2013 @ 1:37 pm
HAHAHAHAHA Internet superstars! HAHAHAHA, too good. We ain’t no Young House Love, that’s for sure. 😉
Thank you so much for the votes. We’re a little beside ourselves shocked right now. Had no idea we’d be in the top 6. It’s been a fun experience though. Thus far, it looks like it could come down to 5 votes, so it’s much appreciated. We’ll see what happens tonight. I’m guessing I’ll be watching as an innocent bystander as our hopes and dreams are crushed at the last moment.
As far as grout mockery goes, I’d think less of you if you didn’t bring the necessary level of shame on our household due to being off by one shade of white. If there’s one thing the Internet should have no tolerance for, it’s imperfection.
I think I’ve called stripping paint a fool’s errand many many times. It’s backbreaking, frustrating, tedious, annoying, and just about any other horrible thing all wrapped into one. We’ve stripped about 10 doors, window and door casings, all of our baseboards, random stuff that has paint on it just because I loath myself that much. It’s just the way we roll.
There’ve been a few houses we’ve gone through over the years that have enough ornamentation, detail, or other possibly positive aspects to put the blinders on when it comes to reality. The fact is, we’ve been working on our house for 10 years, and it’s only 2000 sqft, and we’re only 50% complete. Some of these grand places we “want” would take us 40 years at this rate! BUT WE STILL WANT THEM MORE THAN ANYTHING. Like you said, they make us not care about sanity or an enjoyable marriage.
Ah yes, the blog. The thing that is hanging there and asking for constant attention. We’re a two person blogging team, so it’s a little easier, but it is also a massive time commitment. It’s delayed some projects while helping us throw ourselves into others, but we’re masochistic, we feel a need to post five days a week, ever week. It’s been wonderful, and fun, and tedious, and tiring (but it’s better than paint stripping). I’m a web software developer by day, so the technical stuff comes rather easy to me. I know I’m lucky in this way. But when you mentioned doing all of the eating, working, and bathing while also working on the house and blogging, I had to laugh. Eating goes first, I can sometimes forget to do it. That’s followed closely by bathing. Thus far work has been ok, but I’ll have to get back to you on that one in a year or two. We tried to sum up why we blog in this post. http://www.oldtownhome.com/2013/1/25/Why-Do-We-Blog/index.aspx Mostly because a lot of people ask us this very question.
Anyhow, keep up the good work on your blog. I’ve enjoyed reading through your posts. I do like you writing style and you and your husband’s tastes and interactions remind me enough of us that I think we can be imaginary Internet friends.
February 9, 2013 @ 12:47 pm
Hey… you might be closing in on YHL!!
Kind of gritted my teeth at the webdeveloper bit. If ONLY I had been smart enough to know I needed that in a husband… it’s the one thing Paul cannot fix.
I am compulsive by nature, and have found the experience of making the blog look the way I want, totally absorbing… And the tech side of it absolutely frustrating. Two steps forward… nine steps back. (I will figure out how to steal your Pin-it overlay button)
Congratulations on making it through to the finals… I would say that I don’t think you have any competition from the other blogs. No doubt, part of that is my own house experiance. But also, the depth and scope of what you’re doing is far more interesting than painting something turquoise. (If, I have missed the section on your blog about your love of painting things turquoise, my deepest apologies.)
Good luck!!
February 7, 2013 @ 2:06 am
Girl… I could seriously vacation in your bathroom. It’s gorgeous and spa worthy. I’m thinking if it were in my home, I’d make everyone take their business outside so that nothing is tainted by even someone washing their hands. That’s what garden hoses are for.
We are hoping to tackle the master bath in 2014. Yours is truly inspiring.
February 7, 2013 @ 10:24 am
See? I KNEW it was reasonable to NOT want people to use it. That IS what garden hoses are for. Initially it felt like a display space. A showroom… and I was horrified that anything so beautiful would be messed with.
