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We have not had the need to hire the design portion of our jobs out so no personal experience. But a shop like this would do as much or as little as you wish.
Don't know where you are located but find a couple in your area, look at their product lines and contact their references.
Good luck with your project!
Take a look at the grout lines on that white shower stall (only closer ups) in their portfolio for bathrooms, not impressed but I am a perfectionist.
We have not had the need to hire the design portion of our jobs out so no personal experience. But a shop like this would do as much or as little as you wish.
Don't know where you are located but find a couple in your area, look at their product lines and contact their references.
Good luck with your project!
Please refer to Image Viewer for pictures including floor plan. I have received two labor estimates of about $12-$13K so I expect the entire cost to be ~$25,000. I have spent countless hours on houzz trying to get ideas but I can't make up my mind on what I want. Aside from not being a visual person, this is new territory for me as I not sure where to source materials (Where can I pick out a tub not named Home Depot?) nor know what materials to get (Wide range of prices for a tub - What's the difference?)
Here's what I am looking to do:
1) Floor/Wall Tile - LOVE Carrera Marble even though it is pricey; New tile w/ tile edge and bottom lip on the floor and on every wall to the bottom of the window frame; What size? Or is that just a personal taste? Can ANY type of tile be installed? Does it depend on the type of subfloor I have? How do you determine tile sq. footage for floor and wall? Is there a formula?
2) Increase shower's length by ~12" into the toilet room and shower's width by ~9" by moving the door out to the edge of the door frame; new pivot frameless glass door; the wall from the shower door to the vanity will need to moved in to accomodate the new shower width. Herringbone or hexagon on the floor and tile all the way to the ceiling; large tile cut-out in the wall for shower supplies and a bench for the wife to shave, etc.
3) Replaced jetted tub with soaker tub and move under window; Width from wall-to-wall is 74". Does this mean I can accomodate any tub under 74"? Iron tubs are heavy and I am a big man. Are their weight considerations?
4) Tub moved from corner install to under window gains much needed real estate for the new vanity. I want a double undermount sink vanity with middle seating area w/ stool for wife's makeup station. I am surprised that I can't find this anywhere and will need to be custom built. Should this be made of pine? Oak? Does it really matter? Marble countertop? Concerned wife will stain/scratch the hell out of it. Perhaps I can find a Carerra marble looking granite. There is also eco-granite but that appears cheap to me.
5) Add 3 mirrors above each sink and makeup area and 3 light fixtures above mirros; Would consider large mirror but not sure if that's reasonable
6) Replace medicine cabinet in side wall. I HATE it. Can 2 of the mirrors be used in stead? Is that possible as it is an exterior wall or will it sit flush against the wall?
7) There is an existing air vent but not an exhaust fan. I'd like to add exhaust fan and perhaps a nice chandelier but wife thinks it will be too busy.
Work with a design specialist, look at some of their showrooms and references. They'll be able to keep you within budget, tell you what other options you may want to consider and handle the sequencing of getting the right people there in the right order (tile, wallboard, plumber, electrician, etc.) If you are able to do any of the work yourself, you can let them know~if you'll do the painting, or if you want to select medicine cabinets or light fixtures from a local home improvement store and have them install etc. Just stick to your bottom line budget and be willing to be available should you have to make second or third choices when it comes to getting things done. They'll come out and measure, show you renderings and give you the total cost of package and then you negotiate from there. Swap out what is over budget for what you can live with by making concessions. Pick 3 and go with the one that you feel will be the best to work with~remember you are paying the bills, so you are in charge. Perhaps joining Angie's List for a year to search for recommendations from people in your area. There are actually some good design people in the home improvement stores, (Lowe's, Home Depot) you might want to give them at least one of the bid slots.
I had the vision and knew what I wanted/needed in the space. In answer to some of your above specifics~
You can hang medicine cabinets on walls without having them cut into walls. They'll project for 4-5" depending on what you select, but they can be anchored securely. You can also opt out of medicine cabinets and get the mirror combinations you are considering. Just make sure you have the cabinet space to store what medicine cabinets usually hold.
A good contractor/design specialist should be able to find you cabinets to meet your specifications, even if it means looking at kitchen cabinets or other built ins and setting them in the arrangement you desire (open desk concept for makeup center). The counter top can be pieced in a way that it won't be obtrusive~again, this is where the design person or contractor can help. You could use two higher base cabinets, designed for bathrooms, and a lower one for the make up station~again, you might have to look outside the box at kitchen or or built in cabinets and string 3 together to get your final desired look. I personally wouldn't use pine in a bathroom because it is soft and expands and contracts with heat, moisture etc. You should probably stick with a hard wood; hickory, maple, oak, or cherry or an engineered wood that will stand up to bathroom conditions.
There are lots of options besides granite (which is expensive, heavy and has to be maintained/resealed every so often). I'm not fond of granite and chose another molded, man made surface for our bathroom. Silestone, sandstone, quartz etc are all options that aren't as thick and expensive, and have longer durability with less maintenance than granite.
We added extra outlets so we each have our own plugs for our electronics (husband was hogging all circuits for toothbrush, razor and waterpik). I just wanted my own plug, on the right side of my sink, for hairdryer!
