Bathroom Remodels and Bathroom Renovations: Finding Inspiration

Finding Inspiration from Bricks, Mortar, and 2x4’s

By Alexander Rodriguez(Bay Cities Construction Contractor)

                To many people my job may seem like a daily grind. It starts at 6am and often times rolls into dinner time around 7pm. I take my father’s words of advice to heart, “we did not come here from Cuba to sit around.” In the mornings, I am like the air traffic controller, directing my workers to jobsites with instructions of the days tasks on hand. Mid morning, I am “Johnny on the spot” at the various jobsites dropping off materials and fortifying quality control.  By early afternoon, I am back in the office auditing construction budgets. And throughout the day I manage to do estimates for people and hand painted renderings too.

                The truth is that behind each design, the inspiration is my client. My secret is to examine the type of furniture that my clients have in their home, and from that, I get a sense of the type of style they have. I have an odd gift for translating those hints into a workable design for their space. Unlike most designers, I don’t design and build according to my own taste… the customer is king! I consider it a success when my clients pay their final bill and have a level of satisfaction and give me a hug.

The Secret

                In reflecting on the many bathroom remodels we did last year, one stands out the most, “the Hermosa Beach bathroom remodel”. What made this job so special was its total experience. The client gave me the most trust any client has ever given me and gave me the artistic freedom to design and build her bathroom the way I thought would be best for her. She relied on my expertise and approved all of my ideas and suggestions. The end results… well, a thing of a beauty!

The Space

                The Space was a typical bar ash of 80’s tile slapped with a fresh coat of 1990’s bad taste. On the walls, cheap contactor tile with a horizontal yellow strip as an accent. The yellow marked the carnage of contractor picking through his leftover tile to cut a few bucks from the cost of building the house.

                There were a few things about this bathroom that presented various challenges. The bathtub was boarded by a wall with a very acute angle and another wall made of glass block. Looking at the glass block I thought, “man, what have I gotten myself into?”

The Design

                Claudia and Mike have a lot of custom made furniture and artwork that revealed to me their style and grace. I could tell that they would be able to embrace creativity. The house sits one block from the beach in Hermosa Beach, CA. The ocean is an element that had to be represented in the design. One thing resonated; I did not want this bathroom to look dated in 10 years. Much like a piece of art, this design had to represent something timeless.

      There was a block of glass on the wall, so I figured, let’s do glass. We decided on a frameless shower door that divides the shower and the deep soaker tub. The deck of the tub is a quarts product that has a leathery texture. On the walls, is a limestone imported from Portugal. The backsplash is a mixture of natural slate and glass. I mounted the faucets of the vanity on the wall to give it a really cool retro look. The sinks are frosted aqua with a fractured ceramic giving it a crackle yet sophisticated shine. The shaker vanity is hand made from Alder. The stain for the Alder was hand mixed and matched to the rust colors from the slate in the backsplash. It took me about an hour to get the color just right on the Alder. The back splash was topped with large mirrors to give the small space more depth. Above the toilet, is a full sized linen cabinet to match the vanity. The color and lighting pull the ambiance of this bathroom together. It is a place of refuge from stresses of daily life.

                I love this job, I love my clients. Tomorrow is another opportunity to create something of beauty in the world.

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