Autumn Dawn Skinner Shares Details of Her DIY Moody Bathroom

Since moving into her 1920s home, Autumn Dawn Skinner and her  husband have worked to slowly tackle remodeling. “I moved in in 2018 and I knew that I had to renovate it,” she says. “I’ve touched every single surface in this house.”

Her Instagram @earthlyautumn has captured her DIY journey, with projects from a fireplace redo to an office update complete with beautiful built-ins. Skinner takes her followers along with her through each project, showcasing how to tackle overwhelming projects by taking it step by step with empowering encouragement for women to try it for themselves.

Her latest project encompassed a moody bathroom remodel. While the structure was true to the original 1920s space, the furnishings had last been remodeled in the ‘80s. “It was a pretty drastic remodel,” Skinner says. “The layout wasn’t functioning correctly. There was a closet that took up a lot of space in the bathroom that was just a linen closet, and the plumbing was older.”

Skinner’s vision for the space was to create a spa-like environment with an ode to the original space. “I wanted to update it while leaving some of the 100-year-old character charm and then getting rid of the things that were done in the ‘80s like the tan tile and wallpaper,” she says.

She began the remodel with a complete gut down to the studs. “The demo work of it is actually not as intimidating as people think,” she says. “You kind of just jump in and start tearing things down. You know what’s inside of a wall so you can just kind of start tearing into it. For this project I had to take out all of the plaster, so it was extremely dusty; that was probably the worst part.”

While not having any formal work experience with large-scale remodeling projects such as this, Skinner drew from her knowledge of past DIY projects and the help of her father and brother, who are both local contractors. “My experience comes from living in this house,” she says. “This bathroom is actually the last room that hasn’t already been renovated. So I’ve really just learned through experience. Luckily, I come from a long line of contractors so I have some great resources.”

After the demo, her brother helped her in building the walls, running new plumbing and electric and laying the tile. She used the empty space to determine what made the most sense for the layout, making space for the most important things on her checklist: a walk-in shower, clawfoot tub, floating toilet and spacious custom vanity.

As for the style, Skinner went into the project with a clear idea in mind. “I knew I wanted to do something really bold in this bathroom,” she says. “So I worked with Sharon Taylor. She’s an interior designer, who is also a neighbor and friend.”

After reaching out to Sharon Taylor, owner of Pickwick House, for advice on how to approach the bathroom to give it a fresh, bold look she suggested a metallic tile series from Missouri Tile. “I found this dark blue tile that I fell in love with,” Skinner says. “It’s very metallic, so it’s dark, but not too dark because it reflects in the light. It’s a smaller space so I didn’t want to do anything that would make it look smaller, so it’s still bold but brings in light.”

Skinner also purchased the marble hexagon tile and marble baseboard from Missouri Tile. “I really think those added to the luxurious feel,” she says. To stay true to the original space, Skinner kept the original built-in between the two windows, the original door and the crystal doorknobs. Then to further home in on the style of those features, she added antique decor from Etsy like the chandelier and toggle dimmer light switches, and opted for unlacquered brass handmade faucets.

One of her favorite personal touches is the custom vanity made by Dustin Stewart. For ease of access, Skinner requested that Stewart include plug-ins for her hair tools inside the drawers.

Each detail of the project came together to transform the space into the bathroom of Skinner’s dreams. “Everyone who has walked into the space has had such a physical reaction to it because it just makes such an impact,” Skinner says. “It feels like such an experience being in there, even just when simply taking a shower; the way the tiles light up, it’s just like you’re constantly looking at art.”