today i am loving: capiz lotus candle holders

Photos taken with Instagram


Capiz lotus candle holders, tea light candles, buddha, pearl necklaces - T.J.Maxx
Pearl rings, necklaces and bracelet - Turkey
Chinese box - Local Antique store
Morocco Decoration Interiors Design - Mark Luscombe-Whyte & Dominic Bradbury

bathroom accessories - instagram

Fouta towel - ebay
Buddha soaps - ebay
Turkish hammam bowl - Turkey
Moroccan perfume bottles - ebay
Capiz lotus candle holders, tea candles - T.J.Maxx
Volcano rock pumice, natural sea sponge - T.J.Maxx

bathroom renovation - part 3: river rock accent floor

I love river rocks in the bathroom.They can make the room look spa-like, rustic, modern or luxurious. River rocks can be used in shower areas, floors and walls but, even good things have their drawbacks; They are hard to clean, can be a breeding ground for mold, they can come loose. I decided to use them in my bathroom as an accent. River rocks can be found in square sheets with a mesh background at your local hardware stores or you can DIY like I did. I picked out river rocks matching my tiles at Michaels craft store. I thought they were more flexible to work with and they had the natural look I was looking for.

Here is my DIY river rock border accent floor step by step;

First, I applied a thin coat of cement to build a base over the waterproofed floor to prepare the installment. I could not apply ready thinset directly on the floor because it would not stick to the waterproofing. The surrounding area was taped off to keep it clean.

River rocks were sealed and left dry before installing.

River rocks ready for installing. I tried to select fairly flat rocks and used paper for the layout. When I got to the tub area I changed to randomly placing river rocks.

After installing I used a wood board to level the stones. It did not work so well with these rocks since they have different thickness.

Grouting the river rocks was not so easy. In the above picture the grouting is partially done. I left a small gap between the rocks that unfortunately resulted in larger spaces when grouted. I am not sure if even touching stones would have made much difference because, the rocks are not very flat so when you grout them most of it is covered. I removed the excess grout around the rocks as much as possible to uncover them but now, I have uneven grout with pockets that hold water and dirt. It looks more natural than pre-fab sheets but keeping it clean will be a challenge... :)

Here is the result.

Jade Buddha pendant in a corner where won't get stepped on. Still needs cleaning :)

This is how it looks.

Next, bathtub and accessories...

bathroom renovation - part 2: a tiled tub wall

Okay, this is the how to part, I thought posting it could help others. I personally do not like plain alcove bathtubs, they are not so esthetically attractive. I would prefer a built-in tub but, since I live in an apartment I did not want to invest that much, at the same time I wanted to have something pleasing to the eye. So as a husband & wife DIY team we decided to build a tiled wall for our cast iron tub. We had an idea how to build a tiled apron and found a further guide in the book, Black&Decker Complete Guide to Bathrooms. It was not as hard as I expected, that may be because my husband built the frame. All you have to do is construct a 2X4 frame in front of the tub, cover it with waterproof backer cement board secured to the studs.

Here are some pictures from the book;

 

Black&Decker Complete Guide to Bathrooms.

Here is how the frame looks.

We also waterproofed the frame using RedGard and covered the side facing the tub with waterproof backer cement board. The existing wall studs did not aligned with our frame so we added new studs in the wall. The frame was secured to floor and new wall studs using waterproof dry wall screws. Then we finished covering the front and top of the frame with cement board.

Here is the backer board taped, spackled and ready to tile.

And the tiled wall. I found matching travertine molding for the top. It fit perfectly.

After finishing the tiled wall, I waterproofed the floor. Hopefully it will keep water tight.

When I applied the silicone caulk around the tub, I used a caulk matching the grout color. Applying silicone is made easier and cleaner by taping off the tub and tile. Once the silicone is on and before it dries, remove the tape with excess caulk.

Next, the floor river rock accents...

bathroom renovation - part 1: vanity

A few months ago -feels like ages- I posted about my bathroom renovation called "bye bye blue tiles". Finally no more 1960's blue tiles... YAY! Husband & wife team DIY renovation is done, well sorta. I still have to decide about the glass bathtub screen. I am so done with shower curtains; They get moldy, rooms appear darker and smaller. I posted earlier about the products that I used for my bathroom here and for decorative accessories here .

Reusing some of the items in the room -the old Chinese mirror, cabinet and the screen- definitely helped the budget. If you notice -in the second picture on the right- the oil rubbed bronze finish already started creeping up in my old bathroom, the bronze shaving mirror and switch plates hinting what I wanted in my future bathroom. I still keep my own handmade Buddha tiles as souvenir, they were covering the empty spots of ugly soap dishes that I removed.

before 

Chinese screen and Turkish hammam bowls and ugly blue tiles...

Say bye bye to the blue tiles. Now you see it...

Now you don't...

I was debating to use a wood sink or a porcelain sink. 

And the decision is... 

after

Yes, I went with this white porcelain vessel sink from Lowe's. It is easy to maintain and looks clean.The Tuscan bronze Ashfield vessel faucet is also from Lowe's.

Here is the Indonesian teak wood sink from HomeGoods. Unfortunately, I did not use this sink that I loved so much, I feel the porcelain matched the decor better. I am sure this sink would be great for a powder room.

Here is my asian/zen/rustic/eclectic bathroom. I painted the walls and the ceiling same white color. It makes the room fresh, larger and unified. Repetition of forms, textures and colors also make a great unifying effect in a small bathroom. I wanted to achive it with adding natural elements such as travertine tiles, wood and accessories throughout the bathroom. Repeating round shapes around the vanity also add a certain softness to the bathroom. I feel using earthy neutral tones create a serene sense of calm. I can stay here forever :)

I mixed two vanity lamps to get this look. The original lampshades were old style bell shaped. I had to buy another vanity lamp for their shades. It cost more but looks much cleaner. I love expandable shaving mirrors. It was hard to find a decent one especially in oil rubbed bronze. I found mine at Van Dyke's Restorers. 

And my lovely fouta hammam towels from ebay.

I changed the flush handle to bronze, bought a toilet seat with bronze hardware from Amazon.com and saved some cash by spray painting the valve and water tube with Rust-Oleum Universal Metallic Paint & Primer in One.

Love white orchids they are so pure and look sophisticated in every decor. Hoping this one last for a while. I found this Chinese wood box at T.J.Maxx. It was blue before I stripped it to give this natural look.

Natural stone accessories from HomeGoods match the stone tiles. They last long and are easy to clean.

And finally hand soaps. Moroccan Argan oil hand wash from HomeGoods. Smells so good. Buddha hand soaps from ebay. They also smell good.

Next week, a look at the bathtub area. Stay tuned...

Have a great weekend, XOXO :)