5 Things You Need To Know Before Renovating a Bathroom

When thinking about renovating and designing a bathroom, it is natural to fixate on the "big” aspects such as vanity size, countertop material and plumbing fixtures. Before you get to making these decisions, there are 5 things you should consider in your planning process when designing your bathroom. Should you opt for a natural stone or porcelain tile? Have you considered the actual plumbing locations for both aesthetics as well as functionality? Where do you plan to store all of your products once the space is complete? Do you want a shower with a curb or a seamless walk-in shower? These are questions we always ask our Charlotte-area clients when designing and remodeling their bathrooms.

We’ve compiled a list of 5 important things to know before renovating a bathroom so that when the time comes you are ready to tackle your project!

Selecting The Right Tile Material For You

We often get asked about what type of tile is best for a bathroom space and the answer to that age-old question really depends. A client’s budget, preference for “easy” maintenance, the location of the tile, textures and colors are all factors to consider. For us, we categorize tile into two separate categories: natural stone and manmade stone, both having their benefits and opportunities.

One of the most sought-after natural stones for bathroom projects is marble, exemplified in our Beaver Dam and Dansing On Providence projects. Although we tend to steer clients away from marble in heavily used cooking/prep areas like the kitchen, we love to incorporate this gorgeous natural stone in bathroom spaces. Marble is one-of-a-kind, with its rich veining and natural warmth, it adds a refined elegance to the space. It is a versatile stone that can be used anywhere in the bathroom including floors, showers, walls, countertops and even sinks. Marble also pairs well with many other materials such as wood and metals, as well as other stone materials such as quartz and quartzite. As beautiful as marble is, some things you will want to consider before installing marble tile in your own bathroom are: it is a porous stone which means to keep it looking fresh it requires regular sealing, it’s prone to etching so we do not recommend wearing shoes on your marble floors, and it can’t withstand harsh chemical cleaning agents so you will need to use special cleaning products that are safe for use on natural stone.

Our preferred manmade stone to use in our designs is porcelain tile, which is a type of ceramic tile, but it’s harder and more durable. Two of the main reasons we often use this material is because it is cost effective compared to a marble tile and requires very little maintenance. Additionally, porcelain tiles are made to look like natural stone and are available in many different colors, sizes, textures and designs. Trust us when we say they have come a long way and an untrained eye would never even know the difference! We installed porcelain tile in our Hurtt So Good, Stonecrest, White Christmas and Asheford Green projects!

Think About Functionality

When remodeling your bathroom it’s important to think about the functionality of the space, specifically in the shower. Our favorite design tip is to locate your shower controls where it’s easy to turn them on and off without getting wet! This may seem like a simple detail, but it is one that is often overlooked. Some of our favorite functional showers include the Dansing On Providence, Hurtt So Good and White Christmas projects.

Where To Locate the Plumbing

What’s the perfect shower head height? Standard shower heads were mounted at 6’ off the tiled floor. Anyone over 6’ knows this because they need to angle the shower head perfectly to wash their hair! Even if you’re not 6’, raising your shower head up creates a more luxurious shower. We recommend mounting your shower head at 7’ off the tiled floor.

To Niche or Not To Niche?

To niche or not to niche? That is the question! If you’ve been following us for a while you know we love a good niche, and oftentimes, more than one. So, if you were to ask us, we say, go for it! Shower niches are the epitome of style and functionality, providing storage solutions while enhancing the overall aesthetic appeal of the space.

We prefer large niches to store everything in one place versus smaller niches which means you either can’t fit everything, can’t fit your lager bottles, or need to locate your shower items in multiple places in your shower. Shaving/toe niches are a great option if you don’t want a bench or don’t have the space. Women love them for shaving their legs and our male clients have shared they are great for washing theirs! It’s a little luxury that is too good to pass up on.

Also, a niche is an ideal place to infuse personality by installing a different tile than the wall tile.

Curb or Curbless?

If you are removing a tub or redoing a shower, it is important to consider a curb or curbless design. We have designed both and believe that it’s really a personal preference. Curbs are less expensive and more commonly used, such as in our Stonecrest and White Christmas projects. Curbs also create an easy transition if you want to do a different tile on your shower floor than on your main floor, provide a barrier for water, and give you a place to easily mount your shower glass to.

Curbless showers provide a seamless, modern look and are a bonus for aging in place. It’s important to note that drainage requires additional consideration in this design plan. Your shower floor will need to be engineered differently than it would with a curb, so make sure to discuss this with your contractor. In our Beaver Dam project, we tiled over the drain in this shower and we love the way it looks! Depending on your space, a linear drain may also be a great option.