It wasn’t originally our plan to renovate our bathroom at the beginning of a pandemic but I digress. I guess if you are going to be spending all or your time at home for the foreseeable future, you might as well have a nice bathroom. So here’s the backstory. Our original 1956 bathroom was still completely intact when we moved in. That being said it was not in the best of shape.

I loved the mint floor tile, but it was very badly scratched. The vanity had been designed by the architect but had suffered moisture damage from over 70 years of existing in a bathroom that didn’t have a fan. The original Crane tub was beyond cleaning and the toilet just didn’t flush very well to be honest. No matter how I tried, I just never felt like the bathroom was clean.

Two years ago I tried reglazing the bathtub and shower tile with a Rust-Oleum reglazing kit. I followed all the directions and everything looked amazing. At first. But again, having no fan in the bathroom caused a lot of humidity that is not going to be good for reglazed tile. Within a year the tile and tub was peeling in spots and I hated the bathroom more than ever.

So the priorities for the new bathroom were:

1. Must have a fan

2. Durable materials/easy to clean

3. Needs to keep with the style of the house

Because our roof is tongue and groove, most contractors have an extremely hard time figuring out how to do things that they would be able to achieve easily in a more conventional house. That does not mean it’s not possible. It just means that you need to do your homework, research, talk to experts in the industry, and push for what you want.

I was lucky that an architect in a mid century modern group I’m a member of came to my rescue and helped me figure out my fan problem. With his help, I was able to explain exactly how to install a fan in the least obtrusive way. That would mean installing it in the wall above the shower, with the venting going in-between the wall and up through the roof. The fan, is hands down the best thing to come out of the bathroom remodel and I am so glad that I fought for it.

Here are the thoughts we had on tile design and how they could be laid out in the new bathroom. Next post I’ll show you the results!