When we purchased our home we knew it was a bit of a fixer upper, and besides making over our fireplace, tackling our master bathroom was one of the first projects we did.
The bathroom was built in the early 90s and hadn’t really been touched since. The linoleum floors were badly stained and peeling in several places, the shower was too small to really move around comfortably in and the design just wasn’t our style.
Here’s what it looked like when we moved in:
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We love the modern farmhouse vibe and wanted to channel that into our master bathroom renovation. Our plans included shiplap, black hexagon tile for the floors, a crisp white vanity and white subway tile with black grout for the shower. We did go back and forth about what color grout to use with our white tile, but ultimately going with black grout gave us the look we were going with.
The current shower space was a little too small, so we opted to add more square footage to the shower by getting rid of the french doors leading to the bathroom and get rid of the big garden tub. We replaced the french doors and the door to the toilet room with new craftsman-style doors.
(for some reason the black hexagon tile photographs a little funny in places)
Getting rid of the french doors to the bathroom and the garden tub allowed for so much extra room in our shower and the bathroom, as a whole.
We framed all windows and door trim with a craftsman-style trim look that we’ve echoed in each room that we’ve remodeled. We also finished the room with 6″ baseboard. It’s amazing how much replacing thin baseboard with over-sized craftsman-style baseboard changes the space.
The shiplap, baseboard and all window trim is painted in one of our favorite white paint colors: white dove. If you’re thinking about a trim color for your next reno project, I highly recommend this neutral, soft white (not too yellow, and not stark white) that really goes with anything.
If you’re considering adding shiplap to a bathroom, make sure your read this post about how to properly prime and paint it so that moisture doesn’t get in!
The wood plank ceiling was not part of our initial design plan, but as the bathroom began to take shape, Daniel tossed out the idea of adding a wooden plank ceiling to warm up the space. I was initially hesitant, but after seeing how it turned out, I’m so glad we did it. It completely makes the bathroom, in my opinion!
To get this look, we used rough-sawn pine. This type of lumber has grooves on one side and rough saw blades on the other. Because we were going with a more rustic look, we used the rough saw blades side. We wanted the look of cedar, but that comes at a crazy expensive price, so instead we opted to make it look like cedar.
If you’d like to recreate this look in your home, it’s pretty simple–just follow these directions:
- First, you want to paint the ceiling in a low-sheen black paint, so that you don’t see any white peeking through.
- Next, stain the boards to make them look like cedar. We used a combination of Minwax’s natural, cherry and weathered gray to achieve the look you see.
Related reading: How much does a bathroom remodel cost?
Our modern farmhouse master bathroom makeover: Lessons learned
I was really stuck on black grout for our white subway tile in the shower, but now, slightly over a year later, I am regretting that decision a bit. The black grout has faded in spots and doesn’t look near as crisp as it once did, despite cleaning it all the time!
As with all renovation projects, the bathroom took longer than expected and cost more than we initially budgeted.
To save money, we did everything ourselves, minus the tile, but master bathroom renovations aren’t cheap! I learned to budget in more cushion for unexpected issues and always know that there will be timeline delays during construction.
All in all, we’re super happy with the end result and know we will enjoy this space for years to come!
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C and you provide details on your vanity? Not sure if I missed it. Beautiful space!
Hi brandy, It’s linked under one of the last photos in the post, but we got it at home depot!
We love everything about this bathroom – beautifully done!! My one question is concerning moisture issues with the ceiling. Have you guys had issues or did you take any preventative measures!
Thanks 🙂
Hi Danielle,
We have not had any moisture issues. You just need to make sure the bathroom is well ventilated!
Looks great! Where did you get the shiplap from and which one did you go with?
Hi Matt,
We got the shiplap from home depot. We went with the primed 1 x 6 nickel gap pine.
Beautiful! Love everything about this bathroom. Wondering where the mirrors are from?
Hi Erin,
I tried to link it above, but mirrors are from World Market!
Hi Ashley & Daniel,
Love this bath remodel. Did you Polyurethane the wood on the ceiling? If so, what product did you use to poly it?
Thanks!
Hi Jenn,
No, we did not polyurethane the wood, we just stained it. Just make sure the bathroom is properly ventilated.
Can I ask the dimensions of your shower? We are looking into doing a similar renovation and our architect suggested a semi small shower stall to make room for a larger tub. This looks like a rather small shower stall, but looks cozy enough. Thanks!! It’s a beautiful bathroom!
Hi Karen,
It’s 44 inches square (3 ft 8in by 3ft 8in). We increased the size of this stall from it’s previous footprint and my wife and I both agree, it’s plenty big!
Hi, Bathroom is amazing! Was wondering were you got the blinds for the windows. I’ve been on the hunt for some like these.
Blinds are from blindster. They are the deluxe bamboo woven wood shades in Lorena Walnut.
Where did you purchase the light fixtures from
Lights over vanity are from Birch Lane.
Absolutely beautiful!!! Thank you for all the great tips.
Thanks, Tracy!
absolutely beautiful! what are considering remodeling our master bathroom. could you tell me the dimensions of the bathroom?
Hi Rebecca,
It’s 10 by 9 and we have a water closet that’s 3 by 8. It’s little, but we made the most of the space!
Hi
What was the method you used to achieve the color of the ceiling? You stated you used Minwax cherry stain and gray
is it Minwax gray stain and did you mix it together before staining?
Beautiful bathroom
The stain was 60% cherry,30% natural and 10% weathered gray all mixed together before applying.
I’ve got a question about your tub. I saw the link to it but how did you install the faucet? The freestanding Faucets are so expensive so I’d love to know how you did this.
We had a plumber drill the holes in the tub we chose since it had a wide enough lip to do this.
This is absolutely beautiful! I was wondering if you sprayed the shiplap or painted it with a brush? Thanks!
For this application we brush painted it. It took forever, but it looks amazing. For our kids’ bath where we also used shiplap (need to put that post up soon) we spray finished it…it doesn’t look as pretty, but still really nice.
You did an absolutely stunning job! So in love with this bathroom. For the ceiling, did you use a sealer and/or sand the wood before staining? Thanks so much!
Yes, we did lightly sand with a palm sander, going with the grain.
Hello, Love your Bathroom Reno! I just have a couple of questions… what black grout did you use? I have read a few blogs but neither mentioned what the grout was and i am struggling to find black grout at my local stores. My other question is did you frame your shower wall tile? If so what did you use? I am looking at schluter edge profiles but im not sold on whether to use them, something different, or even to frame it off at all.
Thanks so much! We just got our grout from Floor and Decor…you can probably order online. We did not frame our shower wall tile because we designed it to have our wood trim overlap the tile work. If you’re not putting up trim of some sort, I would recommend having a perimeter tile.