A Dated Bathroom Gets A Luxurious Makeover With Existing Finishes

What if you had a humungous master bathroom that is in desperate need of renovating, but you don't want a full gut job. You want to use as much of the existing materials and finishes as possible. Think it's possible?

It is! We just presented the concepts for a fresh and luxurious master bathroom to this couple, and they love it! We may be well on our way soon to making this concept a reality.

Renderings For Master Bathroom Refresh Featuring An Electric Fireplace At Freestanding Tub

So the above rendering is what we envisioned the finished bathroom will look like. We created some photo realistic concepts to really communicate our ideas to our clients.

It was very important in this case because the before is really a dramatic difference, especially since we are using a lot of the same finishes, and definitely the same layout. Let's look at the before photo before we get to the thought behind the design

Here's the before.....roman busts and all....

I am sure it was spectacular in its hay day! But now, it needs a major update and betetr functionality

BEFORE Of Master Bathroom With Roman Columns, Steps Up To A Large Tub And Wall Niches

There are times when a client comes to us to refresh a bathroom or a kitchen - wanting to keep as much of the existing as possible. A lot of times we advise them against it, as we believe their money would be better spent just starting over. It may mean waiting a few years, or tapping into other resources, or scaling back expectations a bit if they want it now

In this case, we felt strongly that we could keep a lot of what's already here and still make this bathroom feel like a luxury upgrade

As you can see from the floor plan, we kept the layout exactly the same. The layout works well in its current state. I love that the linen closets are hidden behind the main wall, and I love the newly proposed double frosted doors leading to the gym (not noted on the plan) that replace the glass blocks on the right. We are opting for a bigger tub than what's shown on the floor plan below. Our new tub is about 72x43

This brings me to my clients' wish list

- Keeping as much of what's existing as possible - definitely keeping the vanity cabinets

-A large freestanding tub with lower sides for ease of getting into

-A steam shower

-More lighting

-Rain head shower

-Feeling of luxury

The demo calls for removing the four columns (YAY!), the large built-in tub and stairs leading up to it, the glass block walls on either side of the tub wall, removing the large slab mirrors above the vanity, vanity lights and the vanity countertop, which is a cultured marble material.

We felt pretty sure that we could keep the travertine flooring. Although travertine is not the trendiest flooring on the market now, it is still available, and still a classic material. The key is that I will need to do some serious searching to find pieces that match the current floor exactly.

Once the tub and columns are removed, there will be a pretty large area where the tile will need to be replaced. The floor is in pretty good shape otherwise and worth searching for to save on the flooring costs.

This now meant that I need to select all the new materials to coordinate with the flooring. Materials like the shower tiles, vanity color, main wall stone. Notice I said coordinate, and not match! We definitely don't want anymore of the travertine, so we are finding coordinating porcelain and marble materials to give a great mix of pattern and texture.

Here's our concept board

The first thing I wanted to do for my clients, to give them a real sense of luxury, is the linear fireplace. What a dream to sit in the tub in front of a fire. I chose a 60" linear electric fireplace to give off some nice warmth at bath time. You can find a similar one HERE

The next thing I chose was the gorgeous book-matched stone for the main wall. We are most likely going with porcelain slabs with a similar look to this Calacatta Bettogli Marble shown on our concept board. It is gorgeous, but a very high priced marble at around $22K per slab.

When it comes to choosing slabs, it is best to go to the slab yard and choose exactly the material you will be using, and have the fabricator do a layout before ever cutting the material. This will be a field trip to the slab yard with samples in hand to select the final porcelain slabs we will be using

We are also using the same material on the countertops, the 8" backsplash, the shower curb top and the bench top in shower. This will offer some consistency throughout the space.

I love doing the backsplash at the vanity a bit taller - between 8 and 10". The typical is around 4", but seems very standard to me. A taller backsplash shows a bit more of the material as well, therefore adding a sense of luxury

We are planning for a steam shower and will be using a kit from Mr. Steam, one of the leaders in steam therapy. The shower is enormous and can accommodate a long bench and a niche for shampoos and soaps. One of my clients' requests was a rain shower head, and if it is possible to keep dual shower heads as well, since they currently have that. They want to be reminded of their travels and stays in luxury hotels, so I threw in a towel warmer as well. It's something I totally want in my own bathroom

We will be using a waterjet marble mosaic tile for the main shower wall and 12x24 porcelain tiles for the other two walls. Because it is a steam shower, the glass will run floor to ceiling and the ceiling will also be tiled.

A very large freestanding tub was super important to my clients. They love the one we chose because the sides are a bit lower. We are continuing the theme of gold faucets here at the tub, and the beautiful one we chose will be quite the focal point (similar one HERE). The hand held piece was also very important to them

The vanity cabinets are being painted in Porpoise by Sherwin Williams in a satin finish. We are going really dark to downplay the floors a bit. Since they are travertine, we don't want them to be the strongest color in the room. Satin is also a very soft finish and not shiny and harsh. Perfect for darker paint colors on cabinets. We will add some beautiful new acrylic and gold pulls to dress them up just a bit

We chose vessel sinks for the vanities with 8" faucet spreads. The vanity sink and faucets are a bit more classic contemporary and perfect for the space

One of my favorite elements is the large mirrors from Anthropologie. You can find them HERE. We will be doing two on her vanity side and one on his. These will give the vanities a really dressed up, custom and luxury detail.

To address my clients' need for more lighting, we will add a few more recessed lights in the ceiling and a gorgeous chandelier over the seating area in front of the tub. I love this ONE, even though we didn't use it, because the scale was all wrong for our space. We are also replacing the overhead vanity lights with modern sconces similar to these on either side of the mirrors. This is a much better light source than light coming from overhead. Combined, these new fixtures will provide ample lighting for their needs.

Our bathroom is large enough to accommodate a 6x9 wool rug, a chaise lounge and a small accent table. Of course we added a vanity bench at her vanity area. What is a luxury spa bathroom without seating? The textiles, and even the rugs will be determined later, but definitely materials that can hold up to heat and moisture

We added crown moldings at the ceiling and will paint in a creamy white. We haven't decided on the wall color just yet, but most likely a warm white like Benjamin Moore Silver Satin.

We will be sure to share the progress of this master bathroom refresh using some of the existing materials. This one should be a lot of fun.

And speaking of fun - how about some luxury items for my clients to make the experience in this master bathroom even more luxurious