SYH: 1821
SY: Floor tile option 1. We think this might be cement tile from Cle Tile. $14.74/sq ft. This photo could be enhanced to show variety, or this tile could be a couple very close blues combined. SF: I like this floor very much, both the blue hues and the matte finish. I do wonder whether a slightly smaller size hexagon would work better given our long narrow space?. SY: more high level inspiration image with subdued blue floor, white paint & tile walls, and wood elements.
GB: I love this wooden banister. Also, I'm realizing for the first time that light walls will make a huge difference. SY: I think the most affordable/safe/soundproof thing will be to carpet your stairs. I'm not sure about covering them with cork - would have to ask the flooring experts. You could take the wood from the first floor down, but then I'd suggest a runner. In this image, I'm just calling out the lovely wood handrail. Black brackets on wall.
SY: Option 1. I'm pinning three options I think are promising for niche accent tile. Note that I can show you all three in model - it can be hard to tell from these isolated images. I love this option if all the colors work out in person. This is 6x6 hand painted. Reminiscent of the blue hex floor tile, but different. Note that I don't think we want more hexes - seems like too much of a good thing. You need a color and pattern that are coordinating but not matching.
SY: Option 3. Something like this might be pretty and different - with the mustard color bringing in something new and tying to the warm wood vanity. This is a 4x4, so you'd get 9 of them in a 12" niche. You will need to decide the niche size and accent tile size together - for a 12x12 niche, you want a 4x4 or 6x6 or single 12x12 tile, or a mosaic; an 8x8 wouldn't lay out well.
SY: Schluter Kerdi prefabricated niches are available in 12" x 6" , 12" x 12" , 12" x 20" , and 12" x 28" . So you can vary depending on if you buy products in bulk or regular size, use bar soap or body wash, etc etc. I usually divide (as Maddie suggested elsewhere) the larger niches into thirds and use the lower/shorter for soap & razor, and upper for tall bottles. Anyway, dropping this here for your reference as you move into specifics of the design. Incidentally, you can also turn them sideways. And you can, of course, create custom niches without these, too.
SY: I'll use the pulls and knobs shown to the right for purposes of the model, but these would totally work too. They are very lo-profile, so are actually probably less a jabbing-concern than normal pulls. :) GB: I definitely favor flat panel doors and simple pulls in brushed metal. My only concern about this pull is that someone rushing in or out might catch a leg and scratch? SY: thinking about knobs and pulls and cabinet profiles - all of which go a long way toward making a bathroom feel more contemporary or more traditional. Your kitchen cabinets and interior doors are shaker, with (in the kitchen) knobs. I've heard Gardner say here that he likes sleek flat panel doors. Talk to me about your preferences for effect and/or specifics.
SY: Got it. You'll find lots of variants of elongated white subway tile. SF: G and I agree that this is the tile shape we like best - stacked, elongated, but not to the 24 inch length, and looks to be about 2+ or 3 inches tall. We are less keen on bright white and shiny, since we want to avoid a clinical feel. Thus something matte, perhaps textured, and slightly off white would be best. SY: stacked white tile tub surround, elongated tile, very light grout, very flat tile. --> very contemporary.
SY: Got it. I have that covered but as you dig in to details (how tall the items are you are storing) you can shift to various layouts that meet all the conditions. GB: we like the idea of 3 niches; we worry that if each is tall enough, the highest would be out of reach of most. One idea we like is two stacked on long wall, toward the left (far from spray), and one low on plumbing wall for baths - dogs or babies. SY: showing three stacked niches around a tub
SY: ok! This is Secondary Design stuff - perfectly fine for you to specify Hansgrohe when you get to that detail, and always good to go with a brand and style you already know you like. GB: definitely brushed stainless, and simple lines. S wants a shower head and a sprayer, in addition to tub spigot. I think we all like the two-handle configuration of the downstairs bathroom, which is Hansgrohe. SY: The Delta Trinsic wall mount fixture is only one handle, very simple, comes in stainless or polished chrome. Talk to me about those three elements? 1-vs-2 handles; simple lines; finish? (Shown here is stainless, because I think you prefer brushed to polished finishes, yes? More subtle and less contrast?)
