When you’ve done as many remodels as we have, you can determine when a home was built with a fair degree of accuracy based on certain telltale bathroom fixtures. Bathtubs designed for Roman bacchanals are one of them!
Vision
Unless your home was custom built, there will always be those features that made you fall in love with it to begin with, those that you can live with…and those that are just plain annoying. In the case of this simple bathroom remodel, our client was tired of having a huge bathtub that took up space they would have preferred to use in other ways — such has having more storage.
Challenge
Taking out a fixture such as a bathtub is one thing — the remodel challenge is what to replace it with that does more than simply change the look of a room. We often find that homes constructed in the ‘90s would feature huge bathtubs that might at one time seemed novel — at least in concept — but soon lost their appeal. By replacing the existing mega-tub with a smaller one in this remodel project, we were able to create the space needed to add something our client found much more practical: a bank of full-height cabinets. Our client also wanted to use this project as an opportunity to address some smaller, but no less annoying, issues with their bathroom.
Accomplishment
By rebuilding the tub deck, we were able to install a more practical, and appealing, bathtub. At the same time, we made some equally practical improvements in the shower. Because of the way the shower door opened, our client lacked direct access to the shower controls. We corrected this situation by installing the controls in the pony wall, and we also created a half wall in the shower for additional privacy. We further updated the look of the bathroom by redesigning the vanity.
Highlights
While our client’s needs were driven more by practical considerations than esthetics, this simple bathroom remodel addressed both in a way that also saved them from draining their hot water tank every time they take a bath. Who says you can’t be pragmatic AND appealing?
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