8. Choose porcelain wall and floor tile. Porcelain can last a lifetime, so chances are you won’t have to replace it as you get older. It’s also perhaps the easiest surface to clean. Water and a rag normally do the trick. If you’re concerned about grout, look for porcelain tile with a rectified edge. Finely cut edges allow for thin grout joints (as little as 1/16 inch in some styles). You can purchase a presealed grout as well.
5. Use a shower base instead of tiling the floor. Architectural designer Alison Strickland was not a fan of having to clean grout lines in the shower. So she used a shower base for the floor of her shower stall and designed the space around it. The ledge and the base seen here are made from a material called Krion from Porcelanosa.
Bathrooms. Whimsical rustic touches continue throughout all of the bathrooms. In this powder room, a rusted metal bucket serves as a vessel sink. The faucets are outdoor faucets and the countertop is made of hewn logs. The walls are covered in reclaimed metal from a barn roof; it has been pressed and flattened. The sconces are repurposed vintage lights from a New York City subway.
5. Bathroom. turning a piece of furniture into a vanity/ what’s involved: Make sure the height is right to comfortably wash your hands and brush your teeth (between 32 and 36 inches). gain inches by using a vessel sink and by adding or extending the feet. Learn more about bathroom height measurements. Treat the original wooden top with a sealant such as polyurethane or marine varnish to prevent it from rotting. Or replace it with something more durable like natural stone or engineered quartz.
Wall tile: It’s not rocket science, but tiles classified “wall” or “floor” aren’t interchangeable. Wall tiles won’t withstand traffic on the floor, and floor tiles are usually too thick and heavy to put on the wall.
5. Masterful mix. Small and large tiles cover the walled surfaces /each tile gives off a vibrant turquoise hue, cover the vanity that houses the toilet’s plumbing, sink and shelves for extra towels. To the right, large-format tiles create a colorful showering space. Look into the vanity mirror and you can see that another, more textured, tile fills the wall across the room.
10. Peaceful reflections. Large, reflective tiles help bring the sun and views
To create visual interest in a one-color design, vary your patterns and textures. Here, a grid of pink pearlescent tiles forms a faint pattern of squares on the walls, while the floor is also subtly different.
This whole house is exceptional!
The free-standing tub ledge. The plumbing for the free-standing tub is housed in the wall boxout of this bathroom, creating a ledge. This one is clear of clutter, but it could be used to rest a glass of wine and a book during a relaxing evening soak.
Look East. Bathe like the Japanese in a space-efficient but wonderfully luxurious square wooden tub. The idea is to sit with hot water up to your chin, rather than lie down as you do in Western-style baths.
12. Foursquare Builders built this shower stall with a full-length frosted glass wall. It provides privacy yet allows the homeowners to feel connected to the outdoors.
3. Bathing Beauty With coral’s sea origins, coral-inspired designs and bathrooms are a natural fit when combined.
Mix expected and unexpected textures. Grass cloth is a soft surprise next to a crisp white shuttered door; a black and white geometric floor plays off the graphic vintage cruise ship poster.
Chocolate glass and metallic grass cloth walls (Phillip Jeffries for Holly Hunt) and the marble floor repeat the lounge’s design theme of contrast and color.
2. Undermount sink. This sits underneath the counter. The rim of the sink is fixed to the underside of the countertop, as opposed to sitting on top of it. Pros: This creates a seamless, clean look, as less of the actual sink is visible. Another advantage is that water and spills can be wiped directly from the countertop into the sink without any obstruction, making it a great, easy-to-clean option for family bathrooms. Cons: Undermounting a sink will usually only be possible with a solid-surface countertop, such as stone, and isn’t suitable with a laminate, as it can’t be sealed as well against moisture. These sinks also tend to cost more than top-mount ones. Good for: Busy family bathrooms.
Charlie Allen Renovations, Inc. SaveEmail 6. Transoms. Another architectural way to add a nonspecific light source is to add a window between a room and an adjacent space (especially if the next room over has natural light to share). Placed high enough, a transom window (technically, “transom” is the term for the piece of wall dividing a window and the door below) will open a space to new light without compromising privacy.
The bathroom has the same cabinetry, tilework and granite as the kitchen. “We bumped the design up a notch by adding this monastic-style mirror from Arte de Mexico,”
Another one of the homeowner’s favorite things is this bathroom countertop, composed of sea glass that her daughter collected. “Because we tried to source things locally, we found a guy in Seattle, Aaron Cohen, who owns NovuStone and makes very interesting countertops from recycled materials,” she says.
This handmade tile provides waves of varying colors. Again, natural wood and turquoise are a strong combination.
Black pebbles cover the walls of a steam shower, which seals by way of a sliding resin door. The custom resin panels preserve twigs and leaves and continue the natural motif in the bathroom.
HC bathroom: bring more functionality to the 7-foot by 10-foot space. Because the bathroom is sandwiched between two bedrooms, she couldn’t make the space any bigger, which prevented her from following many of the Americans With Disabilities Act standards, like having 3 feet of clearance in every direction.
Why: Storing towels in the bathroom is convenient, and incorporating a spot for dirty laundry and bath essentials makes the space work even harder. How: Outfit an existing cabinet with a pullout laundry bin, wire door storage and adjustable shelves. I
5. Unexpected influences. When you think of Asian design, Japanese-, Chinese- and Balinese-inspired styles are usually the first decorating schemes that come to mind. But don’t forget to look to other Asian countries, including India and Thailand, or nations in Central or South Asia, such as Turkey or Pakistan, for inspiration. We love this airy, eclectic Indian-influenced space. Though modern in design, the finishing touches (such as the ornate wooden mirrors, exotic pendant lights and patterned rug) infuse it with global character and charm.
3. Gleaming glamour. Dress up your Eastern-inspired bathing area with shimmering metallic tones (such as gold, silver or copper) that add drama and flair. This opulent powder room shows how it’s done. A dazzling gold-tiled vanity steals the spotlight, while intricately patterned mosaic tiling in black and gold enhances the luxe look and adds an almost mystical vibe. For a subtler look, decorate your bathing zone with cultural artifacts or accessories with metallic finishes.
How to add a skylight or tube: Light tubes can be combined with lighting fixtures, so the same area that lets in daylight during the day can double as a light for the evening. Free software to help decide what is best for your home. http://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/21634448?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u950&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery17
Tip: Play off the shapes found in your wallpaper. Here the circular sink basin and the starburst sconce bases pick up in the paper’s pattern.
many antique birdbaths are hard to retrofit, as well as expensive. Prewitt tapped a local concrete fabricator to make the sink, using the image of an old and rare birdbath as his inspiration. When picturing a Southwest interior, it’s hard to imagine it without turquoise. Prewitt has it here, but done in a high-gloss sheen and paired with traditional Mexican tiles that have a mod twist.
4. Toe the Line This powder room could be described as a successful marriage of lines, from the faint horizontal ones on the wallpaper to the bolder vertical ones in the wainscoting. The circular mirror and bowl-shaped sink provide welcome curves.
8. Glitz and Glam The sparkle of a herringbone-patterned wall brings a modern touch to a powder room that features a large dose of the traditional because of its marble countertop and floor.
Aqua wallpaper with floral motif. Marble tile wainscoting. Marble tile floor with basket-weave tile “rug” inset. Vintage black metal chair reupholstered in Belgian linen. Custom shell-and-pebble mirror. “Since this house is on the water, they wanted to add some coastal elements, which we did with our pebble-and-shell mirror as well as the aqua blue color of the wallpaper and chair fabric,
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