Bathroom Remodel Archives - Page 2 of 35

Orange County Bathroom Remodel Service: Dissecting Great Design

By Inspired Remodels / Bathroom Remodel, Home Improvement / Comments Off

What makes a great bathroom design? Is it the tile on the floor or the stunning sink? No! Ask any Orange County bathroom remodel service with years of experience under their tool belt what makes a great bathroom design, and they will tell you it starts with making the most of the space and then builds from there. Inspired Remodels, the premier Orange County bathroom remodel service, breaks down the elements of a winning bathroom design.

Orange County bathroom remodel service after adding a dark wood vanity

This design incorporates space between tub, shower, and vanity

Room to Move

Resist the urge to cram more in the space than will comfortably fit. Ignore this golden rule, and no matter how great the room looks, you will regret your choices on a regular basis.

Give yourself room to breathe and move. Allow at least 30” of space in front of toilets, bathtubs, showers, and vanities. Don’t design a water closet so small that the door touches the knees of a person sitting on the toilet. You may laugh, but it happens.

Orange County bathroom remodeling contractors (Orange County) after photo with seamless glass shower, white soaking tub, dual mirrors, and 3 contrasting tile patterns

Add lighting in layers

Layer Your Lighting

Bathrooms are like kitchens; they require several sources of lighting. Ambience lighting adds to the spa-like experience of soaking in a tub with bath salts and unwinding at the end of a hard day. But that’s not the light needed to shave in the morning. Or apply makeup.

Personal care routines require task lighting. Don’t guess where the mascara goes; apply it properly the first time with the help of light from a source close to your mirrors.

A savvy Orange County bathroom remodel service design starts with overhead lighting. Recessed lighting tops the list for providing overall light to a room. Light cans installed overhead spread light throughout the room.

Next, add light to the vanity and mirror area. Scones next to the mirrors or lighted mirrors offer ample light for detail work such as shaving or applying facial products.

Cabinets, drawers, and medicine cabinets offer storage

Ample Storage

Functional bathroom designs include plenty of space to store linens and personal care items. No one wants to find out they are out of toilet paper at the wrong moment and realize none is stored in the room.

If you haven’t been there before, count yourself lucky.

Cabinets keep linens and essentials hidden until needed. Shelves offer space for decorative items and those you want at your fingertips. Drawers provide room for self-care items as well as the essential first-aid kit.

If you have room, include space for storing bathroom cleaning products. Keeping the room sparkling clean becomes easier when everything you need lives close by.

Spa-Quality Finishes

Include finishes that make the design special to you. When you think spa-quality finish, what comes to mind first?

That’s the element to first incorporate in your design. This element of the design requires personalization by the designer. Work with a designer who starts with your favorites and then incorporates them into the room.

Do you want heated floors? Tell the designer, as this item helps determine what finishes you can use on the floors.

Is a soaking tub important to you? This amenity requires plenty of room for the tub, filler plumbing, and entry/exit. If space is limited, you may consider a water room, which incorporates the tub and shower in one space.

The Inspired Orange County Bathroom Remodel Service

Inspired Remodels designs inspired bathrooms that offer functionality and beauty.

In the bathroom above, the dressing and vanity area sits across the room from the shower. This keeps the room looking large, open, and fresh. Rule 1 check!

A vanity that accommodates double sinks also offers plenty of drawer and cabinet space for storage. Mirrored medicine cabinets hide bonus storage while keeping smaller items at your fingertips. Rule 2 check!

Overhead recessed lighting augments the natural light from the window to keep the room feeling spacious and airy. Sconce lights framing the mirrors bathe the vanity area with task lighting. Tweeze and shave away with confidence. Rule 3 check!

Large format tiles on the floor and backsplash, and vertical subway tiles on the walls, lean into sophisticated spa-level vibes. Rule 4 check!

Work with an Orange County bathroom remodel service that checks the boxes. Schedule a consultation with Inspired Remodels today.

Living room on the coast with views of the ocean through large window and folding door system with wood flooring

Orange County Flooring Contractor Faves (And What Makes Them Special)

By Inspired Remodels / Bathroom Remodel, Home Improvement, Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off

When it comes to picking floors, every Orange County flooring contractor has a few favorites in their portfolio. What makes these floors contractor favorites? It could be the appearance, durability, or ease of care.

Here are a few of the flooring products loved by Inspired Remodels. With just a look, we think these will quickly be your faves too. Which one goes best in your house?

Engineered Hardwood Plank Flooring

In California, the days of traditional hardwood flooring have come and gone. In its place? Engineered hardwood flooring.

Hartco manufactures engineered hardwood planks that not only deliver on luxury but also double down on durability. They look like solid hardwood because the top, visible layer of the plank is a hardwood veneer. This is an actual wood layer, just not as thick as traditional hardwood.

But you’ll love the way they perform like traditional hardwood when it comes to durability. Most engineered wood planks stand up to sanding and refinishing over the life of the floor.

We love floors that fit challenging spaces. Engineered hardwood floors work in places where humidity and temperature present a challenge. They work over radiant heat and concrete slabs, too.

Forget the detergents, waxes, and polishes. Simply wipe up spills and clean with a dry dust mop or sweep with a broom. A vacuum fitted with a soft, horsehair brush (no rotating beater bars, please) works well too.

As a flooring contractor, Inspired Remodels also loves LVP flooring as it does not require acclimation. Unlike hardwood flooring, LVP planks can be installed as soon as the subfloor is prepared. That means less disruption in the home during installation.

Who doesn’t love that?

Provenza Hardwood Flooring

We confess an affinity for California companies. Like Inspired Remodels, Provenza calls California home.

But more than an affinity, we absolutely love the handcrafted, artisan nature of Provenza flooring products.

