Traverse Area Bathroom Renovations

Our February issue of Northern Home and Cottage will be focused on the idea that, despite the economy, it is a good time to renovate. And it is. Lumber and other building materials are low—one lumberman told me he hasn’t seen prices this low in from 5 to 20 years. And contractors and subcontractors are so grateful for the work (aren’t we all grateful for work nowadays?) they’re apt to take some extra time to make sure you are getting what you want.

Which is how Todd Bredin and I ended up in my bathroom together Saturday morning. Todd and his partner, Chris, are laying the tiles in our two bathroom renovations. Todd is also a fine woodworker—last year he made our front door, a hardwood piece of art embossed with four hand-painted trout: cutthroat, brown, brook and rainbow. I learned during the course of that job that Todd is patient, thoughtful and he wants his work to be right. But I also know that in this economy everyone has more impetus to get it right, even if it means working Saturday morning.

Ten years ago, I bought a truckload of handmade clay tiles from Thailand from a friend who’d had leftovers from building her home. They’ve sat in the garage all these years, waiting for the right project. Our downstairs bathroom is finally the right project. When Todd and Chris opened the boxes, they found that among the plain tiles were ornately embossed tiles that could be set together in fours to form a medallion. They knew I’d want to have a look—and Saturday was the only time to get with me.

After about an hour we’d sketched out a plan for the medallions to be placed symmetrically along the top two rows of tiles on the long walls, and one centered on the shorter back wall that will draw your eye when you walk into the bathroom.

It’s pretty high style for a bathroom that was all about 1960’s yellow tile and 1980’s wallpaper until three weeks ago. As soon as the tiles are grouted I’ll post a picture.