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Bathroom of the Week
Bathroom of the Week: Spa-Like Suite With an Indoor-Outdoor Tub
A private sanctuary for empty nesters bridges a serene and sophisticated primary bathroom and a secluded hillside garden
In the leafy Northern California town of Los Gatos, an empty-nest couple were seeking an en suite primary bathroom that could serve two seemingly antithetical purposes. First, the former lawyers wanted it to be a sun-filled private sanctuary where they could unwind. At the same time, they wanted it to be a fun and practical space that their visiting grandkids could enjoy. Nicole Burton of Design Matters helped them satisfy both, creating a spa-like bathroom with a large soaking tub sitting right at the border between indoors and out.
This is the primary suite’s new floor plan. The suite includes a walk-in closet and bedroom, with the bathroom off a private central hallway. To compare the “before” and “after” floor plans of the home’s first floor, scroll to the bottom.
You’ll see that the remodel reconfigured several existing interior walls and added a small amount of square footage. Also, the locations of all the major bathroom elements flipped. Consequently, the “before” and “after” photos that follow don’t line up exactly.
You’ll see that the remodel reconfigured several existing interior walls and added a small amount of square footage. Also, the locations of all the major bathroom elements flipped. Consequently, the “before” and “after” photos that follow don’t line up exactly.
Compare the floor plan to this photo to get oriented in the space. This is the view of the bathroom and out to the newly extended deck from the vantage point of the new toilet room. It has a large double vanity, a curbless shower and the homeowners’ much-desired freestanding tub.
Unsurprisingly, given the large expanses of glass, privacy was a big concern. Nobody aside from the homeowners and their guests have access to the gated backyard and there are no sightlines into the bathroom from neighboring properties, Burton says. Nonetheless, window treatments were a top priority. Two large Hunter Douglas Duet shades — one above each of the large glass doors — cover the doors completely.
“They’re motorized, so if she’s in the tub or just in the bathroom getting ready, she could easily raise and lower them,” Burton says.
How to Make Your Bathroom Feel Like a Spa
Unsurprisingly, given the large expanses of glass, privacy was a big concern. Nobody aside from the homeowners and their guests have access to the gated backyard and there are no sightlines into the bathroom from neighboring properties, Burton says. Nonetheless, window treatments were a top priority. Two large Hunter Douglas Duet shades — one above each of the large glass doors — cover the doors completely.
“They’re motorized, so if she’s in the tub or just in the bathroom getting ready, she could easily raise and lower them,” Burton says.
How to Make Your Bathroom Feel Like a Spa
Before Photo
Before: This vanity and small closet to its right used to be about where you see the shower in the previous photo. The old toilet room was to the left of the vanity, where the tub and “disappearing corner” are now.
When asked what the homeowners disliked about their existing bathroom, Burton sums it up in a word: “Everything!” The layout was nonfunctional, the storage was minimal and the finishes were far from the couple’s light, clean and contemporary aesthetic.
When asked what the homeowners disliked about their existing bathroom, Burton sums it up in a word: “Everything!” The layout was nonfunctional, the storage was minimal and the finishes were far from the couple’s light, clean and contemporary aesthetic.
After: Moving the toilet and vanity enabled Burton to open up the bathroom to an expanded deck and the garden on the other side.
The doors retract completely into their own pockets and the concrete-look bathroom floor smoothly transitions to the new decking to create a true indoor-outdoor space. The porcelain tile and composite planks have a similar warm gray tone, which helps create the seamless effect.
Two deck chairs sit in front of a window to a guest room, which doesn’t share this bathroom.
Flooring: Floor Gres Industrial in Sage, The Tile Shop
The doors retract completely into their own pockets and the concrete-look bathroom floor smoothly transitions to the new decking to create a true indoor-outdoor space. The porcelain tile and composite planks have a similar warm gray tone, which helps create the seamless effect.
Two deck chairs sit in front of a window to a guest room, which doesn’t share this bathroom.
Flooring: Floor Gres Industrial in Sage, The Tile Shop
This is the opposite view, looking from the exterior into the bathroom.
Behind the shower, across from the vanity, you can see an open pocket door, which leads to the private central hallway, off of which are the primary bedroom and walk-in closet.
Click any of the “after” photos to see the primary bedroom and a few other remodeled spaces in the home.
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Behind the shower, across from the vanity, you can see an open pocket door, which leads to the private central hallway, off of which are the primary bedroom and walk-in closet.
Click any of the “after” photos to see the primary bedroom and a few other remodeled spaces in the home.
Shop for bathroom vanities on Houzz
Before Photo
Before: Previously, the homeowners accessed the bathroom via a door to the right of the old vanity and closet, where the shower is now. The old shower was in the corner about where the new bathroom entrance is, with a corner tub crammed up against it.
