Guest Post: Marika Meyer

Home improvement should be fun—unless it’s brought on by an unpleasant discovery such as leaking or rotting behind the walls. When it happened to a talented designer like Marika Meyer, however, she turned it into an opportunity. Here she is to tell the tale:

Our master bathroom was the only room in the house that I had not touched since we moved in. I knew some day it would need to be updated, but I did not realize that the joists under the shower and toilet were completely rotted. Luckily, when our toilet broke, my contractor found the rot quickly and we jumped into a full-blown renovation. As the mother of two small boys, the idea of sharing a bathroom for any extended period of time was not too appealing, so I sprang into action making selections. Because this all happened the day before taxes were due, I had to make all of this happen with speed AND on a tight budget. Let the games begin!

I frequently design bathrooms for clients so making selections was easy and I had a good idea of what materials were in stock. These are pictures of the before. It had not been updated since the ‘90s and was truly an homage to brass:

 

Even though the remodel came as a surprise, I was thrilled to say goodbye to this space! I came home from the first day of demo and already things were looking better (at least the hideous door and old tile were gone!)

Progress shots—goodbye Aqua!

And a glimpse of the future—I choose a simple white subway tile with polished-nickel fixtures for a fresh, modern feel.

Finally–the finished room! My favorite elements are the newly opened shower stall and seamless glass enclosure. By following the roofline, we added height to the shower and the room feels much larger.

I found this reasonably priced Carrara marble in a herringbone tile for the floor and inside the shower. The contractor found matching marble for the thresholds and shower opening. I kept the existing custom vanity, but had the contractor paint it crisp white and add new hardware.

New light fixtures replaced the old movie-set brass ones without sacrificing light, and voila! Our master bath has a new lease on life.