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Bathroom of the Week: Soft Neutrals With a Nod to History

A designer balances his clients’ love of organic modern style with their home’s Colonial Revival architecture

Becky Harris
Becky HarrisJanuary 19, 2021
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1920s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected." I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia. I've been writing about design online for quite a few years over at Hatch: The Design Public Blog.
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This 1920s Colonial Revival home in Summit, New Jersey, had great bones, but a previous renovation had left it looking straight out of the 1980s. When a family of five chose to relocate here from Brooklyn, New York, it hired Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design to complete a whole-house renovation. In the master bathroom, interior designer Aaron English created a light and bright space that incorporates organic modern elements while respecting the original architecture.
Before Photo
Photos by Mike Van Tassell

Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five
Location: Summit, New Jersey
Size: 120 square feet (11 square meters)
Designer: Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design (interior design and architecture) Contractor: R. Keller Construction

Before: The bathroom was stuck in the 1980s. It had lots of pink on the walls and floors, accented by very shiny and dated gold fixtures. The design team used Houzz to help communicate ideas with the clients. “We use Houzz on all of our projects, for inspiration and to search for products,” English says. “It is a helpful tool to use during every step of the process.”

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Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design
After: In addition to wanting a light and bright space, the homeowners were drawn to organic modern style. A sculptural tub, clean-lined floating wood vanities and a minimalist frosted-glass-and-steel privacy screen for the toilet add modern notes. Organic materials include Calacatta Nero marble in the shower and on the countertops, smoked oak on the vanities and natural woven shades on the windows. To suit the 1920s Colonial Revival architecture, English preserved the original millwork and windows. The light fixtures and polished nickel plumbing fixtures also nod to the home’s vintage.

The designer worked to create a balanced layout that would provide a sense of calm. “The requirement was to work within the current space, so we made design adjustments to work within those parameters,” English says. “The room was not symmetrical, so we created vanities to balance the space between the windows.”

Adding Moroccan zellige tile around the room as wainscoting also helped balance the space — it created one continuous line between the tile and the drywall. The tile serves the tub and the counters as a backsplash.

Wall paint: Cornforth White, Farrow & Ball

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Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design
The stunning tile on the shower surround is Calacatta Nero marble. This is the boldest element in the room and was the first material selected. This jumping-off point informed the rest of the material palette.

Marble: Atlas Marble and Granite
Before Photo
Before: The room was full of bulky items and didn’t have a good flow.
Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design
After: In the new layout, English swapped the tub and shower locations, which helped offset the asymmetry of the room.

“We decided on a dropped ceiling to accommodate the shower head, which also added a nice design detail at the same time,” he says. The crown molding around the rest of the room meets the crown molding around the dropped ceiling.

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Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design
English connected the two floating vanities by adding a bench between them. It has a hidden steel structural support that can support the weight of a person sitting on it.

He repeated the use of the Calacatta Nero marble on the countertops. The faucets are polished nickel. The smoked oak on the vanities is bookmatched to continue the graining pattern across the piece. The vintage-style pendant and sconces have a 1920s look.

Long drawers offer more efficient storage than cabinets. A pair of recessed medicine cabinets offer additional storage.
Before Photo
Before: The existing tub’s surround took up a lot of floor space, and its wedged-in placement in the corner was awkward.
Rosen Kelly Conway Architecture & Design
After: The new tub has a simple organic shape. English reinforced its role as a focal point by hanging a collection of nudes from a local art dealer above it.

Artwork: Alternative Interiors

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