Scroll down to the “before” and “after” floor plans to get reoriented.
Scroll down to the “before” and “after” floor plans to get reoriented.
After: Burton’s redesign pushed out the back tub-shower wall and created the new bathroom entrance. It also added a new toilet room, just beyond the vanity.
The new layout affords much more generous tub and shower areas. The latter has niches on either end for products, as well as a lower niche for placing a foot while shaving. Its custom glass door has a nearly imperceptible clear glass towel bar.
Tub: Elise, MTI Baths; tub filler, sink and shower fixtures: Levoir, Brizo
The new layout affords much more generous tub and shower areas. The latter has niches on either end for products, as well as a lower niche for placing a foot while shaving. Its custom glass door has a nearly imperceptible clear glass towel bar.
Tub: Elise, MTI Baths; tub filler, sink and shower fixtures: Levoir, Brizo
Before Photo
Before: Here’s another photo of the old corner tub, with the entrance to the old toilet room adjacent to it.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
After: This is that corner today, from the perspective of the new shower. The reflection in the mirrored medicine cabinet on the side wall creates the illusion that the room is even longer than it is.
A skylight fills the space with natural light, which is supplemented by recessed lights, sconces and undercabinet lighting.
The shower’s walls are covered in 12-by-24-inch marble-look porcelain tiles that resemble the counter and backsplash. The floor tile flows into the barrier-free shower but was cut into smaller rectangles in order to add more grout lines for better grip.
Shower-wall tile: Cerim Exalt in Magic White with Lucido finish, The Tile Shop; countertop and backsplash: White Calacatta marble, SapienStone
A skylight fills the space with natural light, which is supplemented by recessed lights, sconces and undercabinet lighting.
The shower’s walls are covered in 12-by-24-inch marble-look porcelain tiles that resemble the counter and backsplash. The floor tile flows into the barrier-free shower but was cut into smaller rectangles in order to add more grout lines for better grip.
Shower-wall tile: Cerim Exalt in Magic White with Lucido finish, The Tile Shop; countertop and backsplash: White Calacatta marble, SapienStone
Signature Custom Cabinetry built the vanity from rift-cut white oak with an Irish Cream stain. The clients’ storage needs drove the drawer and cabinet design.
“For her, it was makeup organization,” Burton says. “There’s a hair care rollout for her hair tools. She has a retractable door” — a pocket door on the cabinet to the left of the center drawers — “so that she can push that back when she’s standing there getting ready so that the door’s not in the way. His side has a smaller area for a trash can, but also some chargers in the drawers for charging toothbrushes and shavers.”
Above the vanity, oval mirrors are illuminated by cast-crystal Hammerton Axis Modern sconces, which were made using recycled material from Hammerton’s glass-blowing operations. “They are gorgeous. So that’s where we kind of glammed it up in a sense,” Burton says.
The sconces’ satin nickel finish matches the finish on the wall-mounted faucets and sleek cabinet pulls.
“For her, it was makeup organization,” Burton says. “There’s a hair care rollout for her hair tools. She has a retractable door” — a pocket door on the cabinet to the left of the center drawers — “so that she can push that back when she’s standing there getting ready so that the door’s not in the way. His side has a smaller area for a trash can, but also some chargers in the drawers for charging toothbrushes and shavers.”
Above the vanity, oval mirrors are illuminated by cast-crystal Hammerton Axis Modern sconces, which were made using recycled material from Hammerton’s glass-blowing operations. “They are gorgeous. So that’s where we kind of glammed it up in a sense,” Burton says.
The sconces’ satin nickel finish matches the finish on the wall-mounted faucets and sleek cabinet pulls.
Before Photo
The floor plan for the existing bathroom
The floor plan for the new bathroom
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two grown children and four grandchildren
Location: Los Gatos, California
Size: About 193 square feet (18 square meters)
Designer: Nicole Burton of Design Matters
Contractor: Burton Design & Construction
The house is on a hillside not far from downtown Los Gatos, and the new primary bathroom, pictured here, opens to a small deck and the backyard.
Prior to this primary suite remodel, Design Matters had worked with the clients on several other renovation projects, including their kitchen and a downstairs bath. For this bathroom, the overarching aesthetic aim was to create a light, warm and spa-like design that matched the clients’ style and harmonized with the rest of the home, Burton says. From a functional point of view, they wanted a spacious area with abundant natural light, storage and privacy. And a large tub for soaking and reading was a must.
One of the owners is an avid gardener, and her greenhouse is visible on the uphill slope. Her desire for the suite to capture an indoor-outdoor feel led to the most dramatic element of the bathroom’s new design: a corner made of two large retractable glass doors.
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