I lined the shelves with paper in the medicine cabinet… Paul was like seriously? They’re GLASS. You can take them out and WASH them. And I was like, yes but I cannot make them NEW again. Also, stop splashing the mirror.
My advice? Pick stuff you don’t actually like… that would have been way cheaper too.
February 7, 2013 @ 1:12 pm
Hi! I just found your blog thanks to the homies. Nice to find a kindred spirit (in the Philly suburbs no less)! Love the bathroom! I will now spend way too long reading up on your house. We have an 1888 Victorian here.
February 7, 2013 @ 5:56 pm
Wow… your house is lovely. We were just at the Mt Airy salvage store not too long ago… I tried to convince Paul that I needed those stone/concrete things/pillars with faces? Out front… he didn’t agree.
I think my favorite is Provenance… totally out of our price range, but such amazing stuff. The last time we were there they had a collection of absolutely massive streetlights that I fell in love with.
February 8, 2013 @ 3:22 pm
I really liked those stone pillars too, although I didn’t even see a price! I haven’t been to Provenance, clearly a trip is in order. So I have a bathroom question for you. Did your husband make the door for the medicine cabinet? I really like your setup but my carpentry skills are not up for making cabinet doors. I am also totally jealous of your water shut offs. I was cheap and didn’t put nice ones in my bathrooms and I totally regret it.
February 8, 2013 @ 4:11 pm
Provenance makes the Mt Airy place look like a shack… their prices aren’t great… but it’s worth the trip, just for entertainment. (If you’re like us and think old, kind-of-broken stuff is the height of greatness.)
My husband made the whole cabinet. Including the door. He really didn’t want to… but once he saw that I was not going to move off the idea… and progress would halt until some solution was reached, he changed his mind.
Thanks for saying about the water shutoffs… makes me feel better. I know I spent too much on these… and have told Paul that when we move, we will have to take them with us. Ha ha.
February 8, 2013 @ 5:36 pm
Of course we love looking at old broken building bits! We came home from Philadelphia Salvage with an extra newel post (just in case) and an old chimney pot (which is a Valentine’s Day present from my other half).
Tell Paul that he did an excellent job on the door!
February 9, 2013 @ 10:26 am
Everyone needs an extra newel post… or two.
I’ll tell him about the door… but believe me when I tell you that everyone who visits, falls over to tell him how great it is… and he acts like it was his idea, and I didn’t have to fight him for it. Grrr.
February 7, 2013 @ 2:59 pm
if you get that tub faucet as a necklace make sure you get the matching hot and cold sink faucets for the earrings. LOL Great article. I like the scones on the bathroom mirror…and the porcelean legs on the sink. You have some really unique ideas in place.
February 7, 2013 @ 5:58 pm
LOL… the faucets are pretty enough to wear as earrings. Although maybe kind of heavy… I could make a matching necklace set out of the water shutoffs!
Your new gravatar pic is fantastic!
February 7, 2013 @ 5:05 pm
Oh yes! I can totally relate to the hours spent researching and comparing online to save $$! The search can be agonizing, but always worth it in the end. So much money can be saved.
The medicine cabinet is my fav too. 🙂
February 7, 2013 @ 6:10 pm
TOTALLY worth it in the end… except the water shutoffs. I think that was a bit of madness that makes me aggravated with myself in retrospect. They were too expensive… and really, who looks at faucets UNDER the sink? Oh well… whenever the people who are incharge of inspecting such things stop by, they’ll be impressed.
February 7, 2013 @ 5:27 pm
I love your Kohler shower fixture. And chrome wins, in price and looks. Who knew faucets and pipes were so damn expensive? We are nearing the end of the “buying the bath and kitchen fixtures online” process. But by now, I’m an expert. And my boyfriend, well, it’s his new hobby. HomePerfect, eFaucets, the list goes on. So I just want to keep looking. Which is easy, since the wonderful world of remarketing shows me faucets in my browser sidebar! This post was lovely timing.
February 7, 2013 @ 6:05 pm
Have you seen the multi-thousand dollar faucets? Who is buying those? They’re not even nice-looking!!
