Category: Pool House

If you’re sick of pictures and posts about the pool house, I’m sorry to disappoint you today.  With the bathroom being the smallest room, it was quick to finish up.  The kitchen area, while not finished, it coming along nicely.  Starting off, the pool had a three step raised, um, wet bar?  Outside the sliding door, there was a small raised rock platform.  So three steps up to go three steps down.

It also featured a winow behind the cabinets, making it look off when seen from outside.  We initially thought the platform perhaps hid plumbing, but a look below showed it was completely open.  With that knowledge, we made the decision to eliminate the raised platform for a free-flowing layout.

Once the platform (inside and out) were removed, we lowered the door and window to keep it even with the floor.

As with the rest of the room, the floors are slate and the walls got the tedious board and batten treatment.

After paint, it looked relatively finished, excluding the cabinets.

 

With such neutral floors and walls, I wanted to add a bit of color.  Painted cabinets are beautiful, and this small section is the perfect place to experiment.

Green was always my front-runner, and I picked out a mid to dark tone slightly olive green.  Right away, I painted the cabinet boxes to get a feel for it.

I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it.  It was a touch more sage toned than I had in mind, and it was a similar value to the stainless steel counters.

Before changing anything, I lived with it for a few days and turned my attention to the other side of the room.

For this side, we slightly changed plans by building wooden storage benches.  Not only will they store necessary pool related stuff, they’re functional seating for the dining table. 

This one might look familiar, because it was in our breakfast nook.

The size, metal base, and dark green marble top are a perfect match for this bench.  A pair of Union Square sconces from Progress define this area from the rest of the large room.

Floating the legs several inches away allows easy sliding in and out of the bench.

Seeing the dark green swirls in the top made the sage toned green look even more off, so I had the quart retinted.  Of course, because I’m super impatient when it comes to things like this, I started painting the sink box to get a look at it.

On overcast or rainy days, it reads much darker, almost black.  But on sunny days, it’s perfect.

Toe kicks and cabinet doors are still in the works, but good things take time.

 

Skylights are always amazing, but these giant ones drench the area in the most gorgeous light.

Even with the room unfinished, I love going out there just to appreciate how different it feels.  And we’ve used the oven a few times, too.  Pizza and pool parties to come as soon as we get the liner and water.

Exciting things have been happening in the pool house recently.  We primed and painted the walls white, which makes much of the room look finished.  Certainly a far cry from our starting point of dark stained (in color and in a literal uneven way) walls, fiberglass sheeting on the ceiling, and outdoor grade carpet covering the floor.

In the photo above, there’s a half bathroom squished in behind a swinging door.  It was so small and dark, I never got photos of the room before, but you can see the vanity peeking out in a progress pic.

Starting with the digital design…

Onto cladding the walls in plywood sheeting, starting on the walnut vanity…

To marble counters and tall back splash…

Getting primer and paint on the walls…

This space, at long last, is looking cute.  A locking frosted glass pocket door separates the bath from the main pool area, but still allows natural light to flood in.

Unlike the bathroom before, the pocket door allows the room to feel open, not cramped.  Walking in is easy, and doesn’t require snugging against the vanity to close the door.

When planning this space, I wanted to keep storage to a minimum.  I know, the exact opposite of the usual desire for as much storage as possible.  Unlike a full bathroom, we don’t need to store extra products, just the basics.  A basket of toilet paper and a cute metal bin stocked with first aid supplies sit on the slatted shelf.

Simple, free to download bird prints add color to the otherwise bare toilet side.

Other than the change of art, the only deviation from the original plan is the frameless mirror.  This one was in the original bathroom, and I had planned to build a wooden frame around it, painting it black for a metal look.

After resting it on the top of the marble back splash, I liked the streamlined look more than a framed mirror.   With the decision to forgo a frame, Ben hung the mirror using four sleek metal mirror clips that are barely noticeable.

Without a frame, the interesting Beaker sconces from Progress command more attention.

Measuring 17 inches tall, they’re on the large side for a small bathroom (as is the over sized  marble slab back splash), but both height, making the room feel bigger.

The mirrored glass shades provide a beautiful, soft glow that creates the slightest pattern on the walls.  The faux pulley and cute cloth cord offer a lot of style, while the glass shade keeps visually light.

A wall mount faucet has been on my wish list for years, and I was finally able to get Ben on board with it in here.  Mostly due to the marble backing, preventing unnecessary wall splashing.  However, it didn’t come without challenges and an excessive amount of measuring.  And re-measuring, followed by second guessing.  Followed up with several four letter words when cutting the holes in the marble to accommodate it.

I worried it’d be too ‘splashy’, so we placed the bottom of the spout 2 inches from the top of the vessel sink.  It forces people to keep their hands in the bowl, but doesn’t feel crammed in our wide sink.

At 44 inches wide, with a large part taken up by the sink, there’s enough counter space for a small tray of cotton swabs (useful when the pool is functional) and a cute soap pump.  Basically, all of the little elements I’ve been compiling over the months and finally get to use.

It’s been a long road to get to this point, but I’m basking in the bright, open, fresh space we have now.

If you spy something you might want to get for yourself, here’s the list of everything shown.

Montauk Black Slate Tile     .     Frosted Pocket Door     .     Pocket Door Hardware     .     Progress Beaker Sconces     .     Delta Trinsic Faucet     .     Vessel Sink     .    Delta Trinsic Black Towel Ring     .     Towel (similar)     .     Mirror Clips     .     Blue Rimmed Cup     .     Izola Soap     .     Black Gingham Tray     .     Round Wire Basket     .     First Aid Box     .     Kohler Highline Toilet     .     Paper Holder (similar)     .     Picture Frames     .     Audubon Art