Kids Bath Remodel

Our hall bath was narrow, dark and dated. The bathroom sits between our two boys bedrooms and we briefly considered moving a wall to make it wider. But that would have meant moving door frame locations and exploding the budget. Plus, the bedrooms themselves aren’t very large so we needed to make the most of this narrow space.

Before: Long and narrow, dated tile and an overhead soffit made the space feel dark and cramped.

After: We opened up the space by removing the soffit, using glass for the bathtub enclosure, and installing a floating vanity. The half wall at the end of the tub conceals a shower nook for organizing soap and bottles. The plantation shutter provides privacy while also allowing in plenty of natural light.

Modern bathroom with blue pattern wall paper, glass shower and floating double sink.

We used 6” x 12” honed Carrara marble subway tiles for the shower walls and backsplash. And 3” hexagons for the floor.

The floating vanity gives the illusion of additional space, provides a sink for each of our boys, and there’s plenty of storage in the drawers below and medicine cabinet above.

We capped it off with some fun, whimsical wallpaper by Schumacher.

Take-aways:

A long and narrow space can feel less cramped by keeping things visually open and bright, with lighter colors and transparent or reflective surfaces.
You can save a lot on bathroom fixtures by looking for vanity, sink, mirror combinations. We got very lucky with this purchase which included the vanity, sink, faucets, and double sided medicine cabinet.
Bathrooms don’t need to be boring. You can have a bit of fun with wallpaper!

What we'd do differently next time:

Hire an experienced wallpaper installer - We had to rip out half the wallpaper and start over due to hiring a less experienced installer who ended up giving up on the project. That cost us $$ and time. In the end, we found a great installer who understood the steps needed for a somewhat tricky paper. Check references and ask questions. Some wallpapers, we’ve discovered, need special backings to install properly.
Swap out the tub for a shower: I’d probably swap out the bathtub for a standard shower enclosure next time. We were thinking about resale, and young families, so installed the tub. But it was an epic effort getting this cast iron tub onto the second floor. And a walk-in shower can be more convenient.
Save on the heated floor: We installed radiant heat in this bathroom (and in the master bath as well.) Which is lovely in the winter. But I’m not sure it was 100% necessary for our boys shared bathroom. We probably could have saved the expense.

Sources:

Wallpaper: Zimba By Schumacher in Marine blue

Vanity, Mirror, and Faucets: We purchased Fresca’s 48 inch double hung vanity set from Overstock. The model we purchased is no longer available. But this version from Wayfair is very similar.