Building a Home - Master Bathroom Reveal

I'm excited to show you our Master Bath today!  It is one area that always elicits some marvelous comments when we show people the house, mostly because the floor is unbelievable.

To get us started, I'll show you the inspiration board again.  (And you can check out the master bath inspiration post here.)

You enter the master bath from the bedroom and immediately see our wall of cabinets.  We ended up with so many cabinets that even now (months from moving in) there are some that are empty.  The extra space will come in handy and be filled soon I'm sure but for now we're just enjoying the extra space!

You can see that we've got his and hers sinks as well as a vanity in the middle and a linen closet tower on the far end.  We changed our cabinet drawings to a full height linen tower after we found the perfect slab of Alabama White marble to use but it wouldn't fit if the counter went all the way from wall to wall.  Since we had taken out the architect's proposed linen closet during the initial design phase, we decided to add in a cabinet linen closet to provide that space.  I have to say that I like the way that it turned out.

Our cabinets were custom made and we went with a very dark mocha stain on them.  We like the contrast between the cabinets and the white marble counters and the floors pull in some of all of the colors.

If you turn around standing in the middle of the vanity area, you're faced with the tub and a wall of windows.  I love the natural light that comes in from these windows.  And, don't worry, we've got shades that are motorized and come down from behind the valance.  They're not see through but allow in a lot of light which is good, because they are closed a lot of the time.  (I've got a full post on the window treatments coming soon.)

To the left of the tub area is the walk in shower.  The tile that we chose for the walls is a really neat tile with a grasscloth like texture.  Even though it is a single color, the texture makes it very interesting and gives the wall some depth.

We used extra pieces of our marble slab to make a bench seat and shelves in the shower (as well as the top of the casing when you walk in the shower).  This allowed us to get the most use out of the slab as we could and I'm really happy with the look of the marble pieces in the shower.

Our master shower tile was the area of most contention in the entire house.  We had a misunderstanding with the tile guy and ended up having an order placed of tile that we didn't fully know how much it was going to be.  We were able to return the really expensive stuff (with a restocking fee, of course) and our tile guy was able to suggest ways that we could use what we already had extra of to make the shower work.  The band of skinny tile halfway up the wall?  It's actually the same 12x12 tiles that are on the rest of the wall, just mitered to appear like they're individual skinny pieces.  And the shower floor is the same as the rest of the bathroom, just cut and laid in such a way to achieve the slope that was needed on the floor.  I LOVE the way it turned out and am very happy with the overall look.  The overall look of the bathroom ended up much more "rustic" this way as opposed to "glamorous" like it would have with the original tile accents, but I think this fits in with the rest of the house better.

Speaking of the floor tile, let me show you a close up.

I'm not sure if the feel of the tile comes off as well in pictures, but it is ceramic tile that looks 100% as if it's weathered wood flooring.  Everyone who comes into our bathroom for a tour thinks that it's actual hardwood and are always amazed when I tell them that it's ceramic tile.  The shading and coloring and detail on the tile is amazing.  I promise you that you will not be disappointed if you put it in your house!  It looks fantastic and is tile so it's virtually foolproof in maintenance.

To the right of the tub is the water closet, but I don't think anyone wants to see that.  So I'll move back around to my vanity area.

One of my favorite features of the house are the Rev-A-Shelf pull out's that we installed here and in Charlotte's vanity.  With a plug in the kneespace of the vanity, I'm able to keep my hair dryer plugged in all the time without it being an unsightly nuisance and I can stick my hot curling iron down in the metal bucket to cool if I need to get ready and then clear the counter quickly!

Some might wonder about the use of marble in the bathroom, but we've found it to work really well.  Since it's in the bathroom I haven't worried about sealing it with mineral oil (I know I should but I just haven't had time!) and it still doesn't hold water stains although we are careful not to set our contact cases straight on it.  It really looks beautiful and our stone people sold us on the fact that our honed finish is virtually indestructible and we know that the stone will just get a deep patina over time.  We like the look of the patina and the character it will add to an, otherwise, brand new house but if you're interested in finding out whether marble is a good choice for you, this is a good article to read about the different ways it can be used and whether you should use it.

The veining of the Alabama White marble that we chose is beautiful and we love that it's called Alabama White even though it's mined in Tennessee and then shipped to Italy to be made into slabs and then shipped back.  It's not inexpensive but by finding a small slab we were able to reduce our cost and use almost every square inch of the slab and by using remnants everywhere else in the house (with the exception of the kitchen) we ended up under our budgeted amount estimated from our builder (who said we would be way over if we used marble).

Jason really wanted a small tv in the bathroom so that he could watch sports without disturbing me when he's getting ready in the morning's.  so we put a small one in this corner that is only seen when you get in the bathroom and turn around.  I like that it's out of sight and admit that I've used it once or twice while getting ready.

We love the lighting that we selected and it works perfectly with the mirrors that we got on Overstock.com.  I tell you, don't pay full price for mirrors if you can help it.  They are expensive and a mirror is a mirror and once they're hung you can't tell a lick of difference!

We are so pleased with the way our bathroom turned out and are loving the look and feel of it!  For those who want more details, here are all the specifics.

Wall Color: Sherwin Williams Modern Gray SW7632
Ceiling Color: Sherwin Williams Windowpane SW6210
Trim color: Sherwin Williams First Star SW7646
Countertops: Alabama White Marble
Cabinets: Custom with dark mocha stain
Sink faucets: Pfister Ashfield Widespread Faucet, Tuscan Bronze
Tub faucet: Pfister Ashfield Two Handle Waterfall 3-Hole Roman Tub Trim, Tuscan Bronze
Tub: Maax Roman Roman 6842 Soaking Tub
Shower fixtures: Price Pfister Ashfield items including rain shower head (our supplier put this together for us)
Floor Tile: Mediterranea Boardwalk Myrtle Beach
Wall Tile: AO Infusion White Fabric
Wall Sconces: Minka Lavery 5201-290 Abbott Place Sconce
Ceiling Fixture: Minka Lavery 4206-290 Abbott Place
Mirrors: Antique Wood Traditional Rectangular Mirror
Grooming organizer (hair dryer pull out): Rev A Shelf Grooming Organizer
Stool in vanity: Joss and Main (can purchase through 7/3/13 from the Amory Home sale)

*Some affiliate links are used.  All links fall under my link/review disclosures.  All opinions are my own and I wasn't compensated in any way for these opinions or given any of these items.