The New Bathroom at Billy Creek Lodge!
We bought this cabin as a 3 bed/2.5 bath. Since we are using it primarily for Airbnb right now and it is so huge (4,100 sq ft!), we really wanted to make it a 4/3.5.
Initially, there was only a half bath on the ground floor and no shower, along with an “addition” room on the ground floor that leads out to the deck. The three bedrooms and two full baths were all upstairs.
The Pinetop visitor demographic veers on the older side, so we knew having one ground floor bedroom is a must for our older travelers who prefer no stairs.
We decided to convert the one very large “addition” room on the ground floor into a secondary suite, putting a full bath on the first floor and adding a functional bedroom. This also makes the house ideal for travelers of multiple families with couples who want their own bathrooms.
Before:
This was the “addition” room I referenced. I believe this was used as an art room before. There was a utility sink and built-in desks, along with some harsh strip lighting.
Don’t get me wrong…it was an awesome art studio, especially to have those views! But we didn’t have any need for that. We were nervous about ripping out the desks because we would be totally screwed if there wasn’t flooring underneath, but thankfully there was!
The room is off the laundry room and already had the plumbing in from the utility sink. The laundry room is unnecessarily huge, so we decided to use some of that real estate for the new bathroom. We moved the water heater into the garage.
Notice in the below photo that the bedroom door isn’t flush with the garage door (to the right)…you’ll notice in the after photos that it is flush.
During:
We (the contractor’s guys) tore down the existing wall to move it into the laundry room more. If you compare against the before photo, you’ll see that there was about 2 feet of room where the water heater was. They moved the water heater that was there into the garage and moved the wall as far toward the door that leads to the deck as they could.
I have videos of it all for orientation purposes on the “Billy Creek” highlight of the Southwest Stays Instagram!
Mood Board:
I wanted the vibe to be darker but still feel “airy”, modern, rustic, and very “modern chalet” like. I opted for natural hardscapes like a wood and stone vanity and marble tiles.
After:
I initially wanted to try to keep the original flooring because it was wood-looking vinyl, but it got too beat up to keep. So we went with tile for the floor.
We used the same tile on the bathroom floor as the shower walls for consistency, but laid them a different way. The shower wall, I wanted vertical stacked similar to the inspiration photo. The bathroom floor I opted for herringbone.
The shower floor is a black hexagon mosaic – subtle enough to blend in, but different enough to stand out.
The grout is the same for every area.
The niche I wanted tall and skinny for a more modern feel, and to be the most functional as this is the only ledge in the shower.
I also wanted to do a rain shower head because to me, it feels more like you’re showering in nature. The house is in the middle of the woods on the creek, and the bathroom has a window that looks out into the forest so I loved the potential to feel like you’re really showering in nature with the rain head.
For the shower glass, I wanted to make it a faux “steam shower” since it’s a snow destination, and the bathroom is quite small so I wanted to make sure that the steam stays trapped in the shower as not to make the whole room too steamy. The reason it’s faux is because it was too under-ventilated to build out a real steam shower, so the glass stops 2 inches from the ceiling. The right pane (by the vanity) is stationary, and the left pane is a door.
Peep the window that used to be part of the french door set in the bedroom! We put a one-way privacy film over is so no one can see inside, and it truly makes you feel like you’re in nature.
I added some rustic touches like the wood vanity and farm light to offset the more modern feel of the black tile and sleek fixtures.
Here’s what the new entry into the room looks like now. The wall is flush with the garage door now to make a full entry into this suite, which made the laundry room a tad smaller but still just as functional and very roomy.
Materials We Used:
Shower floor tile: Black Hexagon Slate Mosaic from Floor & Decor
Bathroom floor + shower wall tile: Natural black slate tile from Floor & Decor
The shower glass is from a local Pinetop glass shop.
Other items:
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