The Original Floorplan
Last June, Jeremy and I started the remodel process of the second floor of our home. There were lots of things that bothered me about the original layout, and you can probably discern a lot of them from the “before” pictures, more of which you can see in West Elm’s post here. Originally, the second floor had a master bedroom, tiny master bathroom, and a weird tiny bedroom that could only fit a twin size bed and had a weird area where the eaves of the roof slanted down to the ground making it almost impossible to keep anything there. The master bathroom consisted of a small crappy plastic tube-shaped shower, a vanity, and the toilet. The shower was the bane of my existence, because the way it was built and assembled left all these little gaps in the plastic pieces in it that were impossible to get to with cleaning brush, so mold would just grow between the cracks, and the rubber lining along the shower door where the plastic sheets touched kept coming off. For me, bathrooms have always been a sanctuary where I can have some quiet and privacy (I *love* taking baths in the cold months) but there was no bathtub and the master bathroom was just claustrophobic and kind of gross. There was also a strange small closet off of the tiny bedroom that had a door on each side, one opening to the tiny bedroom and one opening to the master bedroom, so it acted as a kind of weird closet tunnel between the two rooms. Inside the tiny closet, half of the actual closet space was taken up by the house’s original brick chimney that had been drywalled over and came up through the basement to vent our furnace to the roof. Our house was built in 1937, and back then master closets weren’t really a thing, so this miniature half-closet was the only thing we had to store our clothes. As someone who has a lot of clothes, this presented a big problem, so I had to keep most of my clothes split between hanging racks in the tiny bedroom or folded up in an old dresser we had squeezed into the tiny bedroom, which basically invalidated it as any sort of actual bedroom space since we were just using it as a temporary closet. The master bedroom also had an apex ceiling that was drywalled over so it didn’t extend up to the full peak of the roof, and since Jeremy is 6′ 3″ tall, this made the bedroom feel really, really cramped and suffocating. The floors were original Douglas Fir that had been stained a bright shade of orange, and this contrasted with the alternating tan and neon blue painted walls in the master bedroom gave it more of a gymboree-feel than that of a bedroom for adult human beings. Altogether, the second floor was not a place that felt inviting, comfortable, or functional, and that’s what we set out to change in our remodel. Below are some after and before images so you can see what we were working with.
AFTER:

AFTER:
BEFORE:

The New Floorplan
First off, we wanted to have more storage because even though we’d been living in our house for over two years at that point, it still didn’t feel like we’d moved in completely since we didn’t have an organized storage system in place to keep our stuff. Since we had an apex roof in the master bedroom, there was all this unused space along the sides of the eaves, so we had storage cupboards installed along the sides of the bedroom, with every other cupboard alternating between having drawers or a closet rod to hang clothes from. We also had the strange eaves-area in the tiny bedroom turned into a closet accessible from the landing at the top of the stairs. Since we’d have all this new storage in place, we didn’t need the weird tiny closet/tunnel anymore so we had that demolished. I’d originally wanted the drywall removed from the chimney and then to just leave the brick on the chimney exposed, but that didn’t end up being possible because when our contractor got the drywall off, there was concrete spread over the bricks rather than the bricks just being plain and visible. So in the end they got all the drywall off of it and Jeremy ended up building a reclaimed wood enclosure over it to cover the ugly concrete-covered chimney. For the bathroom, we wanted the wall between the tiny bedroom and the master bathroom torn down, the old shower and vanity torn out, and the space that formerly held one tiny bedroom and one tiny bathroom converted into one large master bathroom with a tiled shower, clawfoot bathtub, and double vanity. To make the master bedroom space feel bigger, we wanted to raise the ceilings all the way to the roofline of the apex. I also wanted to create a little vanity area, so we decided to tear out the existing railing along the top of the stairs and put in shelving that would turn into some kind of storage/vanity hybrid. Lastly, we wanted to update the color scheme of the bedroom and bathroom to make it feel brighter and more open. I don’t think it’s a secret that I’m kiiiind of obsessed with plaster, so we decided to use Master of Plaster to plaster the walls of the bedroom and bathroom for our remodel.
