Planning a bathroom should not begin with toilets, bathtubs and sinks. Anyone can address the function of a bathroom so instead, imagine the bathroom as just a room first and foremost. Look around. What room does the bathroom flow from and do you wish to create an extension of its already established  décor? Is it a room unto itself in which case you envision it as its own composition? Once you figure out how to establish the feeling you want to elicit, you can move forward.

Begin by compiling your materials while keeping in mind a balance of glass to tile, to textile, to color and pattern. Give some thought to lighting and what will greet you at the onset and end of each day with a glow not a glare. Texture is widely overlooked in many bathrooms as oftentimes everything is smooth porcelain which feels cold and sterile. Covering every square inch of a bathroom in outrageously expensive tile might scream status, but it doesn’t always speak of good taste. Don’t let any professional, be it tile pro or wallpaper pro, talk you into all of one kind of product. Balance it out with a plan before you start.

Now, you are ready to think sink bowl vs pedestal vs undermount. Antique or new? Soaking tub or jacuzzi tub? Perhaps a shower with a seat? Warming wire in the floors? Sconce lights through the mirror or outside? The possibilities are endless  and we have not even begun to discuss your own physical needs.  Retirement age with comfort and ease in mind or young ones with energy and movement to spare.  We still have much to consider.

As a final thought, I am reminded of my Mother’s 1960’s master bathroom which she remodeled a few years ago.  Master bathrooms, at that time, were considered irrelevant and pure function.   This one now greets you with the sweetest antique armoire with arched glass doors that reveal bright white, rolled towels, beautiful bottles and a porcelain bowl with soaps. On the walls she hung a collection of diminutive oil paintings by Jessica Durnell whose work makes you smile the second you enter the bathroom. The richness of color from the antiques and paintings offset the cooler whites and creams of the marble field tile and strong black of the marble floor which has now worn down to a leisurely mat finish. She wouldn’t change a thing. It is her harbor at the beginning and end of each day.