Blank Slate Bathroom

Behind this door.

Are you ready?

Behind door number one in the hallway, right behind the kitchen, is the upstairs bathroom.

Now Mom had a choice between a luxurious master bath or an upstairs guest room with a smaller bath. Guess what she choose?

It was a no-brainer for Mom - grandkids sleeping over and summer guests feeling welcome trump spa tub and walk in shower any day.

So it's a small bath, with just everything Mom needs, and nothing more. To the right as you walk in, there's wall space for a vanity and toilet.

To the left, there's room for a stacking laundry or linen closet (if laundry was installed on the basement floor) and a wide shower.

To the right, as you walk in, is the vanity. We left room for a single 48" wide vanity. Over the vanity is space for a mirror, and we placed the electrical box for the vanity light dead center over the vanity. Dead center.

We also made sure to install electical outlets to each side of the sink so Mom never has to worry about cords while brushing her teeth.

Right next to the vanity is the toilet. There's not a ton of storage inside the bathroom, so we'll probably add a wall cabinet over the toilet.

And on the far wall, the plan is to store towels on hooks. Does anyone use towel bars anymore???

We choose one of those premade fiberglass all-in-one showers because we are thinking 20-30 years down the road. We'd have loved to tile Mom a shower, but not if it means Mom is scrubbing grout lines at 80, or we are up there patching tile and moldy drywall after three decades of use.

So a pretty shower curtain to make up for the basic shower is a must. Plus, I love the idea of simply changing out bath linens to update the space, instead of having to do a full bathroom gut/remodel job.

We may decide to add a shower door later on just to protect the floor a little better - but I'm on Team Pretty Shower Curtain right now.

Next to the shower is a recessed area designed wide enough to fit a stacking laundry system. It's all plumbed in and electrical run for laundry, but the area could also be converted easily to a linen closet by adding shelving if laundry was installed downstairs.

But Mom really wanted laundry on the main floor, so that's the plan. I'll probably build shelving on top for some linen storage, and there's enough room in front for a small hamper.

It's really awesome how this bathroom turned out with the door.

Once the stacking laundry is installed, the door will hide it when opened. Wish I could say that was all planning, and not just a happy accident.

It's not a big space, but I am pretty excited to start turning this blank slate into a pretty and useable bathroom for Mom.

And by blank slate, I mean blank, blank slate.  It's hard to see in the small bathroom, but the walls are the same color as this bedroom.  No color at all.

I love painted walls, especially in bathrooms, but because the space is so small, and there is no window in the bathroom, I opted to keep the walls and ceiling the same color white. It feels fresh an airy in there, even though it's a small windowless space.

That, and I'm loving white bathrooms with wood floors lately.

via Country Living

I especially love the black hardware mixed with the stainless fixtures in this bathroom.

via Country Living

And I love that with such a neutrel palatte, it's easy to updated the bathroom for the seasons by just bringing in a pop of color.

via Country Living

I also love how a stark white bathroom makes beautiful wood grains pop. 

Are you with me?

Here's the mood board I came up to for this bathroom:

It's all fair game!