How We Did It
We hired a contractor to do all of the structural work, like tearing down walls, opening the ceilings, drywalling, plumbing, electrical, the cabinet installation, etc. We worked with Renovation Innovations and Bert was extremely helpful at translating my vision for the second floor into an actual functioning physical space. Jeremy also built a lot of custom pieces for the remodel, like the reclaimed wood storage shelving and additional little vanity in the master bedroom at the top of the stairs, little reclaimed wood shelves throughout the bathroom and bedroom, and the reclaimed wood bathroom vanity we based off of this ‘Magic Egg’ Jersey Ice Cream Co bathroom that I fell in love with. I plastered the walls by hand throughout the bedroom and bathroom using Master of Plaster in “Nebulous White” for the bedroom and “Seafoam” for the bathroom. The plastering required using a hand trowel to coat the walls with plaster three separate times with three different plaster blends for each layer, which is what gives plastered walls that beautiful textured sheen. It’s not difficult work, just time consuming, so I enjoyed catching up on all my favorite podcasts for the few days I spent plastering the walls. Jeremy and I also sanded down and refinished the hardwood floors in the master bedroom and stairwell. If you remember the issues we had with refinishing the floors of the living and dining room, you might also remember how we swore we’d never refinish floors ourselves again. Well, never say never! We used this guide to whitewash the original douglas fir floors, since we wanted the beautiful grain of the wood to be visible but wanted it to be more neutral rather than its natural orange-y hue. We followed the guide pretty exactly except for a few things: 1) We did two separate coats of the white wash (following the instructions in the post and letting the floor dry between applications), one coat of matte polyurethane, and then one more coat of white wash over the dried polyurethane. We did the last coat of white wash because the floor looks a bit orange again after the poly application, and we wanted to mute the color a bit more. 2) We didn’t go over it with they grey paint accents, we just left the floor as it naturally looked with just the white washing and poly. I also whitewashed the newly installed cabinets along the length of the bedroom to match the floor.
For the bathroom, we had Bert’s team install Rejuvenation Fords Mill Single sconces in aged brass with the 7-1/2 inch clear dome shade for updated lighting fixtures. They also installed Rejuvenation Connor Wall Mount Faucets and Linfield Single Hooks for the custom reclaimed wood vanity Jeremy built, as well as this AMAZING NativeStone trough sink in “Ash” from Native Trails. I love this sink because it’s a special blend of concrete and jute fiber that makes it lightweight for concrete but incredibly durable. We also hung this beautiful Penarth Oval Walnut Mirror from Crate & Barrel over the sink to round out the bathroom vanity. For the bathroom floor, we used Lowe’s Natural Timber Ash Porcelain tile, which is basically tile that is made to look like reclaimed hardwood flooring. It is pretty incredible and realistic looking, I’ve had people standing on it thinking it was reclaimed wood until I had them tap on it to feel that it was tile. I love the floor in the bathroom so much because it gives it that warm and rugged look that hardwood flooring has, but with the sanitation and durability elements of a tile floor. I love the color combination of brass, white, and pale green, so we used brass fixtures throughout the bathroom in the shower and bathtub as well. For the clawfoot tub, I ended up purchasing a new acrylic one due to weight safety precautions. The acrylic one weighs about 100 pounds, compared to the cast iron ones which are about 1,000 pounds, and as much as I wanted an awesome old vintage cast iron tub, I didn’t want it falling through the floor into my kitchen below. For the shower, we went with white subway tile because it was cost-effective and looked clean and simple. I wanted to keep the bathroom feeling big, so instead of installing a door on the shower which would make it feel closed off, we left it completely open in the back to go in and out of the shower, and had a pane of glass installed along the side to keep the water from splashing out.
Once all the heavy-lifting was done in the bedroom and we were able to start furnishing it, Jeremy built a floating master bed for us and we covered it in beautiful white linen bedding from Rough Linen. For a little extra storage, we brought in a 3-drawer Stria dresser from West Elm, and we also used their tree stump side tables as end tables for the bed, their brass curtain rods and Belgian flax linen curtains for the window coverings, and their glass jar pendants for the lighting fixtures. I filled the rest of the space with fun bits and bobs collected from my travels, and (of course) lots and lots of plants. There’s a big fiddle leaf fig in the bathroom, as well as a creeping fig vine and hanging philodendron. And the bedroom has an assortment of ferns, another philodendron, and a sweetheart vine. Visually, I wanted the space to have a lot of bright white, wood, and green, to stay in line with the natural surroundings here in the Pacific Northwest. The skies are usually overcast and greyish white, there’s a wonderful amount of trees everywhere, and the forests are very lush and green. Tying in the outdoor colors and textures with the indoor ones created a space that felt really tranquil and calm, and made me feel like I was really at home there. Once everything was all said and done, the remodel cost about $65,000. It was the most expensive one we’ve done in the house so far, but it also went the most smoothly and is the space in our home that we probably spend the most time, so for us it was worth it. I love being up there now, the space feels so big and bright and peaceful. Like we’re floating in a cloud in the treetops around our home. Every little part of the house we remodel makes it feel more and more like our own space, and now all we have left to remodel are the basement and the garage, which we’ll be tackling soon. Stay tuned, friends!!
What We Used for Our Remodel
Bedroom Dresser – West Elm 3-drawer Stria dresser from West Elm
Bedroom End Tables – West Elm tree stump side tables
Bedroom Window Dressings – West Elm brass curtain rods + Belgian flax linen curtains
Bedroom Walls – Master of Plaster in “Nebulous White”
Bedroom Bedding – Rough Linen Queen Bed Makeover White Linen Bedding
Bathroom Walls – Master of Plaster in “Seafoam”
Bathroom Lighting Fixtures – Rejuvenation Fords Mill Single sconces in aged brass with the 7-1/2 inch clear dome shade
Bathroom Vanity – Rejuvenation Connor Wall Mount Faucets + Linfield Single Hooks
Bathroom Vanity – NativeStone trough sink in “Ash” from Native Trails
Bathroom Vanity – Penarth Oval Walnut Mirror from Crate & Barrel
Bathroom Flooring – Lowe’s Natural Timber Ash Porcelain tile
Oh my goodness…so so stunning Eva! All those gorgeous metals and reclaimed wood textures are so dreamy! <3 Thanks for linking all the sources, as I'm in the middle of a bathroom reno, and always looking for inspo.
