Inspiration Board: Master Bath

Woohoo!  I've finished the master bathroom inspiration board.  It turned out to be much more traditional than I was thinking it would, but I'm feeling it.  Bathrooms are the second-biggest expense per room (kitchens are #1) when it comes to remodeling a house, so I wanted to make sure that I kept it a neutral palette and didn't veer too far into any one trend, which is how I ended up with a traditional design.

It will always look good and will never go out of style.  This design is the Little Black Dress of bathrooms.

The sink base and the storage drawers are from Pottery Barn, as well as the shower curtain, the flowers, the light fixture and the faucet.  I'm really in love with that gooseneck faucet.

I relied heavily on PB for this one, and it didn't start out that way.  I was originally thinking that I'd use the Hemnes sink base from Ikea, since the bath adjoins our bedroom and it would just be easy to keep everything coordinated.  But testing it out at the store, it just didn't seem like it would hold up very well over time, and I'm okay with that for dressers, but a sink base is a different story.  So the PB sink is like ten times the price, but it comes with a honed Carrara marble top and those adorable little bun feet.

Speaking of marble, I was originally thinking I wanted vintage-looking hexagon tile flooring like this.

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But I decided that a little luxury goes a long way.  And there isn't much square footage in a bathroom anyway, so you might as well splurge on what you really want.

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These beautiful babies are 10" x 14", so I won't need to buy very many to cover the floor in the bathrooms.  My plan is to do white subway tile from the floor to 4' up the walls and for the tub / shower surround.  I love the look of white-white-white in a bathroom - probably because the color has an inherent association with cleanliness.

For some fun, I can change up the shower curtain and accessories.  It's also an inexpensive way to add some color here and there.  My only rule about bathroom accessories is that I won't ever do colored towels.  I'm a chlorine bleach lovin' girl, and I will only ever have white linens in my house.  That goes for sheets as well.

The mirror is from Home Decorators Collection.  I want a single large mirror with a big, chunky frame, and the ones from PB just weren't cutting it for me.  I also knew I didn't want a medicine cabinet / mirror, which is another reason the Pottery Barn sink base was more appealing - it has a lot of storage for all of the things I wouldn't be putting in a medicine cabinet.

Unfortunately for me (or fortunately for the average buyer), the bathrooms in the houses we've been checking out aren't in dire need of remodeling.  Yes, they're builder-basic medium oak, boring and utilitarian, but they're not an area of immediate concern.  So the bathroom remodels are going to be lower down on the priority list.

Tomorrow is Monday, and I'm really hoping we get good news about the latest house find.  I really want to be able to post about it with the confidence that it will actually be ours!

Inspiration Board: Bedroom

So, as promised, I finally finished my Master Bedroom inspiration board for the new house.  Since we just purchased our bed and dressers from Ikea in the last year, I have to incorporate those into the scheme.  But I did get to add lots of goodies for fun.

So pictured above is our ASPELUND bed frame and our 8-Drawer HEMNES dresser.  I love both of these pieces, and knew that they would work with a lot of different design schemes when I bought them.  Even though they're not expensive, I still wanted to be able to use them for a long time and not be limited or pigeon-holed into one style or another.

I'm also planning to use the same walnut-stained wide-plank hardwood flooring throughout the house, also featured in the kitchen, living and dining areas.  The curtains and the mirror are both from Ballard Designs.  The bench is one that we already have (currently in the living room in our little rental house), and the end table are both from Home Decorators Collection.  The chair is also from Home Decorators, and at just $373 is a total steal.  The bedding, wall sconce, lantern and antique drapery hardware are all from Pottery Barn.  The chandelier is the same one I used in the dining room (A little wacky to use a dining fixture in the bedroom? Maybe, but I'm okay with being wacky!), is also from IKEA.  I just love its simplistic design.  It really could go anywhere.

I put the topiary, the milk crate and the antique crystal doorknobs as inspiration for accent pieces, to reinforce my theme of getting back to nature, and to a more simple, rustic way of living.  My goal, with whichever house we buy, is to replace all the builder-basic satin nickel or (eek!) brass doorknobs with a crystal antique one.  It's just one of those small little details that really adds up to building a house with a little bit of character.

I also added the French door as a reminder that my goal is to replace a window in the master bedroom with a French door, so that we can expand the deck/patio area and have access directly from the bedroom.  I'm just imagining a hot tub on the deck, and the convenience of being able to run from the hot tub to the bedroom (naked, perhaps?).  Not to mention the added natural light and letting the dogs out in the middle of the night if needed.

So there we have it.  An overall theme of Modern Rustic Vintage, featuring primarily modern style furniture with clean lines, with natural colors and textures plus timeworn, aged metals, and antiques used as accent pieces throughout.  My design plan for a house that flows from one room to the next, with plenty of wiggle room for impulse buys and fun stuff added in along the way.  A place to relax, a place to work (especially for me, since I work from home) and a place to enjoy with friends and family.  My goal is to create a house that everyone always feels welcome to just drop on in, hang out and relax together.