Bathroom of the Week: Dated Bath Becomes a Calm Retreat

“After” photos by Amanda Marie Studio

Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A pair of graphic designers and their two sons
Location: Minneapolis
Size: 175 square feet (16 square meters)
Designer: Victoria Sass of Prospect Refuge Studio

Before: The dark bathroom had a built-in tub, a framed-in shower and a dated look. The tub deck and shower enclosure butted together along this wall. The fireplace was centered on the opposite wall.

Both of the clients have backgrounds in graphic design. “They have great taste,” Sass says. “Initially we talked about the concept in terms of what they wanted the feeling to be as soon as they walked into the room. They wanted it to feel like a calm retreat where they could escape their busy days, While we wanted to give them an updated fresh and modern look, we also wanted it to fit in with the existing architecture of the home.”

The goal of a calming retreat inspired the concept of “elemental oasis” — a room finished in beautifully simple and neutral finishes that highlighted the four elements of earth, air, fire and water. With the fireplace and plumbing, they had the elements of fire and water. The windows, uncluttered layout and light color palette create an airy feeling. And the ceramic tiles with subtle peach undertones add the earthy element.

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After: Sass separated the tub and shower by choosing a sculptural freestanding tub. This made the room feel more open and serene. She placed the tub and shower atop a platform for several reasons. First, it helped to delineate the tub and shower area from the fireplace area. (The fireplace is just out of frame on the right.) “The platform grounded the tub and shower area and helped define circulation space in front of the fireplace,” Sass says.

Second, the platform gave her a chance to add some contrasting tiles. On the floor she used 12-by-12-inch white terrazzo tiles to create a glossy grid. On the platform she used matte 4-by-6-inch subway tiles that have subtle peach undertones. “These are slightly larger than standard 3-by-6-inch subway tiles,” Sass says.

Finally, installing a platform made it possible to install a curbless shower. In a curbless shower, the floor needs to slope slightly toward the drain to contain the water within the stall. The platform added enough height beneath the shower floor to allow for the slope.

“We chose matte black for the hardware and faucets because the room needed some contrast,” Sass says. “It was inspired by the black on the fireplace.” She used brass on these towel hooks and the lighting to add warmth to the room.

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Before: The dark and busy stone tile fireplace surround wasn’t contributing to the concept of calm retreat.

After: The earthy look of cellular concrete masonry building blocks with round holes inspired Sass to design this custom tile. “It all began with this tile,” Sass says. A project in Majorca, Spain, that used the building blocks in a decorative way had captured her imagination. “We wanted to re-create the look of this architectural material as a handmade tile for the fireplace,” she says. Grout fills the holes in the tiles.

The earthy terra-cotta hues in the building blocks she’d admired also inspired the color palette in the room. Sass worked with Clay Squared to Infinity, a local handmade tile studio, to create the tiles. During the process, they crafted mockups to get the proportions just right. They also created a custom glaze: warm beige with peach undertones. Sass repeated this color in the platform and shower tile.

Before: With a pony wall, tile, ledges, glass and framing, the shower stall had too much going on, leaving the eye without a calm place to land.

After: Sass continued the tile from the platform up the shower wall to meet the vaulted ceiling. She used a vertical running bond pattern for the tile layout.

“Laying out these tiles was quite the mental exercise because we had to figure out exactly how it would run around corners and wrap the wall. The key was to avoid little slivers of tile that threw off the proportions,” Sass says. “We didn’t want any of those awkward little slivers in key spots, like where the wall tile meets the platform.”

The door from the bedroom is at the left, and the glass on the right is the side of the shower stall. The hand towel past the shower on the right hangs from a towel bar attached to the vanity.

The custom cabinet is made of white oak lightened with a product called Rubio Monocoat in Mist. Caning adds soft texture on its doors. This tall cabinet adds a lot of storage space to the room. “It’s part linen closet, part medicine cabinet,” Sass says.

Before: The homeowners needed more vanity storage space.

After: Sass designed a custom vanity with drawers that store bathroom products more efficiently than a vanity with doors would have. A shelf on the bottom provides room for extra towels. The vanity is white oak, bookmatched so that the graining pattern of the wood continues seamlessly. Sass repeated the use of matte black on the faucets and hardware in this part of the bathroom.

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Sass continued the tiles up to the vaulted ceiling, just as she did in the shower. Finding the right lighting was tricky because the pendants had to be mounted on the sloped ceiling at different heights. The design of these long brass-and-glass pendants made it possible for them to hang at the same level. The way they hang in front of the mirror adds dimension, and the reflection increases the amount of light they bring into the room.

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The couple’s bedroom was also part of the remodel, and Sass used a similar calming color palette for it. The tub and shower area can be seen through the fireplace.

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