When you look at these hardwood planks, you quickly notice that no two boards are the same. That’s because each plank receives careful handcrafting before being shipped for installation in your home.

African Plains collection by Provenza

The variation in grain and stain gives these floors a real luxury feel. They also create handscraped and hand-distressed flooring for a more rustic and old-world vibe, perfect for Spanish architecture. In a world of mass-produced hardwoods, it’s nice to know one California company still values artisan work.

If you want the warmth and luxury of real hardwood and appreciate craftsmanship, you’ll make Provenza flooring one of your faves too.

Wood Look Tile

Bedrosians and select other flooring manufacturers created a flooring contractor’s dream product. If porcelain tile had a baby with hardwood, they would create wood-look tile.

This is the wood flooring that goes where wood dares not. Put it in the bathroom, heck, put it on the shower floor. As with any other tile product, wood-look tile stands up to water.

Flooring that looks like wood and wears like tile makes it a flooring contractor fave for kitchen floors. Go ahead, spill the milk and splash the marinara. Then bend down and wipe it up with a paper towel.

Inspired Remodels recommends waterproof floors for bathrooms and busy kitchens. When you want the look of wood, but it is not practical, go for wood-look tile.

Can you tell this isn’t a real wood floor?

Orange County Flooring Contractors at Inspired Remodels

Inspired Remodels offers full flooring services. Install new flooring as part of a larger renovation or remodeling project, or do it as a stand-alone project.

Each flooring job includes assistance with selecting the right flooring to meet your needs, subfloor preparation, installation, and cleaning up when the job is done.

Change your flooring and change the look of any room. What flooring will be your new favorite for 2026?

Kitchen remodeling after: Bright white cabinets with warm wood tone accents and freestanding marble island

Kitchen and Bath Remodeling Predictions for 2026

By Inspired Remodels / Bathroom Remodel, Kitchen Remodel / Comments Off

Out with the old, in with the new! With every new year comes new trends in kitchen and bath remodeling.

For 2024, the design industry predicted green would be the color of the year. You could find everything from green toilets and tubs to green cabinetry and tiles.

2025 continued the trend of more natural colors, but shifted to warm wood-tones. Design magazines, Instagram ads from top designers and vendors, and home improvement shows all showcased white oak cabinetry with Taj Mahal countertops and matte gold fixtures!

With 2026 before us, you can expect to see new design trend predictions. With some input from trusted vendors and our years of experience, here are Inspired Remodel’s top predictions kitchen and bath remodeling predictions for 2026.

Terrazzo

Going hand-in-hand with 2025’s popular design trend of biophilic design, terrazzo is making a comeback! Composed of natural, often recycled materials, terrazzo was traditionally used for floors and countertops. In 2026, expect to see terrazzo and terrazzo-look tile used in a myriad of ways in kitchen and bathroom remodeling.

Available in a variety of different colors, terrazzo makes a great choice for adding a little mid-century modern flair to their homes. However, actual terrazzo comes with a price tag that some people aren’t ready to meet. The terrazzo wall tiles in the bathroom above are actually made of porcelain. Arizona Tile offers a wide variety of terrazzo and terrazzo look products.

This terrazzo backsplash tile from Arizona Tile ties the cool green of the cabinets and the stainless steel of the appliances together perfectly. This is a kitchen that just works!

Warm Wood Tones

A bold contrast to the once-popular all-white kitchens, homeowners continue to look for ways to add warmth to their homes in 2026.

While 2025 was all about natural or whitewashed white oak, cabinet manufacturers like Masterbrand, St. Martin, and Shiloh continue to add new stain options in the medium-wood tone range. Committing to a kitchen of all stain-finished cabinets can be a difficult decision and oftentimes reminds homeowners of the kitchens from their childhood homes (remember those orangey, oak cabinets?).

To balance the wood tones, two-tone kitchen designs will remain popular with homeowners who select a wood tone for either the island or lower cabinets and a warmer white or beige color for the upper cabinets. See how this kitchen design remains light and spacious through the use of white uppers and still warm and inviting through the use of warm wood base cabinets and drawers.

Modified Shaker-Style Doors

Shaker-style doors are here to stay, but with a bit of a modern twist. Over the past year, cabinet manufacturers introduced a new style, skinny or slim shaker. Essentially, the frame of the shaker door has gotten skinnier.

This new shaker-style creates a streamlined aesthetic, helps make the space feel larger, and helps with maintenance too (more flat surface). The slick, skinny Shaker-style doors on these cabinets and drawers keep the kitchen looking classic and classy.

Hidden Features & Technology

Homeowners are always on the lookout for the latest and greatest in technology, but don’t want it to steal the spotlight. 2026 will bring advancements that enhance the modern, decluttered aesthetic everyone wants.

Great advancements in lighting continue to brighten up Orange County kitchens and baths. In the kitchen above, under-cabinet lighting discreetly highlights the details in this kitchen.

Mirrors that light up and even conceal electrical outlets keep bathrooms looking clean and spacious.

In addition to advances in lighting, other technologies introduced in the last few years include:

Simplified, flush-mount built-in outlets
Sleek, flush-mounted HVAC vent covers
Hidden bathroom fans
Integrated wireless charging stations built into countertops

Modern Kitchen and Bath Remodeling with Timeless Looks

For kitchen and bath remodeling that remains on trend with quality that will last years, turn to Inspired Remodels.

Each remodeling project begins with a discussion of your needs, wants, budget, and goals. Need a kitchen built for gracious, informal, or formal entertaining? How about a bathroom shared by teens or a primary suite retreat?

Inspired Remodels offers kitchen and bath remodeling, outdoor renovations, whole house updates, or just an upgrade to your fireplace. Schedule a consultation today to begin planning your 2026 remodeling project.