BEFORE & AFTER – TEAL TEMPTATION: Modern Basement Bathroom Renovation

Anne-Marie Brunet, CMKBD, CAPS

This young couple bought a home in the popular Riverdale neighborhood in Cornwall, Ontario, and one of the first things on their list was gutting the basement bathroom because it was, well, pretty fugly. They reached out to us to redesign this basement bathroom to one that was more functional for their needs. Behold this new and improved modern basement bathroom makeover!

Dated, tired, and used, with sketchy carpet and a malfunctioning toilet were all words used to describe this vintage ’50s basement powder room. The clients needed more than a powder room for their basement; they needed a fully functioning bathroom with a large shower.

BEFORE

What I initially thought were vintage ‘retro’ ceramic tiles, which to be honest got me a little excited, turned out to be plastic tiles! Ah, yes the 50’s – the era of plastic everything haha.

The other glaring issue with the existing layout was that the door to the bathroom, when opened, had a direct view of the family room….bad idea!

 

A New Basement Bathroom Design

Armed with their wish list, I set out to design a new, larger bathroom, with a shower and all the modern amenities for today’s living. The clients also have two larger ‘fur babies’, and they were also considered when planning and designing the shower space, as this is where they would be bathed. The plan was to locate the shower door so Mom or Dad could keep them in the shower space ie: no escaping haha.

With the new layout and plans approved, demolition completed, and construction underway, one of the first tasks was to relocate the drains for the new shower, toilet, and sink. As we opened up the concrete floor, we discovered that the main drain was the original clay pipe, which yep you guessed it – was leaking into the sub-soil.

The job screeched to a halt as we had to get engineers, plumbers, and the city involved to approve the new drain system. That set us back about 2 weeks or so. Once permits, approvals, and subsequent inspections were completed, construction restarted.

It’s always a great feeling when the ORANGE starts to appear. Progress is so sweet at this stage. The waterproofing system for the shower is almost done, the framing and plumbing are complete, and we’re moving on to electrical rough-in and drywall.
This ‘ORANGE’ is the waterproofing layer that we always include when doing any kind of wet area. There is no compromising on this layer.

 

CURBLESS SHOWER

Whenever possible, I always specify zero-entry showers or curbless showers on all our projects for many reasons;

1. Makes a small space feel bigger without that visually intrusive 4″ curb
2. Eliminates any trip hazard
3. Makes it easy to continue a heated floor system into the shower space – cue toasty toes!
4. Adds a high-end luxury moment to a bathroom – yes, please
5. Allows your home the flexibility to transition with you at different ages – definite bonus
6. , and lastly, in this case, easier for pups to get in and out of the shower 😊
    

AFTER SHOWER TILE INSTALLATION

Here’s more modern bathroom inspiration for you

OBSTACLE OR OPPORTUNITY?

When designing the bathroom, I had to deal with a support column that was just in the wrong spot and could not be moved based on the span between the existing support columns. I had to address it, but now had this odd box in the corner of my newly designed bathroom….ugh!!

While I love being challenged by these types of dilemmas, and as the saying goes; If you can’t beat ’em – join ’em, that’s what I did. I decided to ‘celebrate’ this corner obstacle and turn it into a focal point by designing modern floating shelves that contour it. The shelves are another design ‘moment’, add additional open storage and display space and create an opportunity to tuck in a plant. One that thrives in low light, and also helps to clean the air. Biophilia design opportunity complete.

And there you have it! A fantastic transformation of a dated and failing unused powder room into a functional, gorgeous, modern full 3-piece bathroom!

Can’t even tell you how happy we are with the bathroom, it’s night and day to what it was before 😅 The bar is also working well (already finished a keg…)
-Kathryn & Ryan / Cornwall, Ont.

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Ready to turn your outdated basement bath into a modern retreat? Let’s make it happen. Contact Sheridan Interiors today for a free discovery call and start your bathroom transformation.
 

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