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Doing your research and asking a lot of questions will help you avoid a design disaster

I’ve written about efficient kitchen and bath renos for decades, but when it comes to my own home in the country, I dither. In truth, I am a ditherer of rare talent.

I don’t even have the excuse of being time-poor, because this column ensures I go through a deluge of emails about home reno, design, and materials, which is a bit like doing personal stuff on the boss’s clock.

So if I can’t set a good example of hitting timelines (this column was late), I can at least share a few new products that might help hurry along other renos.

My first decision was whether a tired kitchen or one of two fairly dreadful bathrooms would go first.

The kitchen has space-wasting, awkward upper cabinets, and needs new lighting, appliances, ceiling/exhaust fans, sink, and faucet. A wood countertop should be refinished, and a water purification system plumbed in.

Adjoining space that houses table, chairs, and storage flows into an open area with doors to bedroom and closets is arrayed with a mishmash of hardware (all ugly). Other than that, it’s great.

After dithering, I focused on the smaller of the bathrooms, congratulating myself because smaller is cheaper, right?

With a room plan in hand, material research came next. I started at a Cosentino showroom, because I’d heard the multi-application Dekton line was particularly good for wet rooms, which is how I envisioned the bathroom.

I got really useful information/ideas from the designer on the floor, and walked away with solid tips for saving costs without sacrificing style. It helped that I brought “before” pics, had room dimensions, and a budget (sort of).

I looked at and felt patterns and finishes up close, including Silestone’s Sunlit Days collection. Inspired by Mediterranean hues, there’s a clay-like Arcilla Red and refreshingly modern Cala blue that I found very tempting.

I’ll head back in the fall when the Onirika collection arrives. Designed by interior designer Nina Magon, the carbon-neutral line includes striking marble patterns and colours.

The Hodge-Podge-Lodge door hardware look might be easiest remedied with Schlage’s Custom Collection of knobs, levers, and trim. Durable finishes in satin brass, aged bronze, bright or satin chrome, satin nickel, and matte black caught my eye, as did the variety of styles.

I favour Schlage’s contemporary Century or Collins trim in matte black, and think both would pair nicely with their graceful, modern Hobson glass knobs, a design element I’ve always had a soft spot for.

I also spent time admiring unfussy faucets from GROHE’s Essence Collection, a handsome nod to minimalism. Simple curved shapes come in chrome, polished and brushed nickel, a golden Brushed Cool Sunrise, and a stony Hard Graphite shade that I’m partial to.

My next highly intelligent step (in my mind) was having our plumber in to make a work sked for changes to the bathroom before it was tiled. We agreed to a start date — I was elated. But just before the plumber left, the Man of the House (MOTH) asked him if he wanted to see the other bathroom, where similar work would come in phase two.

After looking in the room for about ten seconds, he turned to MOTH and me and said something like “So we’re going to replumb the bathroom directly under this, where we’re going to cover the walls and ceiling, and then we’re going to come up here and move a toilet which will mean we’ll take down the ceiling we just put up to get at it?”

The point was taken, and the larger bathroom suddenly rose to the top of the list. Moral of the story: doing research and asking questions frequently avoids costly mistakes. Or maybe the moral is to hire a designer, a decision one inch closer to each day. Predictably, I’m dithering.

Vicky Sanderson is the editor of Around the House, www.aroundthehouse. ca. Check her out on Instagram@ athwithvicky, Twitter ATHwithVicky and or Facebook.com/ATHVicky.ca.

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