GB: the stacked tile style is growing on me, and I do like this textured tile. Not so keen on the sheen visible in the kitchen to right. SY: 2.5x8" Cloe Wall Tile in White - bit more interesting / more depth than straight up subway. $7/sq ft ish.
SY: The Cloe on the wall. There's a sheen.
SF: Curious whether this comes in other sizes - less elongated? 3x24 Allora from Bedrosians - a nice variant on a white subway tile.
SF: Yes, like the stacked. Perhaps too elongated though. SY: this shows that Allora tile but stacked rather than staggered....
SY: again, the stacked 3x24 wall tile here for your shower surround. I love this! Bit more contemporary effect to elongate and stack it. Less grout. What are your thoughts on stacked vs. staggered, and elongated size?
SY: Daltile Elevare Lunar White. Comes in matte or gloss in either 4x16 or 6x18. Around $5/square foot last I checked - which I will admit was a good long while ago. This is a pretty flat white tile, just larger/elongated from standard subway.
SY: showing smaller stacked tile - probably a 2x6 - and incidentally a custom niche. Image from https://www.yellowbrickhome.com/stacked-tile-in-the-bathroom-yay-or-nay/.
GB: I too like the contrasting tile in the niche, and think three is better than two. Agree on preformed inserts. SF: Yes, I like these niches and the contrast tile. Just not sure that two would be enough - G, what do you think? SY: I often put three stacked vertical niches in a shower. Think this will be sufficient for your products? This way you can save some money by using preformed niche inserts, rather than carving out custom sizes. And I like the contrast tile in the niches, as Sara suggested.
SY: looking at these cherry flat paneled doors with finger pulls (yours would be stainless or chrome, not black). SF: I like the medicine cabinet/integrated mirror idea, especially because we could then get rid of the cabinet on the side wall. M and GB like big mirror better. We need to convince! SY: medicine cabinets with integrated mirrors can be useful and lovely; probably not marble tile for you but a light gray like this; cherry cabinets with black hardware. GB: I love the cherry cabinets and the light gray; agreed that marble tile is not for us. I know we have the black pulls downstairs, but I prefer simple matte nickel or brushed steel for upstairs. I guess I prefer a long continuous mirror even though it's true that the medicine cabinets would help with storage
SY: Again, flat panel doors you liked, here with pulls. SY: a few things to note here. 1) lighter gray hex floors. 2) wall mount faucets that extend really far! 3) a fun rug 4) overhead sconce style that I actually would not object to. :) 5) one large mirror sitting on a very handy ledge. Your thoughts? GB: I love the cabinet colors, the silver bar pulls, the gray hex tiles, the ledge, the continuous mirror. I'm converted to flanking rather than overhead sconces. I prefer rectangular to rounded sinks. I do like the wall-mounted long faucets.
SF: Not keen on this styleSY: delta trinsic hand towel ring for above the toilet area - noting that this particular model (oddly) doesn't pivot.
GB: I like this, in both places. SY: double robe hook for outside the shower to the right of the window. And perhaps on the back of the door?
SY: The Svelt LED Bath Bar would be lovely too, comes in Chrome (Polished) and Brushed Nickel. 3" wide / I think you want the Medium 22" high. I prefer this one to the Vogue - slightly softer lines to it, in my opinion.
SY: Mini Vogue Bath Bar for sides of mirror? - comes in Chrome (polished) and Brushed Nickel (which could match stainless fixtures reasonably well). You want the 24" long. 3" wide at the wall mount.
