Bathroom of the Week: Natural Materials and Period Style
A designer nods to a 1920s home’s Tudor architecture while bringing in modern elements
This 1920s Tudor-style Seattle home had its charms, but they were sorely lacking in the primary bathroom. Lucky for the homeowners, their neighbor Jessica Nelson was an interior designer who understood their house, their style and their needs. “The original layout was entirely dysfunctional, and the bathroom was small and dark,” she says. To give the rooms a better flow and more natural light, Nelson took most of the second floor down to the studs. The new design is a bathroom that’s full of vintage-inspired charm that suits the home’s original architecture. More important, it suits the owners’ needs perfectly.
After: Nelson was able to double the square footage and add windows to the room. At 140 square feet, there was ample space, but fitting in a generous shower stall, a large vanity with lots of storage, a freestanding tub and a toilet closet in a pleasing way was challenging. The shower and tub enjoy light from the new windows, while the vanity’s mirrors reflect that natural light.
The walls are a soft gray-green that gives the homeowners the natural tone they love. And the vanity is rift-cut white oak with a reeded front. The reeding adds texture and, along with the feet, gives the vanity a furniture feel. This is in keeping with the home’s 1920s vintage.
Wall paint: Blue Gray, Farrow & Ball
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The walls are a soft gray-green that gives the homeowners the natural tone they love. And the vanity is rift-cut white oak with a reeded front. The reeding adds texture and, along with the feet, gives the vanity a furniture feel. This is in keeping with the home’s 1920s vintage.
Wall paint: Blue Gray, Farrow & Ball
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The designer created a material palette that suited her clients’ style as well as the home’s architectural style. “We wanted to keep to the original design style with natural materials — marble countertops and floors, zellige wall tiles, unlacquered brass plumbing and white oak cabinets,” she says.
The flooring is Calacatta marble penny rounds with a matte finish. The amount of grout between the small tiles provides good grip. Square 4-by-4-inch shower tiles also nod to the era. They are zellige, a glazed terra-cotta tile handmade in Morocco. The classic choice of a freestanding tub also evokes the vintage. But Nelson kept the room from looking frozen in time by subtly mixing in more modern elements. For example, the bathtub’s silhouette is unfussy and lacks claw feet.
Pendant light: Milton Road flush mount, Visual Comfort; floor tile: Calacatta penny tile in matte, The Builder Depot; bathtub: Augustus freestanding, Vintage Tub & Bath, shower tile: Casablanca zellige, Zia Tile
Browse white freestanding bathtubs in the Houzz Shop
The flooring is Calacatta marble penny rounds with a matte finish. The amount of grout between the small tiles provides good grip. Square 4-by-4-inch shower tiles also nod to the era. They are zellige, a glazed terra-cotta tile handmade in Morocco. The classic choice of a freestanding tub also evokes the vintage. But Nelson kept the room from looking frozen in time by subtly mixing in more modern elements. For example, the bathtub’s silhouette is unfussy and lacks claw feet.
Pendant light: Milton Road flush mount, Visual Comfort; floor tile: Calacatta penny tile in matte, The Builder Depot; bathtub: Augustus freestanding, Vintage Tub & Bath, shower tile: Casablanca zellige, Zia Tile
Browse white freestanding bathtubs in the Houzz Shop
At 7½ feet long, the new vanity is a vast improvement over the pedestal sinks in the former bathroom. Curved mirror frames add a vintage touch, while the sconces mix in a modern element. Nelson tied these items together by using brass finishes.
The toilet room is to the left of the vanity.
Find the right vanity lighting for your bathroom
The toilet room is to the left of the vanity.
Find the right vanity lighting for your bathroom
In addition to the many vanity drawers, Nelson gave each of the homeowners their own storage tower on either side of the counter. Each tower has a spot for a hand towel hook.
The designer repeated the reeding on the storage towers and the backsplash. “It has a clear-coat sealant that stands up to water splashes,” she says.
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
The designer repeated the reeding on the storage towers and the backsplash. “It has a clear-coat sealant that stands up to water splashes,” she says.
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
The unlacquered brass cross-handle faucets have a vintage look. Meanwhile, the thickness and clean lines of the countertop lend a modern vibe. This is a 6-inch-high mitered countertop front that gives the illusion of heft.
Sink faucets, shower fixture and tub filler: Highgate collection, Waterworks
Sink faucets, shower fixture and tub filler: Highgate collection, Waterworks
The new shower stall measures 5 feet, 10 inches by 4 feet, 2 inches. Nelson repeated the Calacatta marble along the tops and sides of the pony walls and on the threshold. This photo also provides a close look at the beadboard wainscoting, another fitting choice for the period home.
New to home remodeling? Click here to learn the basics
New to home remodeling? Click here to learn the basics
Nelson also wrapped the shower bench in Calacatta marble, and she continued the marble floor penny rounds onto the shower floor. The window has privacy glass.
A small but impactful detail is the aged brass finish on the shower door’s hinges. Continuity like this allowed the designer to use a mix of different textures, patterns and styles in the room while maintaining a cohesive feeling throughout.
A small but impactful detail is the aged brass finish on the shower door’s hinges. Continuity like this allowed the designer to use a mix of different textures, patterns and styles in the room while maintaining a cohesive feeling throughout.
Before: The original bathroom is the sliver of a room at the bottom right of this floor plan. The primary bedroom is at the bottom left, and the homeowners had to walk through the bedroom between them to access their bathroom. The kids had a bathroom to the right of the stairs, seen at the top of the plan.
After: Nelson used the center bedroom space to create the new primary bathroom. At the top of the floor plan, she took over a playroom space and the kids’ bathroom to make up for that loss with a new bedroom. Then she used the existing primary bathroom as the kids’ bathroom, seen here to the right of the new primary bathroom.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their two young daughters
Location: Seattle
Size: 140 square feet (13 square meters)
Designer: Jessica Nelson
Before: As mentioned, the existing bathroom was small and dark. It lacked sufficient storage and countertop space. From their bedroom, the homeowners had to walk through another bedroom to get to their primary bathroom. Nelson took most of this floor down to the studs and reconfigured the floor plan. The result was better flow and function for the couple and their two young daughters. She took space from the bedroom her clients had to walk through and created a new bathroom for them.
Nelson already knew her clients socially and had worked on their living and dining rooms before. But she knew it was important to thoroughly familiarize herself with what they wanted and needed from this project. “We always have a design consultation at the beginning of a project to review the client’s preferences, style and must-haves,” she says. “They have a very organic, natural style and love pops of color here and there.”
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