BEFORE THE BAR | This week on #beforethebar, get the inside scoop on @theballeronabudget redesign featuring our Aliante Black tile in the shower and Belvedere Bianco on the floor!
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What drove the redesign?⠀
We purchased an older home about a year ago and the bathrooms were in major need of updated plumbing as well as a redesign. We decided to tackle this bathroom first because there was a moldy odor and we were suspicious that mold growth was behind the old shower tile. Turns out, we were right! We figured to use this as an opportunity to redesign the space after tearing it down.⠀
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Did you hit any roadblocks?⠀
The underlayment behind the shower walls had zero waterproofing, and we also had to replace the pipes since they were corroding. Most of our time went towards updating all of the outdated underlayment and taking the proper steps to waterproof it before starting the tiling process. ⠀
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How did you work with the original space?⠀
We decided not to interrupt the existing flow of where all the fixtures currently sat - we just made smarter and modern design choices. We tiled all the way up to the ceiling, which made the ceilings look so much higher. And the original color palette was lackluster: a matte beige paint on the walls and a light blue linoleum tile made the space look aged and boring, but we opted for a bold black on the walls, which, contrary to what most people think, actually made the room look bigger. ⠀
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When the space was redesigned, did you have a hard time choosing the tile? What made you choose the one you did?⠀
Originally, I envisioned a moodier bathroom with black walls and matching black floors. However, I felt like going all-black would have been far too much with only a single source of natural light. We swapped out the black tile for white and settled on the Belvedere Bianco tile, which is a beautiful marble-like porcelain tile that's durable for the bathroom floor and less porous than real marble. I think this choice really toned down the boldness of the black walls and shower tile but still managed to elevate the space with the touch of marble!⠀