SY: W/D in plain view
SY: doors like these would definitely be in the way of your bathroom door, though because of the chute in your closet, your w/d won't sit down by the wall like this, but 30" into the bathroom. Regardless, I assume you would like to not see the W/D all the time in the bathroom, right? So you'd like doors? Making retractable doors very attractive, if expensive.
SY: retractable doors hiding W/D ($$$$)
SY: retractable doors hiding W/D ($$$$)
SY: W/D behind a door, next to other cabinetry, with what look to me to be retractable doors.
SY: bifold doors over W/D - likely less $$ than retractable.
SY: possible W/D solution with everything behind bifold doors. It's pretty, and a nice / more affordable solution if the builtins with pull out drawers prove out of budget.
SY: maybe something like this might be better for laundry in terms of not getting so much in the way. And I'd hope would be feasible to do in front of the bump out in your closet. How many sorting bins do you need? I've got room for up to 3, each in a 14" wide cabinet.
SY: laundry hamper cabinet under counter is harder because of the sink placement. We have (2) 12"w pullout options and (1) 15"w option, but not together. I'd put them in the closet/built in area.
SY: laundry hamper cabinet under counter
SY: the Kohler Verticyl is our standard undermount rectangular sink recommendation. Unless you do an integrated Corian trough style sink as we have discussed.
SY: Here's your money-saving vanity option! 84" in several oak (though not cherry or walnut, unfortunately) options, integrated sinks (it says plastic - I think that probably means acrylic, like Corian). You'd have to put laundry basket in a customized closet, and you would have to see but I doubt there's room on top for the extra storage unit left of the sinks (plus you'd have to work very hard to get a custom tower on this that matches the wood of the base). But here it is for future reference.
SY: This is labeled as Natural Cherry. Beautiful. Good for inspiration if you do a custom vanity.
GB: we looked at compact (24-25" deep) stackable washers and dryers today. I think our bathroom wouldn't look quite so cramped because happily we have a bit more width, and of course our vanity will start at far left and end where this one begins. I'm hoping to persuade Sara and Maddie we want a tower where the vanity in this picture is, in part to make up for space lost to the washer and dryer. SY: you have plenty of room indeed to steal some space from your closet to add stackable washer and dryer. However, note that any storage tower on the vanity side would be first thing on the left, not splitting up the vanity from the toilet, and it would look more like a recessed cabinet on top of the counter than a standalone storage unit. The latter seems unnecessary to me when you have so much storage (even if you steal half for a W/D), and it also really takes away from the airiness/feel of space in the room, especially if it cuts the room down the middle between vanity and toilet, but even if it is immediately on the left as you walk in.
SF: Gardner and I like this vanity layout, including the tower set back from the counter edge on the left side. Given the size of our bathroom, it doesn't seem to matter too much where the pull-out laundry hamper would go, although I do worry that it will get in the way if we put it close to the W/D and by the door. SY: This is the kind of vanity layout I would do for you if you wanted full height storage on the vanity wall. Indeed, this looks to have similar dimensions to your vanity. Note that you could still do a pull out laundry basket down toward the toilet out of the fray of the W/D and door to the room, but it might be under the far right sink, or better, between the two sinks. I'd be more inclined to build that in over by the washer and dryer, myself.
SF: Susan, I read the piece you sent about the environmental and health concerns of vinyl. What are some of the other options we could consider? If we went with laminate of some kind, what would be the benefits and losses? SY: Basement flooring: LVT and LVP (Luxury Vinyl Tile & Luxury Vinyl Plank) are good options for basements because they are 1) affordable, 2) malleable for application over a perhaps not entirely level floor, 3) warm underfoot, 4) water resistant. You could go with an LVT that hearkens back to the slate tile in your entry way. Downsides: vinyl is not a very earth-friendly product. SF: Susan, can you explain briefly why vinyl isn't earth friendly? SY: We watched a documentary on it in design school; it's not harmful in its inert state, but rather, in the beginning and end of its life cycle. More here for starters: https://www.thespruce.com/environmental-impact-of-vinyl-flooring-1314956
SY: This is LVP that looks like oak. You can find LVP and LVT that looks really good. The idea here would be to hearken back to the wood floors you have upstairs. GB: we all three agree we want a wood look, whether LVP or Pergo or composite, and a light red oak color as in our media room and living room.
