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The Garden Bathroom Makeover!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Delta® Faucet. The opinions and text are all mine.

It’s funny, because when we first started thinking we might-maybe-should-we? renovate the garden apartment this summer, we thought for sure that we could bypass the bathroom. We said, It just needs fresh paint, right? Let’s demo the floors, but we’ll really focus on the kitchen and call it a day. We laugh about that now, but honestly, who’s surprised?

When we really started to peel back the layers on the onion that is the garden, we realized that this was our time to make things right. No more Band-Aids. The day after our former tenants officially moved out, Scott and I did a thorough walk through of the unit, and we had forgotten how poorly laid out the bathroom was! The door swung inward, which meant the toilet was forced off the wall by about 2′ to allow for the swing. The bulky vanity was water logged on the side closest to the shower, and the only light source came from the vent fan. All around, it wasn’t efficient, and the room felt smaller than it needed to be. As a reminder, here’s where we started:

We knew that swapping the plumbing for the vanity and toilet was a non-negotiable, and it was the first thing we had our contractor do. Afterwards, the same wood-look tile as the rest of the apartment was brought into the bathroom, and we painted everything – walls, ceiling and trim. Unnecessary wall tile was removed, shower tile was scrubbed and grouted, and the tub was reglazed, erasing a neglected history of chipped enamel and rust. At our last update, a slim vanity with extra deep storage was brought in. From there, it was touch-ups and installing the rest of the more permanent fixtures – additional lighting, shelves, hooks and a mirror! All sources are listed at the end of the post, with similar items noted if original is vintage or sold out.

Because this is a rental, realistically, we wouldn’t typically furnish the room with accessories and towels (of course), but for the sake of an honest-to-goodness room reveal, we borrowed items from our own home, bringing in a touch of color and life. Now? This. This is how she was always meant to look:

During our Day of Inspired Design with Delta® Faucet, we were taken to the Delta showroom (right here in our hometown of Chicago!), and we were able to see the Cassidy™ line, the faucet we were considering for our remodel. Seeing it in person only confirmed our decision, and the bright Chrome finish stole our hearts. In fact, our Cassidy faucet is what kicked off the design for the whole room, and we continued to choose details throughout the bath that would play off of her clean, elegant curves:

We were pleasantly surprised at the hefty weight of the faucet, and we love the ease of use with the high-arc spout and single arm handle. You’ll notice that a lot of the fixtures in this room have rounded edges and soft corners, an intentional decision to mimic the curvy Cassidy™! In a room this small, these tiny details add so much; it’s simplistic yet thoughtful.

The mood board we created during our Delta design challenge combined a mix of metals – chrome, oil rubbed bronze and aged brass (you know they’re our favorites), and we were looking forward to incorporating all three of those finishes in the room. We topped the vanity with an ORB tilt mirror – we’ve always wanted one of these for ourselves! – and a sweet, petite double sconce in chrome. (The nickel finish in this same sconce is so warm and pretty, too.)

We continued the oil rubbed bronze theme on our vanity, replacing the kit knobs with these 3″ bin pulls, and along the side, we installed an adorable brass paper holder (similar). Toilet paper holders can be adorable, right?

Above the toilet, we added a budget marble and brass shelf – and yes, it is the exact same shelf we have in our master bathroom! It’s been such a great perch for greenery, lotion and a candle in our home, and we wanted to provide that same little luxury to our future tenants as well.

Although a tenant would typically choose their own shower curtain, we couldn’t resist hanging one of our own to complete the look! This flowy white curtain keeps things feeling fresh and clean, but we especially loved the knotted gold detail that runs along the fabric. Vintage brass hooks (yet another feature from our master bath) bring out that subtle pattern, while also mirroring the metal finishes on the opposite side of the room:

Perhaps one of our very favorite features in the room is this stunning print from She She! As a part of winning the Delta design challenge (we still can’t believe it!), we were gifted a print of our choice from the crazy talented duo. It adds a huge punch to the room, and eventually, it’ll grace the walls in our home. This is the same pattern we used during the challenge itself, and we chose to hang it on this wall to balance the oil rubbed bronze mirror directly across from it.

Overall, the room feels much larger, brighter and so clean. In addition to the warm brass throughout the space, the wood-look tile is another element in the room that keeps it from feeling stark.

We couldn’t be happier with how the bathroom turned out. Just as we hoped, it’s small and mighty, but more importantly, it’s incredibly functional!

Our most sincere thank you! to Delta Faucet for being a huge part of our makeover and giving us the kick start we needed to turn this into the sweetest little room. Part two of our Day of Inspired Design was caught on video, and don’t forget to check out the rest of the crew that’s working on their own Delta refresh, below!