We added exhaust fan/ceiling light option above the toilet and then added the bright lighting over the medicine cabinets. Wished I would have added a light above shower, but hindsight prevented that~
We just had our master bath remodeled, no particular changes~very simple and efficient, but I did lots of the legwork of getting/ordering and picking up the medicine cabinets, light fixtures, faucets and towel racks etc I used a local contractor with a good reputation, who was familiar with building codes and knew when he would have to get signed off by the municipality in which we live. They (the township) were the biggest P.I.T.A. to deal with~they would say they'd be there, would come early and no one was here, or wouldn't show up and wouldn't call to say why. He was able to send me to several showrooms where I could see cabinets, counter tops, showers, doors etc. and I would come back and tell him what I wanted. It's good insurance to know that if something goes wrong or falls apart, I can call contractor back and have the work done correctly.
Good Luck, definitely worth it in the long run but frustrating to have to live through.
Last edited by teachbeach; 04-05-2014 at 06:12 AM..
Work with a design specialist, look at some of their showrooms and references. They'll be able to keep you within budget, tell you what other options you may want to consider and handle the sequencing of getting the right people there in the right order (tile, wallboard, plumber, electrician, etc.) If you are able to do any of the work yourself, you can let them know~if you'll do the painting, or if you want to select medicine cabinets or light fixtures from a local home improvement store and have them install etc. Just stick to your bottom line budget and be willing to be available should you have to make second or third choices when it comes to getting things done. They'll come out and measure, show you renderings and give you the total cost of package and then you negotiate from there. Swap out what is over budget for what you can live with by making concessions. Pick 3 and go with the one that you feel will be the best to work with~remember you are paying the bills, so you are in charge. Perhaps joining Angie's List for a year to search for recommendations from people in your area. There are actually some good design people in the home improvement stores, (Lowe's, Home Depot) you might want to give them at least one of the bid slots.
I had the vision and knew what I wanted/needed in the space. In answer to some of your above specifics~
You can hang medicine cabinets on walls without having them cut into walls. They'll project for 4-5" depending on what you select, but they can be anchored securely. You can also opt out of medicine cabinets and get the mirror combinations you are considering. Just make sure you have the cabinet space to store what medicine cabinets usually hold.
A good contractor/design specialist should be able to find you cabinets to meet your specifications, even if it means looking at kitchen cabinets or other built ins and setting them in the arrangement you desire (open desk concept for makeup center). The counter top can be pieced in a way that it won't be obtrusive~again, this is where the design person or contractor can help. You could use two higher base cabinets, designed for bathrooms, and a lower one for the make up station~again, you might have to look outside the box at kitchen or or built in cabinets and string 3 together to get your final desired look. I personally wouldn't use pine in a bathroom because it is soft and expands and contracts with heat, moisture etc. You should probably stick with a hard wood; hickory, maple, oak, or cherry or an engineered wood that will stand up to bathroom conditions.
There are lots of options besides granite (which is expensive, heavy and has to be maintained/resealed every so often). I'm not fond of granite and chose another molded, man made surface for our bathroom. Silestone, sandstone, quartz etc are all options that aren't as thick and expensive, and have longer durability with less maintenance than granite.
We added extra outlets so we each have our own plugs for our electronics (husband was hogging all circuits for toothbrush, razor and waterpik). I just wanted my own plug, on the right side of my sink, for hairdryer!
We added exhaust fan/ceiling light option above the toilet and then added the bright lighting over the medicine cabinets. Wished I would have added a light above shower, but hindsight prevented that~
We just had our master bath remodeled, no particular changes~very simple and efficient, but I did lots of the legwork of getting/ordering and picking up the medicine cabinets, light fixtures, faucets and towel racks etc I used a local contractor with a good reputation, who was familiar with building codes and knew when he would have to get signed off by the municipality in which we live. They (the township) were the biggest P.I.T.A. to deal with~they would say they'd be there, would come early and no one was here, or wouldn't show up and wouldn't call to say why. He was able to send me to several showrooms where I could see cabinets, counter tops, showers, doors etc. and I would come back and tell him what I wanted. It's good insurance to know that if something goes wrong or falls apart, I can call contractor back and have the work done correctly.
Good Luck, definitely worth it in the long run but frustrating to have to live through.
Thank you for the detailed post. We went to the tile place today and actually liked a tile called Bianco Luna which is similar to the Carrera Marble except it has a very subtle gold/beigh streak in it and a bit more white / less gray. It's very close to Carrera Marble and about the same price at $16 per sq. ft. We are debating doing the 12X12 ($11 per sq. ft) throughout the entire bathroom including shower and then subway tile all the way up in the shower to save cost. The wife wanted to do the cheaper porcelin subway tile on the walls but the folks at the tile store said it wouldn't look good. We'd have to do 12X12 on the walls if it was a different material.
At this point, the big question is the vanity which is going to be pricey as it could be ~110-120" wide. I am not sure what material we can get to match the tile. Marble is going to be crazy money. Maybe a quartz that matches? Not sure yet... We are moving along tho!
My wife and I have a difference of opinion regarding the tile. We original discussed doing tile just under the bathroom’s window all the way around the entire bathroom. The new tub will be a free standing tub so there will be tile all-around it, above the vanity (back splash) and in-between the new vanity’s 3 mirrors, within the shower all the way to the ceiling, the floor, within the toilet alcove, etc. My wife thinks it is too much tile and we should not tile the wall to the left of the vanity, the toilet alcove, and the small walls to the left and right of the door. Personally, I love the tile but can see how it might be too much.
Have you found what you are looking for ? I know some one who loves to do this kind of design work, isn't an official designer I mean with a degree but loves to design pick out colors and shop with you if needed. he's done at least 12-15 bathrooms over the last 3 years or so. He might be a good option if you haven't found someone.
good luck
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New Master Bath
