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There were plenty of times over the last two years that Anthony Rodriguez, the San Francisco-based designer and creator behind 136 Home, and his husband could have thrown in the towel on their cabin bathroom renovation. The bad news trickled in from the jump: the electrical was faulty and water was leaking in through the windows. As demolition got underway, they discovered a nest of mice living in the room. Later on, a load-bearing beam almost threw off the medicine cabinet alignment and the new vanity showed up with a cracked countertop. But for Rodriguez, every setback made the reno more rewarding. “You have to try to enjoy the journey, even when you’re chasing snakes out of your bathtub,” he says with a laugh.
The whole point of buying the Northern California retreat in the first place was to unwind and be closer to nature on the weekends. “I wanted to be there on a really cold day with a bubble bath and a dog-eared book, looking out that picture window into the redwoods,” he says. So without losing its modern, Sea Ranch-inspired vibe, the couple and their contractor, Bryan Walker, slowly chipped away at the space until it felt like a real escape.
The Picture Perfect Window
While the two windows in the bathroom had to be replaced (for one thing, they were so fogged up you could barely see out of them), Rodriguez wanted to maintain the placement and size of the openings. “A picture frame window is essentially art. My soul would have left my body if we put in a smaller, vinyl window,” he says. The new, double-pane windows offer a crystal clear view and are properly sealed so no water can seep through. Rodriguez polished up the original brass stays to keep some of the original character. “They’re like jewelry for the windows and a reminder of the cabin’s craftsmanship,” he says.
The Mod Tile
The small bench at the base of the tub might seem like a waste of square footage to some people, but Rodriguez couldn’t imagine the space without it. “One of my favorite things to do is sit in the steam of a shower with a cup of coffee or tea and decompress,” he says. Throughout the project, he let the house tell him what to keep. “It really wanted to be this ’80s, mid-mod thing,” he says.
While the existing beige tiles were chipped and leaky, Rodriguez liked the scale and texture of the squares. He searched for something similar, ultimately landing on 2″x2″ evergreen tiles from Fireclay. “Selecting materials is one of the most important things you’ll do in a bathroom,” says Rodriguez. “That inky, high-sheen tile makes the space feel moody in the best possible way.”
The Refreshed Paneling
Step one to sprucing up the original redwood walls was finding a really good podcast (preferably true crime or Real Housewives related). Step two? Roughing up the walls with an 80-grit sandpaper to remove any lingering water damage. Then, he wiped the surface down with a microfiber cloth, vacuumed up the debris, went over the wood with a damp rag, and then applied the first coat of a clear finish from Old Masters. He repeated the whole process two more times (the second round with 120 grit paper; the third with a fine 220). With each sanding, the walls got smoother and smoother until, finally, they felt like butter.
The Floating Vanity, Take Two
While installing the new floating vanity required snaking extra plumbing for the second sink, no major pipes had to be moved. To add to the ease, Rodriguez found the perfect ready-made piece at Industry West: the birch frame was sleek and narrow, chock-full of storage, and it even had a real marble top. The vanity arrived ahead of schedule, so he set it aside for a couple of months until it was ready to be installed. That turned out to be a big mistake.
When the day to un-wrap the vanity finally came, Rodriguez spotted a giant crack in the stone countertop. “I was horrified. It took eight to 12 weeks to order it,” he says. “It was a bit of a panic moment because I could see everything flying off the rails.” Desperate to keep his project on track, he called the brand and luckily secured a new one free of charge (all he had to pay for was rush shipping).
The Flush Medicine Cabinets
Rodriguez was already a fan of CB2’s Infinity medicine cabinet—he installed them in his San Francisco bathroom years ago. This time around, he wanted to go the extra mile and recess the storage into the wall for a seamless look. It sounded simple enough, but when the electrician opened up the wall to move some outlets around, they discovered a stud directly where they planned to install one of the cabinets. The only solution? Cut into the support beam to make way for the cabinet (at the same time, they added extra framing to make sure everything was structurally sound). “Every time I open the door, I appreciate how it doesn’t stick out,” he says.
The Little Luxuries
One perk of renovating a bathroom from scratch is that you can weave in some amenities along the way. After sharing glimpses of his renovation on Instagram, a nearby Airbnb owner reached out asking if he wanted her extra Toto bidet toilet, which she’d been reluctant to put into their rental. “It might seem a little excessive for a cabin but I was like, ‘Are you kidding? It’s an over-$1,000 toilet!’” he shares.
Thinking back to his vision of relaxing in the bathroom on a cold winter day, Rodriguez went all in on heated floors. The system he used was $900 on Amazon, easy to install, and is synced up with a timer. “I can get up at 6 a.m. and they’re already warmed up,” he says.