GRANDBABY CAKES | MAKING HOME BASE | SIMPLY GROVE | BLESS’ER HOUSE | THE UGLY DUCKLING HOUSE | DRIVEN BY DÉCOR | JULIE BLANNER | COPY CAT CHIC | OLD BRAND NEW

SOURCE LIST:

Paint: Valspar Ultra White | Faucet | Vanity + bin pulls | Mirror | Sconce | Marble shelf | Shower curtain | Vintage rug | Black/white art print | Dog drawing (similar) | Soap pump | Whale nail brush | Planter (similar) | Rescue candle (in black, too!)| Vintage towel hooks

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  • Stacy G.8.11.17 - 7:21 AM

    Swapping the toilet and vanity was such a great idea. Now the toilet can get splashed with shower water instead of the painted vanity. Smart!

    Also, I can’t get over that little whale scrubber. It’s adorable.ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.11.17 - 10:20 AM

      It was so necessary. AND swapping the swing of the door helped tremendously as well – we couldn’t have done the swap without taking into account the door. Well worth it!ReplyCancel

  • Rebecca8.11.17 - 8:22 AM

    We put the same sconce in our tiny bathroom in Bridgeport! Looks great! Love that mirror too!ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.11.17 - 10:19 AM

      It’s a good one, and budget friendly!ReplyCancel

  • Amanda8.11.17 - 9:18 AM

    You guys always do such a great job mixing metals. It makes the room so warm and inviting.ReplyCancel

  • ten8.11.17 - 10:54 AM

    This may be something you’v already answered, but are you guys furnishing and decorating the rental? Curious because of all of the accessories in your After photos.ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.11.17 - 11:09 AM

      I wish so badly we could furnish this place, but sadly, it’s not in the cards! The accessories are borrowed from our own home, simply to help complete the visual of the room makeovers.ReplyCancel

  • Sammy8.11.17 - 11:09 AM

    I LOVE IT!
    I also love the whale nail scrub, it is adorable!ReplyCancel

  • Crystal8.11.17 - 11:24 AM

    Is that a linen hand towel? I have linen for my hand towels and bath towels, and I absolutely love it.ReplyCancel

  • Paige Flamm8.11.17 - 12:16 PM

    Love how this turned out! It’s gorgeous!

    Paige
    http://thehappyflammily.comReplyCancel

  • Ashley - The Gold HIve8.11.17 - 12:50 PM

    I’ve never used a nail brush but I think I need that whale one. That dog print is the best!

    The whole space is amazing!ReplyCancel

  • AmandaKB8.11.17 - 1:01 PM

    Wow, it’s so fresh and clean and stylin’ :) So many smart decisions in this little room.ReplyCancel

  • Kim B.8.11.17 - 1:34 PM

    Lovely space – and that faucet is very handsome!!!ReplyCancel

  • Haley8.11.17 - 1:56 PM

    It looks so good! Question: why did you choose not to install a medicine cabinet? Love the mirror of course, but also, storage hahaReplyCancel

    • Kim8.11.17 - 2:05 PM

      Good question, and one we considered! Behind the mirror is a fat support stud that we didn’t want to cut into for the recess of a medicine cabinet. Our hope is that the deep 2-drawer vanity will provide ample room, and it’s another reason why we were adamant about adding storage to the laundry room (extra towels, etc)!ReplyCancel

  • Vanessa8.12.17 - 11:27 AM

    Well done Scott and Kim. What a great result after a series of good decisions!ReplyCancel

  • Meghan8.14.17 - 2:14 PM

    Would you mind sharing the overall dimensions of the bathroom? I’m working on renovation plans for my similarly sized bathroom and I’ve been going back and forth on swapping the vanity and toilet. It seems like in your case it was the best way to go!ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.14.17 - 2:20 PM

      It’s pretty small – not including the tub, maybe 4′ x 6′?ReplyCancel

  • MelissB8.17.17 - 10:22 PM

    I love that you put hooks instead of towel rods! The bathroom is now a stunner and that shower curtain is so stinking cute!

    Just a note I know it’s not how it “supposed” to be installed but we found that the toilet paper roll constantly fell off our rod that was just like yours so we changed it to mount with the pole vertical – TOTAL GAME CHANGER!! You might want to try it and see if you like it better, it rolls paper soon much easier!!ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.21.17 - 9:47 AM

      We considered that! I suppose if it ever comes to that, we would be able to rotate it pretty easily due to the circular screw pattern. Thanks for the tip!ReplyCancel

  • Lesli8.20.17 - 5:16 PM

    I love the choice of the rug and vanity and mirror (geez, I really LOVE everything you two do)! My question concerns the choice of rug…can I actually use a beautiful rug like this in a bathroom? I don’t want to hurt my new wood-tile floors, but I also can’t find a bath rug that I can live with. HELP! Or, possibly, can I beg you all to start your own line of products?ReplyCancel

    • Kim8.21.17 - 9:47 AM

      Hi Lesli! If you’re worried about ruining your floors (which I wouldn’t be – tile floors are TOUGH!), you can always use a rug pad! We actually use a little 2’x3′ rug pad in our master bath to keep the rug from slipping. No one’s the wiser, it saves us from breaking our necks, and our tile stays protected, too.ReplyCancel

  • […] Like this adorable little whale nail brush in Scott + Kim’s renovated garden apartment bathroom: […]ReplyCancel

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