Green Bathroom Project from Kohler, Freshaire & Umbra

Finally, it’s done!  The greening of the Leafygreen.info bathroom has come to an end and it’s wonderful.  First off, thanks goes out to Kohler, Freshaire Paint & Umbra for their help with the project.

The bathroom, as you can see below was ugly.  It was red with uncomplimentary multiple colored wood grains, a crappy toilet and old school sink and faucet.  Now, the bathroom shines bright silver and grey with complimentary black and white throughout the small space.

Designing a bathroom in a condo is difficult and making it green is harder, but I did the best I could.  The bathroom is not insulated well enough and I’m actually not physically able nor allowed to alter the structure, so I couldn’t do everything I wanted, but below is what I did change.

• Floor Tiles – replaced with porcelain tiles and replaced subfloors for energy efficiency

• Shower Door – replaced with a new clear glass door to maximize lighting

• Replaced light fixtures

• Replaced the toilet with a new toilet from Kohler.  It’s not low flow, as those would not fit properly, but it uses less water than the previous toilet.  Much less water, in fact; from a 2.4 to a 1.6 gallons per flush tank.

• Replaced vanity and faucet with a Water Sense faucet

• Primed and Painted using Freshaire No VOC paint

Now after a few months of using the Kohler products, I’d have to admit I love the designs, love the colors, love the products, but this review is meant to be real and here’s what I feel.

The Water Sense Faucet works really well.  You would never be able to tell that by using this faucet, you would actually be saving water.  It’s easy to clean, flows nicely and overall, it’s a great Kohler product.

The shower door is easy to clean and looks beautiful, the bathroom accessories look great as well.  The toilet I originally wanted was super eco-friendly, but just did not work out.

The toilet needs a solid concrete subfloor and has to be exactly positioned so it is flush against the wall.  This is hard when you are not gutting a room, so keep that in mind.  The dual flush low flow is not for my situation, so unfortunately I found a different Kohler that would do the trick.

The toilet I replaced it with was much easier to install and seems to be working OK.  The low flow aspect is not bad for liquids but solids sometimes are an issue and needs to be double flushed.

The paint was very, very easy to work with and did not smell up my place.  It was livable during the painting process.  The primer covered up the former red walls and ceiling and shines so brightly now.  I painted the walls a sort of silver-ish gray and it matches the black, gray and white tiles so nicely.

Though this project took longer than expected, I am happy with the end result.

The Old Bathroom