Historic Home Remodeling: Our Craftsman Master Bathroom
Published On: May 17, 2017 Posted by: Jeremy Peterson
Remodeling a home is tough but rewarding work. Our most recent example is the conversion of the original bathroom of our historic home into a master bath for our bedroom.
When our home was built in 1908, the designers included only one bathroom on the main floor. We did a quick and simple rehab of the bathroom when we purchased the home 12 years ago and it was time for us to do some updates. So, we got to work with a plan.
The bedroom had a long closet that served its purpose somewhat well. The wall to the closet was shared with our bathroom so we came up with the idea to knock out the wall and turn the giant space into a master bath/closet and also add a half-bath for guests. But, to do so required using every available square inch of space. To pull it off, we had to pay meticulous attention to detail.
Fortunately, grid paper and small cutouts helped us put together some ideas.
We started with demolition. This time, I hired somebody to do the dirty work. It was worth it.
We made it a point to save the wood floors for use elsewhere in the home. We exposed the subfloor in preparation for tile.
Then came the framing, plumbing, and electrical work.
The space where the original medicine cabinet went was turned into a closet space. So we removed it and relocated it to the new wall.
The old wall that housed the cabinet was 6 inches deep and our new one was 4 inches. That meant we had to fir out the cabinet to compensate for the shortness in depth and accommodate the original casings.
The clawfoot tub had many layers of sloppy paint on it so we stripped it and prepped for a nice solid coat.
We used our favorite hex-tiles to keep the bathroom looking period for the year our home was built. We also used subway tiles to adorn the walls. Silver grout was used.
We also used Ellis Planing to mill copies of our original douglas fir baseboards and casings to install in the closet.
We transplanted the wood floors into the closet prior to the tile being laid and stained them after installation. We also reinstalled the shelving from the original closet.
Beadboard was used to cover the wall that originally held the medicine cabinet.
Shelves and rods were installed for storage.
We brought in an antique dresser that we refinished and turned into our vanity. Vintage Tub and Bath provided our faucets and shower kit. Our tiffany lights were Chloe and Quoizel brands purchased online. The project took about four months to complete. Some of our plumbing fixtures were on back order and took a couple months longer to arrive. But, the wait was worth it. The renovation of the bathroom has improved the beauty and function of our home.