Before and After
Surprise! Here's Your New Bathroom!
by Linda Montet, Photography by John JohnsonBrad & Lori Miller had an agreement. She would move into the basement while he supervised the remodeling of the master bathroom. Not only would all the plans and changes be a surprise, she wouldn’t peek until her new spa getaway was completely done.
It may sound like a recipe for disaster; but not only is the marriage still intact, both Brad (a stay-at-home dad) and Lori (a physician with a very hectic schedule) think the results are spectacular.Although the Norwalk couple had been clipping pictures from magazines and collecting ideas for quite some time, once the project was started, all the remodeling and decorating decisions belonged to Brad.
“I had help though. I couldn’t have done it alone,” Brad says of his remodelers—Oran, Marilyn, and Derek Struecker of Construction Professionals, LLC in Norwalk. “I had in my head what I wanted, but they brought it out. I wasn’t under a time crunch, so I just said, ‘What are my options?’”
What he wanted was to enlarge the space, replace the traditional single-unit tub and shower with a whirlpool hot tub, add to the cabinetry, build in a bigger shower, and add some organization to a large adjacent closet.
“Marilyn seemed to know right away what I wanted to do,” Brad says. “We couldn’t have asked for better construction partners. Derek came up with the plans and Marilyn helped sort out the finish options. It all revolved around that great new tub.”
Before:
The room was gutted down to the studs, and a closet in an adjacent bedroom was opened up to enlarge the bathroom footprint. Plumbing was relocated and separate sink areas were designed for husband and wife.
The floor, tub, and shower are lined with porcelain tile and color-enhanced island mix pebble rock, and sinks are porcelain-coated cast iron. Radiant heat adds warmth under the floor tile, and a built-in recessed shelf holds personal and decorative items.
Built-in oak storage units in the closet designed by Oran and Derek help tuck away luggage and unused clothes, and an ironing board folds neatly into a wall unit. The vanity mirror from the original bathroom was framed with oak and mounted in the closet. A custom-designed oak shoe and hat rack keeps items off the floor, which also features radiant heat.
“We looked closely at how they live here as a family,” says Oran. “We wanted the space to work well for them for a long time to come.”
Throughout the process, Lori and Collin, 11, and Camille, 9, just sat back and let the changes happen. Even the children didn’t peek during construction. “I told Brad, ‘I don’t want to make any decisions. Just run with it.’ We have the same tastes. I knew it would be just wonderful, and it is.”
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