The Hall Bathroom

Last year we went on a House & Garden tour and I quickly realized I could pinpoint when each bathroom was remodeled, based on the tile they used.  Trends in tile design come and go and what looks great today can look dated in a few years (thanks in large part to social media, which is always touting the latest fad).

For this house, I want to use classic styles that will make it hard to guess when the house was updated.  Sure, we want modern conveniences, but don't want to use the 'it' tile that's so popular this week/month/year.  So for example, we won't use any 12x24" tiles in our house - not because I don't like them, but because they aren't appropriate for an 1898 house.

What does that mean for our tile choices?  Well let's start with the hall bathroom.  Our guess is the bathroom was added to the house in the early 1920's, when the house changed from a cottage to a full time home.  So I wanted to look at styles from that period.  The Standard company (later called American Standard)  introduced the 'Sanitary Bath' - with porcelain, easy to clean fixtures and surfaces.  

I installed a classic marble dog bone basketweave on the floor.  It's a design that's been around for 100+ years and is still a great look for today.
 

The shower walls also got a classic treatment with a timeless subway tile, accented with diagonal 4x4 tiles.

I'm a huge fan of wallpaper and ordered the antique toothbrush wallpaper from the Netherlands that I used in another home several years ago.  I love that paper and can't wait to use it again. 

But the other big change was the sun tunnel.  This bathroom is in the middle of the house with no windows.  And I desperately wanted to get some daylight in there.  So we added a Velux sun tunnel which channels sunlight from the roof to the bathroom.  It's such a great change!  It's so bright, I keep trying to turn off the light as I walk by the room - forgetting that it's natural daylight.  

And last but not least, we want to install marble baseboards in the bathroom.  I've never done this before, but am pretty thrilled with how they look!  I'll seal and grout them tomorrow!

Our painter is hoping to start the 2nd floor this week - I'll post updates soon.  

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