This is such a gorgeous remodel!! Well done to the two of you👏🏻👏🏻
It would be great to see a before and after drawing of the floor plan to see exactly how you used your space! ❤️
Wow, what a fabulous remodel. Your style is so inspiring and your photos are great.
You have my exact style. The photos of your house made me so happy and excited for the day I purchase my first home. You did an incredible job. Everything is gorgeous and I love all the little details. I’m saving this for future inspiration!
I love love love the bathroom floor, it is so cool and beautiful!! I want that for my whole house actually.
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Absolutely unreal. There is not one that I would change. Like this is actually my dream space! I can’t get over it. Pinning EVERYTHINGGGGG
Love the bedroom! That’s exactly what I would go for! That bathroom sink is unreal as well! 🙂
Beautiful!
Looks fabulous Eva!!!! I LOVE the landing/vanity area. And you’re right. You’ve made that space so much more open and floaty; like being in the clouds!
This is gorgeous! You guys must be so proud of all the work that went into this – it looks incredible, and like such a dream! I also really appreciate the source lists – we have a bathroom reno coming up too, and it’s always so so helpful to get inspiration/guidance. Your home is absolutely stunning!
What a beautiful transformation!
oh my goodness – this is gorgeous!! Such great inspiration and ideas!
Incredible you did such a great job
So beautiful! Where did you get the candle sconce above your sink in the bathroom? Is that a soap dish too?
Thank you!! And yes it is, I got it at an antique shop in Oregon 🙂
I love the blanket draped over the bed. Did you purchase it or did you make it? If you purchased it where did you buy it from? If you made it would you share the instructions?
Thank you so much!! I got it from Etsy from this seller: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ColorwaysGallery?ref=profile_shopname
I love everything about your remodel, but that bathroom, that bathroom I’m absolutely in love with. I mean those fixtures and the cement sink, just beautiful!
Your house is so beautiful, absolutely love it!! Where are the shower head and tub faucets from?
What an incredible job! It looks like a completely different house. It’s wonderful – I just want to move in! 🙂 <3
Love the bathroom. You did an excellent job! The faucet adds a sculptural element to the bathroom and has a vintage feel. I love the hardware and sink, too. the whole room is beautiful.
Can you please give more info on your tub? Brand? does the water stay hot? Is it easy to clean acrylic?
THANKS!
Everything looks great! May I ask what toilet you got? I know that’s the least glamorous fixture to ask about but seriously – finding a great looking (and great working!) toilet is really hard — not mention important!
Home remodeling is all about space management and that should be done in such a way that it can grab the attention of onlookers for a long time. Here, you have proved this effectively. Your previous structure of your tiny bedroom was really weird. But you have remodeled it in a pretty way. Moreover, the way you redesigned the master bedroom is completely eye-widening. Everything is new and none can guess the old one was its predecessor. Your artistic quality indeed deserves huge appreciation.
Hey Eva,
I recently came across your site and I’m wondering if I can post one of my articles here.
I’ve been writing up home improvement articles too and would love the chance to write
on your blog but I couldn’t manage to find your email. If you could get ahold of me at ikatie.jones@outlook.com?, I would greatly appreciate it.
Thanks,
Katie
This is awesome, thanks for sharing.
Wonderful tips! Love these pictures. Very inspiring when you are thinking to renovate the bathroom 🙂
Interesting, I wasn’t aware of that context. I guess it makes some sense, thanks for the history lesson!
Are there any legal issues around taking a picture of a person on the street without permission?
Amazing transformation. Everything is so perfectly placed. I love your creativity. Thanks for sharing this lovely post. You can also get a customized wardrobe here https://www.silvawardrobeco.com.au/ if you need it. I will highlight your house more.
Thank you for giving such good information. I suggest you try navy blue flat sheets from aanyalinen.com, it will add a new look to your bedroom.
Eva, I have a few questions: where did you get the mirror on the wall by the tub and the wall-mounted soap dispenser? You and your husband have done such a beautiful job. Congrats
The white bedding in the first image is so decent!! The fabric seems to be of cotton or is it cotton blend? And I am pinning the images, they are awesome.
Thank you! It’s linen 🙂
Thank you for making me realize this. It’s great.
This is a great article thanks for sharing this informative information. Keep it up
you have done the bedroom decoration very well I have seen your website image above you are thinking of very nice interior ideas i appreciate you very nice your sharing the pictures https://mumbaiowngirls.com/
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