Jenn Hannotte: My bathroom renovation began about three months ago, and we're still working on some finishing touches before we can present the BIG REVEAL. But until then (soon, I promise!), I thought I'd recount the story thus far. Trouble is, it's not terribly interesting. Nothing scary jumped out from the walls, there was no layer of black mold ready to poison my children, no hiccups with the contractors or materials. The only reason why it's taken as long as it has is because I had to go and choose things that you can't grab from your local big- box store.
You might recall that my main source of inspiration was the bathroom featured in the film, The Royal Tenenbaums. To get there, we used a lot of classic materials that really fell architecturally into line with the aesthetic of the rest of the house. Always-right and inexpensive Daltile white subway tiles placed 3/4 of the way up the wall from Home Depot, capped with a classic chair rail profile found at Pollock's on Roncesvalles, just down the street from me. For the floors, it was again Home Depot's Daltile in the 'Octagon and Dot' pattern. I sourced a cast-iron clawfoot tub from Craigslist for a steal at $150 including the faucet, shower head and tub surround. The toilet is from Kohler and it's amazing to not be terrified every time we flush like we were with the old one! My favorite piece is the sink - the Brockway from Kohler. It was this baby that we had to wait for a long time to arrive, but it was worth it once installed.
Without giving too much else away, I found this amazing wallpaper from Ferm Living that looks pretty much identical to the shower curtain you see behind Margot Tenenbaum that really sets off the entire space. So the question is, class, can this equation be solved?
