Pepper Design Blog

Building a Bathroom + Going Green: Installation Time

We’ve just finished installing our new vanity, vanity top, faucet and toilet! Our previous set of three closets is really beginning to look like a bathroom now.

To date, we’ve demoed those three adjoining closets, reframed all walls to create one 10×10′ ish room, Kevin used his amazing skills to plumb the entire space, tile was installed, electrician came out to help us with lighting, we’ve painted and we chose a vanity, sink and toilet.

Let’s start with the toilet. I’m excited because it’s been a while since I’ve had an opportunity to post on anything Project Going Green and this first install more than fits the bill.

Did you know that all toilets manufactured today use less than half the water of older models? The average pre-1992 toilet uses 3.5 gallons of water per flush (wow) and today’s low-flow versions use a mere 1.6 gallons. BUT there’s an even better solution. High Efficiency Toilets – or HETs – (which are marked with a WaterSense label by the EPA to vouch for their credibility) drop that number down to 1.1 or 1.28 gpf (gallons-per-flush for those not up on their toilet acronyms). That adds up to a savings of about $90 per toilet per year. Consider that an average toilet lasts upwards of 20 years (that’s nearly $2,000 in savings) and since the program’s inception in 2006, WaterSense has helped consumers save a cumulative 125 billion gallons of water (a finite resource) and over $2 billion in water and energy bills. Now those are some numbers.

Okay, stepping down from my green soapbox now.

Back to the down and dirty. This here is the nifty little space that we used to use to pass tools to one another from the bathroom to the crawl space below. There was never a toilet there before so it was basically just a clean hole in the dry wall.

Then along came our Kohler WaterSense toilet from Lowe’s.

I don’t have any fun pictures of Kevin reworking the plumbing below or above the floor (more about plumbing a new toilet here) but he’s a self-taught master DIYer.

A helpful tip for caulking the base of the toilet is to use painters tape. You can see that the little blue bits above help to keep the caulk from getting caught in the grout (they’re not placed under the toilet but right up against it). When you wipe up the extra caulk and pull up the tape you have a nice even line.

If you are replacing a current toilet these are the pitfalls to watch out for: make sure your new toilet will fit where your old toilet was once installed (measure from behind the toilet to the floor bolts – you don’t want to get stuck with a toilet that is too long and doesn’t line up with the drain when you are in the process of removing your current one), turn off your water supply before you start and don’t forget to plug the drain hole to keep gases from escaping (but don’t let that rag or whatever you’re using fall down the drain). Lot’s of tips can be found right here.

Now onto the vanity. You can read all about this big decision (I agonized over it…) and how we found the perfect vanity and top combo here.

Before any securing, screwing or gluing went underway, we had to get the vanity on level ground.

Shims are used to level out the vanity and are almost a guaranteed necessity in a home full of unlevel walls and floors like our 1930′s bungalow.

Those guys will stay put during the install and then will be snapped off (half remaining under the vanity) when we’re finished.

The part of the cabinet that actually makes permanent contact with the wall is the back of the vanity – two screws later and she’s stuck.

Next is adding the vanity top, complete with a thick line of adhesive (applied with a caulking gun) for an extra secure hold.

That line of adhesive is applied to the top of the entire cabinet (where it will come into contact with the vanity top):

As well as to the back of the top.

Not to worry if it makes a mess, you can wipe up any smooshed out adhesive afterwards.

It looks great!

Kevin has also finished installing the new faucet which looks really great with the combination of the dark cabinet, sea salt blue walls, glass shower tile and white subway tile. I initially was leaning towards an oil rubbed bronze faucet for that vintage vibe (since the goal of the new bathroom was to build a modernized space that fit in a 1930′s home):

Not sure why it felt more vintage to me but I love our oil rubbed bronze faucet in the kitchen and I thought from the get-go that that would be my choice.

After much wondering I picked up a brushed nickel and an oil rubbed bronze version from Lowe’s…

And eventually settled on this Moen Caldwell faucet:

A brushed nickel finished in a slightly vintage shape and feel. Love how it looks with the rest of the bathroom (we have the matching shower head and tub faucet on the other side of the bathroom now, too). The new bathroom is almost here!

More building a bathroom posts: vanity wars, subway tile installation,  floor tiles and toe warmers, a quick catch-up on our work on the bathroom in 2011, tiling with recycled glass, choosing and installing a bathtub, demo time!, a peak at the layout, initial inspiration, partnering with Lowe’s

We partnered with Lowe’s on our bathroom remodel and received some product at no cost and some product at a discount. The ideas and stories shared in this post are entirely our own.

Building a Bathroom: Time for Color

Happy to report that the bathroom is painted! It’s hard to convey in these photos, but the color of the paint is a saturated blue/green named ‘Sea Salt Blue’ by Valspar. At different times of the day it almost takes on a grey tint (similar to below) but is most often that calming, soothing blue (with a tinge of green) that was just what I was on the hunt for.

We tried out four variations of blueish/greens. Actually, nearly all four read too green on our walls (and yet they look so blue in these photos!) in the light of the bathroom. The Chosen One is pointed out below.

Usually I’m a big fan of adding a swatch to each wall to get an idea of what the color will look like when sunlight hits different walls at different times of the day, but because we have no windows (except the new skylight!) it was more of a concern that the color compliment that awesome recycled tile hiding in the shower nook.

