van-i-TEASE

Recently we've begun to touch base with the various subcontractors that we'll be needing in order to get our second floor in a livable condition. There is so much behind the scenes work to be done before we even get to the "wow, things look different in here" part. We've talked to countless electricians, HVAC guys, plumbers, carpenters, etc.....You name it & we've got a guy who recommends a guy, who knows another guy. Basically, business is slow and we're like the meat dangling on a stick to these fellas. Ok, that's a bit of a stretch, but we've made contact with plenty of subcontractors, so now all we have to do is make our final selections. In meeting with these guys, we've realized that we also have some work to do. Namely, making some major design decisions for the master bathroom which currently looks like this.

Not so bathroom like.

It's kind of fun when it's not stressful (remember we suck at making decisions). We get to start completely from scratch, so theoretically everything can be exactly what we want......within reason. We know it's not going to be our "dream" bathroom, but it is going to be a great starter dream bathroom. We obviously have a budget to keep in mind, but we also want to make it a place that reflects our style. We're thinking very classic in style and materials, but more contemporary in color & texture. We love the classic simplicity of white subway tiles & carrara marble, so most likely we'll work out something along those lines.

Anyway, we had to do a bit of homework when it came to the type of fixtures we'd like in the walk in shower & the style of vanity we're envisioning. The fixture part was fairly easy. No major style decisions were made, but we did decide on a thermostatic shower & hand shower combo. Then we went off to a recommended custom cabinet store for some basic education on custom vanities (the big box stores don't appear to offer what we want). Well it turns out that a simple 60" custom vanity with open bottom (similar to the one from Pottery Barn) is going to cost us upwards of $2500. Shocker. Well, let me rephrase that. Shocker to Ben. I was suspecting it, but hoping for the best. Either way, it's not really in the budget, so we're back to the drawing board.

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So the other day I decided to do a bit more shopping around. Before I went to work I stopped by Restoration Hardware. I know full well that their vanities are totally out of our price range, but I wanted some ideas. As I rounded the final corner before slipping out the door, this shiny little number caught my eye.

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I have always loved this look, but feared it's lack of storage. I did check into the style for fun a while back and learned that these simplistic babies are big buckeroos, so I had already eliminated it from our options. But then I nearly choked when I saw that their floor model was for sale.....at nearly 1/3 of the original price. Immediately my mind was flooded with ideas. I got the dimensions and chatted with an associate about the details and ran off to work, my mind designing the entire time. During a slow moment behind the cash wrap I was browsing through the PB catalog and realized, "Hey, we make one of these too!".......and I get a discount (well, soon I will).

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I'm not as in love with the skinnier legs of the PB model, but it is a bit shorter, measuring in at 61.5" verses RH's 67". With my discount the PB version is about the same price as RH's too. So what do you think? Do we sacrifice storage for the amazing look of one of these babies? The bathroom is planned to have a decent sized, barely walk in linen closet and a vertical recessed cubby area, not to mention space for some smallish shelving. And I could put some cute baskets under those skinny metal legs............


The other option would be to go with something similar to the first photo of PB's wooden vanity. I'd like to customize it with paint and hardware to make it feel a little more special. I'd been thinking about a dark green/gray to go with the carrara so of course when Bryn posted this image the other day, I was very encouraged. It's Benjamin Moore's Millstone Gray. If you look at the photo closely too, you can see that the backsplash is a carrara hexagon mosaic. And if you've been around this blog for a bit, you know I love me some hexagon mosaics!

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I think we better go back to Lowe's and check things out again so we know if they even have anything worthwhile before we make a decision, but that floor model is going to go fast! My heart tells me to do it, but my head thinks I need to rule out all possibly cheaper options first. I hate making these stressful decisions! What should we do???