I read so many bad stories of people being unhappy with what they ordered online, once they saw it in person… but literally every last thing we got (except the sink legs) was perfect, and just what I wanted. No doubt, a streak of luck that will not be repeated.
February 8, 2013 @ 2:28 pm
For some strange reason, I never get tired of reading about your bathroom. It must be the way you write, because we did a renovation with far less attention to detail. It honestly never occurred to me to select special knobs for the plumbing under the sink. That’s incredible! Good luck with your big vote… I think your blog deserves lots of recognition and awards!
February 8, 2013 @ 4:16 pm
I’m kind of tired of writing about our bathroom… but for some reason, I still have things to say about it… and, it seemed bad to be in the (back) of the running for a DIY blog contest and have all my last six posts be about blogging, moving this blog, my thoughts on blogs in general, myself, myself, myself, and disco balls… you know?
February 9, 2013 @ 3:54 pm
ha ha ha!: “And having seventy-two browser-windows, full of 18,956 tabs, all of which are on different design sites… that you CANNOT FORGET TO GO BACK TO. ” This describes my computer @ all times, my husband calls me a tab hoarder 🙂
February 9, 2013 @ 8:19 pm
Laughing at tab-hoarder… I don’t remember the last time I opened my browser and did not “reopen all windows from last session.” If that function failed, I would literally lose all track of what I’m supposed to be accomplishing.
February 10, 2013 @ 5:16 pm
Having finished a friends bathroom in France, and our sons in Bath (a bath in Bath 🙂 sorry)
I admire the work you have done here, searching and finding and putting it all together. Well done, I am know hoping, after a shoulder op, to start on our house. Finally!
Jim
February 10, 2013 @ 7:58 pm
Finishing this project was the greatest feeling… I even forgot, briefly that there was STILL plenty of house-stuff to be done. The bathroom was so all-consuming that once it was done, I felt like surely, everything was done!!
Take it easy with your shoulder recuperation!! Not fun! A friend of ours had some shoulder surgery last fall, and he said the physical therapy was really helpful…
p.s.- a bath in Bath… 🙂
March 6, 2013 @ 7:44 pm
Do you mind if I use one of your pictures and link to your site?
March 7, 2013 @ 11:38 am
I would love that!!
March 31, 2013 @ 11:40 am
Hi Victoria. Like your bathroo remodel! I particularly like your transom windows. I’m thinking of putting two new transom windows in my apartment. Could you let know what hardware you used and where to find them? Also, any tips to make them look good. Best, -Chiun
March 31, 2013 @ 5:51 pm
It’s really a very simple design… and doesn’t require any kind of special hardware.
The window rotates on a pin. On either side of the frame. Just a piece of steel rod. That’s it. About 1.5” long, so that ¾” goes in the door frame and the other ¾” goes in the window frame. Drill out a hole to the width and depth of your dowel… on either side.
In looking hardware to do a traditional version, it started to seem unnecessary to us. Plus, aside from light, our goal was ventilating the room as much as possible, and being to open it all the way was better for us… We put a small glass knob at the bottom to move it with. It’s an easy reach for the two of us, but if someone were petite, they’d need a hook.
Any tips to make it look good? Well… I guess the window itself could be tricky to build! Paul is good at stuff like that, but if I had done it myself, it would have been crooked!! Also, we built the wall from scratch, so were able to make sure everything was perfectly square. If you’re working around an existing door, you might run into some complications… those things never go as smoothly as you hope!!
Good luck! Let me know how it turns out!!
April 1, 2013 @ 9:37 pm
I have been trying to find the right hardware but they don’t seem to work. Steel pins seem a great idea. How did you put them between the frame and the jambs?
April 2, 2013 @ 11:14 am
Since we were building the wall from scratch, we were able to build the transom and the frame together, the way you see it, and install it… a totally different plan than if we’d had to work with an existing wall. It probably made the transom itself easier to install, but the wall wasn’t too fun!!!