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A Bathroom Makeover With Dark Gray Tile

This latest before & after comes from one of our neighbors to the north, Kahley from Ontario, Canada. She and her husband Steve revamped their home’s only bathroom. And in the process proved that going dark and sophisticated can still be bright and airy. Here’s her letter:

We are a young family of four – me, my husband, and our kids Noah (4) and Lexie (2). The only bathroom in our house dated back the 1950’s, so it was HIGH TIME to reno! 

Kahley Before 1

Since it was our only bathroom, we wanted it to be insanely multi-purpose. We needed a tub AND shower, some closet space, a dirty laundry area, lots of concealed storage, etc etc etc!

Kahley After 1

I had the color (BJ Moore “Gray”) picked from the beginning. These built-ins were created according to plans that I developed. Above you can see the shower curtain that I made myself from some discount fabric in the women’s “suiting” area at Fabricland. The fun striped roman blinds were made by Tonic Living in Toronto. The accent color that I chose in the end was a golden mustard yellow. The towels are from Sears!

Kahley After 2

Here’s the bttom view of our vanity. I fell in LOVE with an oh so unaffordable vanity at Pottery Barn (they used to have a larger double version that was amazing) – so I had it built for THOUSANDS less.

Kahley After 3

Here’s what I like to call sexy tile!! I believe it’s a Centura tile (it’s an enlarged subway tile – 4″x12″ – in a high gloss gray finish). It feels oh so chic. Now if only I could have done a walk in shower (oh the joys of only having one bathroom, and children to bathe!). Anyway, thanks for checking out our bathroom makeover. I hope you love it! – xo, Kahl

Kahley After 4

We’re not sure what we like more – all of the function they added (a set of built-ins on either side of the shower) or the brave color choices (dark gray tile and a gray ceiling). So we’ll just choose to love them both equally. How about you? What’s your favorite part? Oh and you can read more about the project over on Kahley’s blog.

Psst – Got your own awesome before & after project? Send your story, pics, and related links to [email protected] to be considered for a possible Reader Redesign feature. You know we love a makeover.

Comments

  3. Miranda says

    Holy cow….it is impossible to love only one thing. I want and love EVERYTHING. I need it in my life… oh…one day my 1950’s bathroom (like the redesigners, we only have one in the house) will be so beautiful and chic. BRAVO!

    Reply

  6. [email protected] says

    Amazing! Love the built-ins. Ironically enough, I tried order the Pottery Barn sink console that she is referencing, only to find out PB doesn’t deliver bathroom consoles to VT :( Never thought of going custom!

    Reply

  15. Kim says

    Love the bathroom! I can’t wait to re-do our main bathroom that we use for bathing the kiddos…
    On a random tangent from one of your Canadian followers though…Ontario is a HUGE province, and I betcha they live in a city…you could put “Toronto, Ontario” (or whatever city they live in) and people would assume Canada, or even “Toronto, Ontario, Canada.” It’s sort of like saying you live in “Virginia, United States of America.” Anyways…just a general pet peeve…still love you guys and check the blog everyday!!! :)

    Reply

  16. emily @ the happy home says

    oh, my gosh. i just came back from a vacation in a nice hotel and i’ve been DYING to re-do our bathroom. we can’t because it’s a rental– and now kahley is making me want it MORE!!!

    gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous!!

    Reply

  23. Susan says

    Love it! I want to add a lot of gray to our bathroom so this is nice to see. We have ugly floor to ceiling tile at the moment and I have to work with it for now but that gray is inspiring!

    Reply

  29. Kate says

    Beautiful! Since it’s their only bathroom, I’m wondering how long it took them to do this renovation and what they did in the interim… do you know? Thanks!

    Reply

  30. Patti says

    That gray is gorgeous and pops so nicely with the equally awesome creamy white! Beautiful job! Can you tell us a little bit about making your own shower curtain? I’ve been thinking about doing that myself but I’m a novice when it comes to sewing.

    Reply

    • Kahley DeVries says

      Super Easy! Store bought grommets for the top, and just a measure,cut & hem for fabric. I will add this was a full bolt width of fabric, plus about another half. The pattern is very faint so I didn’t need to worry about matching!

  31. olivia says

    I love it all! The striped shade might be my favorite, actually-I have a weakness for stripes! Gorgeous renovation!

    Reply

  36. Erin says

    That gray subway tile is SO SEXY. They incorporated my favorite color combination (gray and mustard) in one of the nicest bathroom renovations I’ve ever seen. Well, after yours, of course :)

    Reply

  38. Kate says

    Very pretty, but I would not want the job of keeping soap scum off those tiles. If they were in my house, they’d never look clean.

    Reply

  39. brett says

    What a difference. In thinking about it, i wondered what specific changes gave the biggest bang for the buck and I really think the bright clean lighting, decorative trim and high contrast paint make it seem very modern and elegant. I think all of those changes are relatively simple so there is hope to be able to do some great renovating on a budget (as YHL proves regularly).

    Reply

  40. marianne says

    Love it! We are a one bathroom house as well and need to reno desperately….just don’t know how we would live with our only bathroom in a state of disrepair during the job. Any tips?

    Reply

  45. Jill&Eric says

    Really loving this bathroom! Thanks so much for sharing these reader redesigns!

    PS- Thought of you today as our DIY Magazine arrived in the mail! Yeehaw! Loving all the beautiful projects in this edition (and that was just with a quick scan, really looking forward to taking a deeper dive later)

    Reply

  49. Becky says

    If Kahley pops back , I would love to know…how did she go about finding someone to build a match to the Pottery barn sink? I also love a sink from pottery barn that we are considering purchasing for our new bathroom, and am curious to know where I can look for someone to build it for me.

    Thanks!
    Becky

    Reply

    • Kahley DeVries says

      Hi Becky – this is SO LONG overdue! I am not blogging anymore – and thought I should pop back here and see if anyone had asked any questions in the meantime! only a few years late;)I just used a custom cabinetry builder – same guys that build and install built-ins, custom kitchens, etc. :) Hope that helps!

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