Our Primary Bathroom Remodel Design Plans

We’ve been doing a major remodel of our new home in 2025, and it’s nearing completion! Today, I wanted to share our primary bathroom remodel design plans before the final reveal (coming soon). What started as a somewhat-dated, very bland bathroom is transforming into a luxurious retreat, and I haven’t been this excited to be in a bathroom in a very long time! In this post, I’m sharing my design inspiration, plans, and the materials we’ve chosen our primary bathroom remodel. I’ve also added some of my favorite bathroom remodel tips to help you with any current or future renovating you’ve got planned. Let’s get started!

Want to see our kitchen plans? Check out my post on our Kitchen Remodel Plans.

Our Primary Bathroom – Before

Our primary bathroom is a great size, but the materials and finishes are rather dated. We won’t be changing the general layout – all of the plumbing stays in place – but we will be “reconfiguring” the shower, tub, and vanity or a more updated look.

Pro Tip: For remodels, keeping your plumbing fixtures (sinks, toilets, faucets) in the same location can save you a lot of money! Moving plumbing fixtures adds labor and material costs associated with moving pipes. If you must move things for better functionality or aesthetics, try to minimize how far away the new location will be.

Our Primary Bathroom Remodel Plans

The Vision

Our goal is to have a primary bathroom that feels like a relaxing retreat, but isn’t overly fancy. My decorating style is California Casual meets Modern Coastal, so I want the bathroom to look light and airy, with a neutral color palette, and natural materials. Here are a few inspiration pictures that I’ve been using for the design of our bathroom.

I’ve long admired this gorgeous bathroom from Studio McGee. I love the mix of the gray-green vanity, with marble countertops and antique brass hardware. After seeing this picture, I knew I would go with a painted vanity over white oak (even though I also love that look).

Here’s another view of the same bathroom, with a lovely freestanding tub next to the shower.

Here’s another beautiful bathroom with a darker gray-green vanity and gold accents. Those reeded doors…so pretty!

This next bathroom has glossy, tonal tile in the shower, with a gray vanity and brass accents. This is the same tile we’re planning to use in our bathroom. It feels timeless, but also fresh, and I love how light and bright it is.

Key Changes to our Primary Bathroom

• The plastic wood-look Pergo floor is going, going, gone. We’ll be replacing it with a marble-look tile.
• The two-level vanity will be replaced with a single-level countertop, but stay the same size.
• The huge built-in tub and surround are being replaced with a freestanding tub, which will make the entire space feel more airy.
• The shower will stay roughly the same size, but the bench will be moving, and we’ll add a half wall between the shower and new freestanding tub.
• We’ll be tiling the shower and tub surround with the same tile for a seamless look
• The water closet (toilet room) will get a pocket door. This is one of those functional must-have changes we added to the project to make getting into and out of the tiny space less awkward.

Design Plans & Drawings

Here is a design board and some drawings I created to give you an idea of what we’re planning.

The Vanity

We’ve chosen to go with custom shaker-style frameless cabinets and drawers for the vanity, and they’ll be painted. I was initially leaning toward a gray-green paint color, like in my inspiration pics, but ultimately chose Sherwin-Williams Intellectual Gray because it looked the best with all of the finishes and tile we selected. Intellectual Gray is a warm gray with a faint green undertone, adding a natural, earthy vibe without looking too gray, or overtly green.

Here’s a home office with cabinets painted SW Intellectual Gray, where you can see this chameleon color in action.

Expert Tip: Never choose a paint color based solely on an image. Always always get samples of the color and test it in your space before committing.

Bathroom Floors

The flooring is always a key decision in any bathroom remodel. It can really set the tone and style of the space, so it’s an important design element to get right. We chose a large format (i.e. large size) marble-look porcelain tile in a honed finish. The large size is great for bathrooms because it minimizes grout lines, which can get yucky. Here’s a picture of our floor tile used in a mockup image. We’ll just be using it on our floors.

Countertops

For the countertops, we decided on quartz. As a designer and homeowner, I prefer quartz in bathrooms because its non-porous nature resists moisture, staining, and the growth of bacteria and mold – ideal for the bathroom environment. We’ll be using the same quartz in our shower for the bench top, wall cap, and curb.

When choosing our quartz, the challenge was to choose something that worked well with our floors and our vanity, without competing with them. So, it had to be fairly minimal, with maybe some subtle veining.

The quartz we chose is MSI Calacatta Miraggio Gold, and it’s perfect! It has a crisp white background and elegant, dainty golden brown and gray veining. Here’s an up close picture of a Calacatta Mirragio Gold countertop.

The Shower Tile

The shower tile is another key decision when it comes to a bathroom remodel. We could have used our same floor tile on the shower walls, and it would have looked very elegant. But, I had my heart set on a popular glossy tonal subway tile that I’ve been swooning over for two years. It’s the Cloe tile from Bedrosians, and it’s a super versatile tile

Here’s an example of Cloe tile in action. Doesn’t this shower look just like a dreamy spa?

If you recall from earlier, I wanted our bathroom to look refined and spa-like, but still casual. That’s exactly why this tile was the perfect choice for our shower and tub surround. And, the variation of colors works so beautifully with our floor tile. It’s tough to beat Cloe tile, and that’s why it’s so darn popular!

For our shower floor, we used the same tile as our bathroom floor, but in a different format. We needed a smaller size, so we chose a 1×4 herringbone pattern to mix things up.

Here’s a sneak peak of our tile that I shared a while back on Instagram:

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A post shared by Melissa Welsh | Interior Designer (@welshdesignstudio)

Faucets & Plumbing Fixtures

This was an easy choice for us. I knew I wanted an antique brass finish, and I knew I wanted it to have a more streamlined, modern look. That led us straight to the Delta Trinsic line.

Delta is a very reliable brand in the plumbing world, and relatively affordable. Their Champagne Bronze finish is absolutely gorgeous, and the Trinsic line is a classic loved by designers everywhere. We have the entire Trinsic line going in our bathroom – faucets, tub filler, shower components, and towel bars.

The Finishing Touches

To complete the look, I’m planning on using antique brass cabinet hardware, a matching mirror, and wall sconce lights that also have brass. The warmth of the brass will add a touch of elegance without feeling too formal, and it ties in beautifully with the warm veins in the floor tile and countertop.

The walls will be painted Benjamin Moore Pale Oak, a light, soft greige with just the right amount of warmth to tie everything together, and our trim color is BM Chantilly Lace.

Expert Tip: Matching brass accents is not an easy task! Some brass is more yellow, and some has more of an amber tone. They don’t have to match exactly, but it’s important to see your finishes next to each other to make sure they don’t clash.

Why I Love This Design

This bathroom combines the best of a modern coastal vibe with the relaxed beauty of California Casual style. It will be bright and airy with shades of white and gray, but not sterile, thanks to the addition of warm brass finishes and gold/brown veining in the floor tile and countertops. The glossy, tonal subway tile strikes the perfect balance between modern trends and classic finishes. Most importantly, it’s a space designed to handle real life, with durable materials.

What’s Next?

The bathroom is nearing completion, and almost ready for a big reveal. We’re just waiting on a few finishing touches, like sconce lights and mirrors to come in (backordered), and then I can’t wait to share it with all of you. Stay tuned for the final reveal!

Let me know what you think about the design! Have you used any of these materials in your bathroom? Let me know in the comments—I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Bathroom Remodel Planner

Planning your own bathroom remodel soon? Grab a copy of my Ultimate Bathroom Renovation Planner and start things off on the right foot. This planner is filled with essential tips, and will help you get organized, which leads to saving time and money!