Bathroom of the Week: Beachy Style With Aging-in-Place Features
A designer creates a roomy new layout for improved accessibility, with ocean-inspired details and walnut storage
Heavy elements like a built-in jetted tub, a water closet and a pony-walled corner shower ate up much of this couple’s 166-square-foot bathroom. Looking to loosen up the layout and add stylish aging-in-place features, they reached out to designer and project manager Amanda Davis.
Davis removed the bathtub, walls around the water closet and pony walls around a portion of the shower to create an airier footprint with more room for maneuvering. A curbless shower with a wide ADA-compliant entry and grab bars inside (and beside the toilet) add future-proof features. Noticing that much of the home’s art was inspired by the ocean, Davis added a custom mural made from mosaic marble pieces that gives the impression of coastal fog wrapping the shower walls. A similar mosaic adorns an arched niche area that contains a walnut bench and storage cabinet. Soothing sea green granite slabs form the countertops and wrap the lower portion of the shower and pony walls. Walnut vanities add warmth visually, while heated flooring does it literally.
Davis removed the bathtub, walls around the water closet and pony walls around a portion of the shower to create an airier footprint with more room for maneuvering. A curbless shower with a wide ADA-compliant entry and grab bars inside (and beside the toilet) add future-proof features. Noticing that much of the home’s art was inspired by the ocean, Davis added a custom mural made from mosaic marble pieces that gives the impression of coastal fog wrapping the shower walls. A similar mosaic adorns an arched niche area that contains a walnut bench and storage cabinet. Soothing sea green granite slabs form the countertops and wrap the lower portion of the shower and pony walls. Walnut vanities add warmth visually, while heated flooring does it literally.
The shower includes a built-in bench. Nearby are a grab bar, hand shower and linear drain, all in an oil-rubbed bronze finish. Another linear drain lines the entrance to keep water out of the main bathroom. A niche below the grab bar keeps bath products handy. “That niche is purposely hidden in the pony wall, so when you’re walking in you’re not looking at all the products,” Davis says. Small white limestone-look porcelain tiles in a herringbone pattern create a nonslip surface on the shower floor.
Floor tiles: Bera&Beren in white natural herringbone, Walker Zanger; linear drain: Infinity Drain
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Floor tiles: Bera&Beren in white natural herringbone, Walker Zanger; linear drain: Infinity Drain
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The shower head is mounted on the wall near the entry. Outside the shower, an arched window mirrors the arched niche across the room.
8 Golden Rules of Bathroom Design
8 Golden Rules of Bathroom Design
Each walnut vanity has a Costa Esmeralda granite countertop and a white undermount sink. The contemporary widespread faucets have an oil-rubbed bronze finish and round knurled handles. “This home is a Mediterranean home, so with the oil-rubbed bronze finishes we were trying to make sure we didn’t disconnect too much with that,” Davis says.
Sinks: Ladena in white, Kohler
Shop for bathroom vanities on Houzz
Sinks: Ladena in white, Kohler
Shop for bathroom vanities on Houzz
A two-ring LED chandelier — one ring is weathered oak, the other matte black — hangs from a beam in the vaulted ceiling. Two skylights flood the room with natural light.
Chandelier: Grace, Visual Comfort
Chandelier: Grace, Visual Comfort
The rejiggered layout creates generous floor space for maneuverability. The main flooring is the same white limestone-look porcelain tile used in the shower but in a 12-by-24-inch size. The floor’s radiant heat enhances the spa feel. “The couple have two dogs and they enjoy the heated floor too,” Davis says.
The white paneled door connects to the primary bedroom. A second vanity sits directly across from the other, creating pleasing symmetry, an element Davis used throughout the design.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
The white paneled door connects to the primary bedroom. A second vanity sits directly across from the other, creating pleasing symmetry, an element Davis used throughout the design.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Mirrors add to the arch motif in the room. The mirror frame and vanity hardware have an oil-rubbed bronze finish. Two pendant lights with glass shades flank each mirror. “We went with a couple of pendants that look sort of bubble-like, so it goes back to that water theme,” Davis says.
This photo provides a partial look at the upgraded white bidet toilet, which sits on the other side of a pony wall with a custom frosted-to-clear glass gradient panel for privacy. “Because the clients were very comfortable with the level of privacy the water closet provided, we wanted to provide that same level of privacy while having the bathroom more open for ADA features,” Davis says.
Pendant lights: Baxter, Elegant Furniture & Lighting; vanity hardware: Trask knobs and pulls in oil-rubbed bronze, Rejuvenation; mirrors: arched metal-framed, Rejuvenation
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This photo provides a partial look at the upgraded white bidet toilet, which sits on the other side of a pony wall with a custom frosted-to-clear glass gradient panel for privacy. “Because the clients were very comfortable with the level of privacy the water closet provided, we wanted to provide that same level of privacy while having the bathroom more open for ADA features,” Davis says.
Pendant lights: Baxter, Elegant Furniture & Lighting; vanity hardware: Trask knobs and pulls in oil-rubbed bronze, Rejuvenation; mirrors: arched metal-framed, Rejuvenation
10 Bathroom Vanity Features Pros Always Recommend
Before Photo
Before: This floor plan shows the cramped layout of the former bathroom. A built-in jetted tub (center) takes up much of the floor space. A half-walled corner shower (lower left), a built-in cabinet (middle left) and a water closet (top right) were bulky elements that ate up a lot of visual and physical space.
After: In the new layout, a walnut bench and storage tower (center) sit where the tub used to be. A curbless shower with a frameless glass entrance lightens the corner. And with the built-in cabinet and water closet walls removed, there’s more room to maneuver. “I’m proud of the feeling you get when you walk into this space,” Davis says. “It was dark and closed-off before and not age-in-place-friendly. We opened up pathways and it’s beautiful at the same time. I’m most proud that we were able to deliver this level of style while still being age-in-place.”
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Los Altos, California
Size: 166 square feet (15 square meters)
Designer and project manager: Amanda Davis of Ebcon
Davis removed the former bathroom’s components. “We took everything out and started from scratch,” she says. (See “before” and “after” floor plans below.)
Removing the never-used built-in jetted tub freed up floor space on the left for a new built-in walnut bench with drawers and a linen closet with adjustable shelves. “What we were really trying to do was tuck it all into the wall to get a lot of clearance and accessibility,” Davis says.
The mural in the niche above the bench was hand-assembled by artisans using tumbled marble pieces. The design is repeated on the shower walls. “It’s like fog,” Davis says. “The clients are really inspired by the ocean, ocean mist and water. We wanted the bathroom to feel almost like you’re outside at the beach.” Slabs of green-toned Costa Esmeralda granite on the lower shower walls and countertops also nod to the ocean. “The homeowners love the blues and the greens,” Davis says. “We wanted this bathroom to be very soothing and spa-like.”
The new curbless shower has an ADA-compliant entry wide enough for a wheelchair if needed in the future.
Paint colors: Lattice (walls), Sherwin-Williams; Simply White (ceiling) and Chantilly Lace (trim), both by Benjamin Moore
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