SY: Seems to me that if we enlarge the window on the east wall, it limits the book storage possibility, such that we should move the books to the tv area. This unit, designed and installed by us in another recent basement remodel, is similar dimensions to a tv/storage wall I have designated for you on the north wall where the door to the storage area used to be. Two questions: how big a tv do you want down here? Do you think this would be enough bookshelf space? I'm going to assume you would welcome the closed storage below, yes? GB: I love this, and I agree that we need to balance bookshelves with closed storage. SF: If we were to leave some or all of the bookshelves on the east wall, then I think this kind of a combination unit would be fine. I don't think we will go with a giant tv, probably no more than 45 inch or so
SY: Comments can go at the beginning or the end. Typically I put them at the end, because it reads more logically that way, but I don't really care as long as you comment! :) Re: shelving, I'm not sure the east wall is the best solution. You just think you need more book storage? GB: I finally realized you'd asked us to put our comments at the beginning not at the end. The layout does make sense, though we're still thinking of retaining at least some of the shelves on the East wall. SY: This photo begins to represent the layout I'm envisioning, looking from the bottom of the stairs toward the east wall. You'd only have one window, and the tv would be part of a built-in bookshelf/storage unit. Exercise equipment where the photographer is standing. Storage nook in its current location behind photographer. I don't have room for your pair of lounge chairs or rolltop desk, but if you didn't do a sectional, and/or shortened the bookshelf/tv unit, you could use the chairs at least. But if I were Maddie, I'd want a big sectional. :)
SY: this type of thing would give you more book storage, less closed storage.
SY: another nice integrated design here, with tv, book and closed storage. SF: I like this one and the white one that is all books too. We are discussing the option of making the left side into a hinged door to continue to have access to the storage room from the main room. Thoughts? SY: See my email!
SY: possible stair solution. paint or tredplex on stairs - maybe new treads in just a builder grade wood. Then apply a linear runner rug - or 3. :) "It took 3 2’6″ x 8 runners to cover our stairs, but I was also able to use the remnant as a kitchen rug in our lake cottage! I measured a tread and riser, added the number together and multiplied the number of stairs to determine how many we needed."
SY: just a simple new stair carpet would be fine! - but not a frise. a woven or loop shows traffic far less than a frise.
SY: This is an SYH project from several years back. Note the new treads on the stairs - those were stained 2x4 builder grade wood. The floor is LVP! GB: this makes me smile
SY: the simplest solution. GB: I'm sure this is much less expensive than its neighbor, but it looks too plain. I guess I just love natural wood wherever possible and practical. SY: Sure! We all tend to love the things that are more expensive / gracious / warm. :)
SY: simple birch plywood doors here for west end storage nook
SY: mixing up storage and materials here - but again, the general idea with flat simple panel doors to access the west storage nook
SY: basically you could do any number of door situations on that existing storage nook to make it look more finished. Based on what you told me you needed to store here, I'd do large doors like this that open up onto 3' deep shelves with bins - but you could mix up the storage as you wished and budget allowed, for drawers, etc. GB: I could swim in this picture all day long. LOVE. Especially like the clean pulls, which appear to be of the same wood as the faces. SF: I like this look too. Wondering whether some of shelves could be on rollers so that we could pull them out? Obviously this would limit the weight of the stored items, but would give us easier access for commonly used items. SY: of course. You can put all sorts of bells and whistles in a storage cabinet; it's all just budget dependent.
MB: Really like this tile for a niche. Even though the white tiles are squashed hexagons, I think it could pair well with the elongated subway tiles. I think this is called Eclipse Ray...something. About $12 per square foot. SY: I like too!
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