Master Bathroom Renovation: Tips for a Modern Vintage Makeover

The scary bunker of a bathroom we started with a few months ago is finally gone and the modern/vintage bathroom of my dreams is finished! This master bathroom renovation was a real test from the inch-thick concrete backing the shower tile to the bubbling paint on the drywall and the tiny footprint giving some layout challenges (it’s only a 5×7 room!)

But, through a few changes like installing a pocket door instead of the inswing door we had before, removing the closet to expand the shower, and installing a glass panel in the shower to make it feel bigger, we ended up with what I think is a perfect mix of vintage and modern and functional and cozy and we just love it so much (though we may just be really glad not to be living with the prison shower of before.)

Let’s take a little trip down memory lane with the before photos.

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Master bathroom renovation before photos:

It was the type of room where it never felt clean. We even had house cleaners in and after using the strongest chemicals they had it was still gross. I think the previous owners had used a tub and tile paint over the shower but kind of landlord specialed it because you could tell whatever was underneath was peeling, too.

The closet was narrow but really deep which meant half of the space was essentially wasted, and to access it you’d need to go into the room, close the door behind you, then open the closet door and do the same in reverse to get out.

We tore everything out of the room and built it back from the ground up. It was a real one step at a time kind of situation. We leveled the floors to give us a blank slate for the tile (a crucial step because the flooring was slightly different levels between the previous room, the shower, and the closet), and built a pony wall which would eventually house the shower valve.

The idea was that you could reach in and turn the shower on without having to go the full way into the space and get splashed by the cold water. We’re only a few days into using the shower at this point, but I love this decision.

We used a Schluter shower kit as our waterproofing system, mainly because it comes with a pre-sloped shower pan and there was no way ya girl was going to try to accurately slope a shower my first time ever doing it. The kit was really good, though, and we go into more detail about the waterproofing pros and cons here.

We used an amazing handmade cement tile from Facebook Marketplace for the flooring. Someone local had the boxes sitting in her pool house (fancy) leftover from a renovation and she said she’d been planning to use it somewhere but got honest with herself and realized that wasn’t gonna happen. Lol, been there, girl.

Anyway, I’m so glad she came to that conclusion because it was the perfect amount for our tiny room, with even a little leftover!

For the shower, we did a vertical stacked tile with a chunky ¾-inch grout line. People were really divided over this one on the internet but I did a lot of research and used a specialized stronger grout made for wide joints so I’m hoping it’ll last fine. I love the organic, zellige kind of look to it and I’ve only seen a couple of other showers in this style so it’s really unique.

And if you’re wonder what that second niche near the shower floor, we opted to add a leg shaving niche and I’m so glad we did.

Alex was a massive hater of the wallpaper and still doesn’t like it, but the room was at that point so beige-on-beige between the tile and the beadboard that it needed a lil’ something. I love that the wallpaper and beadboard gives a vintage vibe to the modern tile work. I was worried about them clashing and looking terrible together but I’m glad I took the risk because I think they work really well together.

Anyway, enough of me yammering, here are some of the master bathroom renovation after photos.

Master bathroom renovation after photos:

Master bathroom renovation sources:

Floor tile
Shower tile
Towel Hooks
Toilet roll holder
Wallpaper:
Paint: Coco Malt
Almost all of the little details – towels, mirror, vanity light, etc – can be found here and here

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