Introducing the Red House Half Bath + a Modern Stripe Wallpaper Round-Up

Welcome to the half bath in the Red House! Located off of the primary bedroom, this room is small and needs to be as functional as it is beautiful.

Meet the Half Bath!

With the main bathroom complete and kitchen planning in the works, we’re in the proverbial eye of the storm at the Red House. We’ve officially ordered a trio of new windows for the kitchen, but we’re facing an 8 week lead time, so we figured we’d shift our attention to the tiny little half bathroom in the meantime.

Wait, what half bath? Well, this one!

You don’t see it? (Kidding.) As you can see from the photo above, the half bath didn’t exist when we purchased the home! This post shares the details on how we shifted a few walls around to create the space that will bring tons of new functionality to the home.

Our primary bedroom, which now includes this little bathroom, lived a former life as a main floor laundry room for the previous owner, but we’ve shifted laundry duty over to a dedicated closet in the kids’ room. We’re chomping at the bit to get started!

Small but Mighty

When we say this room is tiny, we mean it; measuring 3’w x 5’l, it’s the smallest bathroom allowed by Michigan code! We specifically oriented the pocket door on the right side to hide the toilet when open. Positioning the opening in the center of the room still allows for a full size single vanity, so we’ll still have a nice amount of storage available.

You may have noticed some similarities between this tile floor and the tile in the main bathroom. It’s actually the same tile, but in the opposing colorway! Where we chose the Nero Micro pattern in the main bathroom, we selected the Bianco Micro pattern here. We think its a great unifier without being identical, and we love how the brighter base color completely shifts the tone of the room and brightens things up. We still need to add a threshold, by the way.

Let There Be Light

The half bath will have 3 light fixtures. Even in a smaller room, it’s great to have options! We’ll have a pair of wall sconces (operated by one switch) to flank a mirror, along with an overhead light. An overhead light is crucial in a room of this size to illuminate the corners, creating the illusion of a larger space.

In addition to electric light sources, it was very important to us to bring some natural light into the space, no matter how minute! We custom ordered a 12″h x 24″w picture window to allow a partial view of the forest behind the home and installed it just below the exterior soffit. This carefully calculated spacing will allow for a large vintage mirror above the vanity – and we’ve already found the one.

This small space needs some drama – and fast! All of the structural pieces are in place and we’re ready to start selecting finishes. We’re thinking bold stripes on the walls with a walnut vanity and neutral sink, countertop and toilet. Maybe brass hardware and fixtures? Check out our pinterest board here to get an idea of our inspiration sources. Time will tell where we land, but one thing is for sure; the striped wallpaper needs to go up first, so we’ve ordered a handful of samples to get us moving on the base layer.

A Round Up of Modern Stripes

Below, we’re sharing several of the samples we’ve picked up, along with others we considered! Would you do stripes in a small room? Why or why not? We’re all ears!

1. Warped Vertical Stripe | 2. Painted Stripe | 3. Broad Stripe | 4. College Stripe | 5. Magnus Burgundy | 6. Five Over Stripe | 7. Chromatic Stripe | 8. Earthy Vertical Rainbow | 9. Carousel Stripe | 10. Imperial Stripes

Craving wallpaper inspo? See also: Tree House Loft wallpaper roundup, wallpapering tips + tricks, our Chicago laundry room, and the Kalvakota’s first floor.