Bathroom of the Week
Bathroom Design
Bathroom of the Week: A New Master Bath in Black and White
In Pennsylvania, a bedroom is converted into a bright, airy and budget-friendly bathroom
Pittsburgh is full of 100-year-old houses in various states of disrepair. Often, designer Katy Popple says, it costs as much to buy one of these crumbling houses, strip it to the studs and renovate it as it does to buy a new home.
And that’s the route her clients decided to take. After buying their century-old, three-story house that had been converted into a multi-tenant residence, they tasked Popple with stripping it and starting fresh. “There were seven bedrooms, two kitchens and it had just been totally wrecked,” she says.
Popple installed new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, windows and roof, then helped the owners, both of whom are college professors, convert a former bedroom into a bright and airy new master bathroom.
And that’s the route her clients decided to take. After buying their century-old, three-story house that had been converted into a multi-tenant residence, they tasked Popple with stripping it and starting fresh. “There were seven bedrooms, two kitchens and it had just been totally wrecked,” she says.
Popple installed new electrical, plumbing, HVAC, windows and roof, then helped the owners, both of whom are college professors, convert a former bedroom into a bright and airy new master bathroom.
The owners gravitated toward a more minimalist black-and-white palette, but the budget also contributed to the design. After renovating the rest of the home and adding new mechanicals and removing walls, they wanted to keep the budget for finishes as low as possible.
For the floor, Popple used inexpensive black porcelain tile that has a marble look. The custom vanity in oak that matches the hardwood flooring in the rest of the house ended up costing less than ready-made vanities they looked at.
Popple topped the vanity with the same quartzite used for the kitchen counters. Matte black finishes elsewhere keep things simple and offer contrast.
Trinsic faucet in matte black: Delta
Shop for bathroom vanities with two sinks
For the floor, Popple used inexpensive black porcelain tile that has a marble look. The custom vanity in oak that matches the hardwood flooring in the rest of the house ended up costing less than ready-made vanities they looked at.
Popple topped the vanity with the same quartzite used for the kitchen counters. Matte black finishes elsewhere keep things simple and offer contrast.
Trinsic faucet in matte black: Delta
Shop for bathroom vanities with two sinks
After: This photo shows the bathroom from essentially the same angle as the previous photo. The window is in the same location; to the left is a water closet, and the shower is in the chimney area.
The rug was added during the photo shoot for styling. If you want to re-create the look for daily use, Popple suggests layering a bath mat at the shower entrance and hanging it to dry after use.
The rug was added during the photo shoot for styling. If you want to re-create the look for daily use, Popple suggests layering a bath mat at the shower entrance and hanging it to dry after use.
Popple used a large-format subway tile in the shower because she felt smaller tile would have looked too busy. Dark gray grout keeps the expanse of white from looking too sterile.
“There’s so much tile I didn’t want it to look too white and boring,” she says. “And I wanted to play up the irregularity in the tile to keep everything from being too stark.”
“There’s so much tile I didn’t want it to look too white and boring,” she says. “And I wanted to play up the irregularity in the tile to keep everything from being too stark.”
To keep costs down, Popple also kept things simple in the shower tile work. “I like to avoid windows in showers if i can,” she says. “The tile work gets a little tricky and there are moisture issues. You’re then forced to frost the window for privacy.”
She likes to use ledges in showers instead of niches, which require more planning, tile work and labor to recess between the wall studs. “I think niches just seem kind of done,” she says.
Here, a 4-to-5-inch deep ledge runs the length of the shower, providing plenty of room for toiletries. Popple topped it with a piece of quartzite cut from the slab used for the countertops.
She says a glass divider made more sense than a shower curtain in this open-concept layout. She had the glass manufacturer add a coating similar to Rain-X used on car windshields. The treatment makes water bead off the glass more quickly.
The shower floor is large penny round black tile.
She likes to use ledges in showers instead of niches, which require more planning, tile work and labor to recess between the wall studs. “I think niches just seem kind of done,” she says.
Here, a 4-to-5-inch deep ledge runs the length of the shower, providing plenty of room for toiletries. Popple topped it with a piece of quartzite cut from the slab used for the countertops.
She says a glass divider made more sense than a shower curtain in this open-concept layout. She had the glass manufacturer add a coating similar to Rain-X used on car windshields. The treatment makes water bead off the glass more quickly.
The shower floor is large penny round black tile.
After: For the guest bathroom, Popple reconfigured the layout and freshened it up with simple white subway tile in the shower and small white penny round tile on the floor. Again, contrasting grout keeps the look from being sterile.
These two floor plans show the layouts of the second floor of the home before (left) and after (right) renovation.
The top left corner of the “before” plans shows the former bedroom and the fireplace on the left wall. You can see the previous layout of the existing guest bathroom in the middle right of the plan.
The “after” plan shows the new bathroom in the location of the former bedroom at the top left and the new layout for the guest bathroom in its original location in the middle right.
A portion of the former bedroom and its former closet became a walk-in closet for the new master suite.
More on Houzz
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Before and After: 7 Master Bathroom Transformations
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The top left corner of the “before” plans shows the former bedroom and the fireplace on the left wall. You can see the previous layout of the existing guest bathroom in the middle right of the plan.
The “after” plan shows the new bathroom in the location of the former bedroom at the top left and the new layout for the guest bathroom in its original location in the middle right.
A portion of the former bedroom and its former closet became a walk-in closet for the new master suite.
More on Houzz
How to Lay Out a 100-Square-Foot Bathroom
Before and After: 7 Master Bathroom Transformations
Get bathroom design ideas
Find a bathroom designer
Shop for bathroom products
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple who are both college professors
Location: Friendship neighborhood of Pittsburgh
Size: 128 square feet (12 square meters)
Designer: Katy Popple Design
The owners wanted a double vanity, a freestanding bathtub, a shower with two shower heads and the toilet in a water closet. “It was a lot of requirements in a small space,” Popple says.
But after a couple of iterations, Popple arrived at the layout that made the most sense and included everything her clients wanted. She says she likes to imagine what the photograph of the space she’s designing will look like. She does this with her future portfolio in mind, but also as an exercise in creating an enjoyable experience for the owners, as if they are walking into a picture-perfect photo every day.
“I want them to walk in and have that first glance be awesome,” she says. “And it translates well in person. The photograph is exactly what it looks like.”
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