See how the tile looks greener here? We could have totally gone green in the room and it would have looked just as great. This tile is tricky like that…

But as you can see when the paint colors are up right against the tile it matches our blue options really well:

We opted for Valspar Signature’s Hi-DEF paint in a low VOC version (for the babe). Their new line offers enhanced color accuracy, meaning the color you select on the chip will match the color on the wall and (if we had old paint on the walls) claims to cover your old paint faster in less coats, saving both time and money. The paint is also highly durable and has superior fade resistance, meaning it will last even in high traffic rooms like our bathroom. You can learn more about its benefits over here.

Wanna check out a nifty color sample tool? Try this one here (I’m a huge fan of the Ideas Library). I tested a few different blues in the Color Selector tool and it made searching for specific shades of specific colors so much easier than trying to cross your eyes and compare paint chips at arms length in the florescent lights of the store. Since I was going for a blueish-green, I chose a color palette that boasted of coastal and ocean shades and then just slid the little highlighter box from grey to green to blue until I found a few that I loved. If something was too blue I moved one box back to the green or vice versa.

You can even upload your own photo, here’s our unfinished wall waiting for plaster and paint:

Next I selected a color from my palette:

And then I boxed off my space using the little tool provided and ‘painted’ in the color:

We didn’t end up choosing Sea Spray (too teal) but here’s the Sea Salt Blue on the actual wall:

Of course you don’t have to upload a pic, you can always play around with a selection of rooms they have ready to go, too:

Anyway, it’s one more cool tool to file away in the home improvement toolbox for making big decisions like settling on a room color. And it might just save us some serious dough in the long run if it cuts back my paint sample expenses from 10 mini cans a room to just two or three .

PS this is how we were able to funnel a little bit of that awesome natural daylight into the space. It is definitely the DIY of skylights!

I love a freshly painted room! Now we are one step closer to a finished bath.

As shown above, the toilet no longer resides in the living room… but as one reader put it, it sure would have made potty training easier!

More building a bathroom posts: vanity wars, subway tile installation,  floor tiles and toe warmers, a quick catch-up on our work on the bathroom in 2011, tiling with recycled glass, choosing and installing a bathtub, demo time!, a peak at the layout, initial inspiration, partnering with Lowe’s

We partnered with Lowe’s on our bathroom remodel and received some product at no cost and some product at a discount. The ideas and stories shared in this post are entirely our own.

Building a Bathroom: Vanity Wars

Sounds like the title of the latest reality show, right? Well we’re having a serious show down over here between several vanities that are vying for their spot in the new bathroom (at least in my head that’s how I’m imagining the fight is working out).

We bounced back and forth between a cabinet-style vanity and a pedestal sink and actually tried all four of these various models in the bathroom itself. Nothing speaks louder than a really outstanding visual!

The bummer with the pedestal (my initial favorite) right off of the bat was that because you entered into the bathroom looking at the side of the sink, the exposed plumbing was going to be more obvious than usual (such a bummer – if we had originally plumbed it with that intention it may have worked out). But alas, on to options with storage (woohoo!).  Standing in corners 2, 3 and 4 are the 25″ ish (the ideal size for the space – we learned the hard way by hauling in a 36″er) and are as follows: 2. Moravia by allen + roth, 3. Java Broadway by Estate, 4. Magick Woods by Eurostone Shaker.

Any of these vanities would have been perfect, but the perfectionist in me had a little vision in mind as to what I had hoped the ideal vanity would be: a more modern rectangular shape, a ceramic white vanity top and a little bit of storage below.

The Moravia by allen + roth had more of a potbelly feel with a rounded front and more ornate doors.

It was a little on the fancier side though it did have wood paneling sides and that was a nice touch, especially since you see the side first. The only thumbs down? The white of the top of the vanity was different white from the subway tiles and Kohler toilet. Pretty noticeable (I guess maybe especially to us since we’re up to our ears in details right now ).

The Java Broadway by Estate was the ideal shape with classic shaker-style doors. Proportion-wise it was a fit as well with a depth of about 19″ and a 25″ width. The only bummer? It has a tan top. It’s had to see in this picture, but the vanity top is on the warmer side with creamy tans and browns. We considered the top with the current blueish/green color palette for a few minutes but quickly decided that it contrasted too much with the cool tone of the tile in the shower and on the floor.

The Magick Woods by Eurostone Shaker was the most economical solution and shared similar shaker-style doors to my above favorite. The stain is significantly darker in person, more of an espresso vs coffee, and the ceramic bowl almost looks like a pedestal with a built-in cabinet. The major bummer was that it’s a short 12″ in depth and after seeing the above options it felt like it was swallowed up in the bathroom. It’s a shame because this guy would have been a great buy.

We spun circles around which decision to make -all three of the final vanity choices would have worked out great in the space! But we had to choose one that was most similar to how we imagined the final bath turning out.

The vanity that won out? Java Broadway by Estate! When we learned that it would be just a small expense more for a Kohler vanity top that matched the Kohler toilet we splurged the extra bit and upgraded to the best of both worlds.

An up close shot with one of our hardware options we’re thinking about…

And the matching Kohler option looks really great up against the ceramic tile.

Next upm installing these guys and painting! A new bathroom is on its way…

More building a bathroom posts: subway tile installation,  floor tiles and toe warmers, a quick catch-up on our work on the bathroom in 2011, tiling with recycled glass, choosing and installing a bathtub, demo time!, a peak at the layout, initial inspiration, partnering with Lowe’s

We partnered with Lowe’s on our bathroom remodel and received some product at no cost and some product at a discount. The ideas and stories shared in this post are entirely our own.