A Vintage-Inspired Mini Bathroom Makeover

Get all the details on the primary bathroom renovation at the AGH Country House.

In a world of overconsumption where the default solution is often “rip it out and replace it,” we want to offer a reminder: you don’t need to gut a bathroom (or any space for that matter) to breathe new life into it. The primary bathroom mini makeover/renovation at AGH Country House we undertook last summer is a perfect example.

There were so many things that were already great. The vanity was a converted antique piece with a beautiful profile and a perfectly patina-ed Carrara marble countertop. There was enough storage space. There was a cast-iron tub. A small but plenty functional bathroom. The bones were there—it just needed to be seen differently. What dated the space wasn’t the structure; it was the details.

Instead of tearing everything out, we chose a cosmetic renovation—a design refresh that honored what already existed. Take this room makeover as a lesson in not starting from scratch. Sharing all the details below.

Before

The Inspiration

We wanted to achieve something that fell more in line with the aesthetic of the rest of the 1840 federal home. Everything architectural throughout the home is old and elegant with timeless details that never go out of style. Somewhere along the way, the primary bathroom got a semi-80’s makeover, so our goal was to correct that and bring classic design details back into it.

The main inspiration was something reminiscent of the guest suite bathrooms at the Fairmont Copley in Boston. Back in December 2016, my husband and I got married at Boston City Hall; and we, along with our immediate families, stayed the long weekend at the Fairmont to celebrate. We’ve always loved the interiors there— the historic landmark and their guest-suite baths are filled with elegant details, marble finishes, high-quality fixtures and modern amenities. Similarly to the AGH primary suite, they are also compact in size, yet manage to function quite well. We come back every December to celebrate, so it felt like a poetic choice.

Carley Page Summers | Snaps from our Bailey project! So much charm and character 🤎 | Instagram.jpg

The Selections & Process

One of the biggest aesthetic shifts? The tile. The 80’s-style 1x1 square ceramic tile covered the floor as well as the entirety of the shower walls. We selected an Octagon Porcelain Mosaic Tile in Black/White for the floor and a classic 3x6 glossy white subway tile for the shower, both from Bedrosians, as well as a Pure White Mapei Grout.

Next, we selected the shower fixture. Two things I knew I wanted in the new shower fixture: an exposed pipe nostalgic of yesteryear bathrooms, and a handheld sprayer. We landed on the Exposed Pipe Shower System in Chrome from Signature Hardware. The shower also previously had two oddly-shaped niches that adjoined at the corner of the shower on the same end as the shower fixture, so we eliminated those and created one appropriately-sized niche with a marble shelf at the opposite end.

Other upgrades included the Wellworth Toilet from Kohler, Bancroft Single-Hole Bathroom Faucet in Polished Nickel from Kohler, Massey Hook from Rejuvenation for a towel hook.

For finishing details we added a custom roman shade in black ticking stripe, while the Archer Vanity Light Fixture is an homage to the home’s previous owner who made this house very special. A white linen shower curtain from Quince hangs from a Peerless Shower Rod in Polished Nickel. This shower rod is great because it has an adjustable length and it’s drilled into the tile. The walls are painted in a custom color as seen throughout the house, but the closest color is Stingray by Benjamin Moore. Lastly, we originally considered sourcing a vintage mirror, but ultimately went with a custom-cut frameless mirror (similar to this one) for a clean look that could take up the entirety of the wall from the ceiling down to the backsplash and between the wall & beam.

The entire project took about eight weeks start-to-finish (because, you know, projects are an exercise in patience)—and the before-and-after is proof: Sometimes the bones are great, they just need a new point of view. You don’t have to start from scratch to make something beautiful.