Bathroom of the Week: Warm and Elegant in 100 Square Feet
Designers found on Houzz create a welcoming retreat with soothing neutrals, dark wood vanities and soft arches
Looking for a timeless mix of traditional and modern, this California couple found Blythe Interiors on Houzz and tasked designers Lynn Siemer and Dani Pestka with infusing new life into their 100-square-foot en suite primary bathroom. The mostly beige-and-brown space had a workable layout, but a corner shower and a large built-in tub took up lots of floor space. The vanities offered limited storage, and basic finishes didn’t give the couple the elevated style and soothing atmosphere they wanted.
Siemer and Pestka brought in dark-stained wood vanities that improve storage and add rich warmth. A new makeup area sits in a stylish arched niche. A freestanding tub creates more breathing room. A luxurious new shower with a frameless glass enclosure improves the showering experience. And beige-and-white checkerboard flooring adds an elegant touch.
Siemer and Pestka brought in dark-stained wood vanities that improve storage and add rich warmth. A new makeup area sits in a stylish arched niche. A freestanding tub creates more breathing room. A luxurious new shower with a frameless glass enclosure improves the showering experience. And beige-and-white checkerboard flooring adds an elegant touch.
After: The design team stripped out the former components and eliminated the partition walls and soffit. “We didn’t really change the footprint of the bathroom, but we removed the walls at the end of the two vanities to open up the space,” Siemer says.
New semicustom traditional Shaker-style vanities with a clove brown stain and honey bronze knobs set a warmer tone. “These clients have a more traditional aesthetic but wanted it to have a modern feel,” Siemer says. “The combination of a neutral checkerboard floor with the medium-tone vanities is a nod to traditional design, but adding the honey bronze touches and cleaner lines marry modern and traditional.” The flooring is 24-by-24-inch porcelain tiles in beige and white. “When you lay it on a diagonal, it makes the space feel larger,” Siemer says.
The arched niche contains a new makeup vanity with six drawers. A round ottoman in beige velvet has storage inside. Glossy 2-by-6-inch porcelain tiles cover the back wall of the niche and coordinate with the shower walls. A mirror with a gold leaf frame has gentle curves. “We wanted the mirror to have softer edges and complement the arch,” Siemer says. The reflection shows the updated arched doorway with softer edges. “Soft edges are really having a moment in design,” Siemer says. “We knew we wanted to incorporate arches into the updated bathroom and update this hard-edged arch to match what we wanted to do at the makeup vanity.”
Floor tiles: Synchronic in beige and white, Daltile; makeup vanity mirror: Lyenda, Bassett Mirror; wall tiles: Celine in white, 2 by 6 inches, Bedrosians Tile and Stone
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New semicustom traditional Shaker-style vanities with a clove brown stain and honey bronze knobs set a warmer tone. “These clients have a more traditional aesthetic but wanted it to have a modern feel,” Siemer says. “The combination of a neutral checkerboard floor with the medium-tone vanities is a nod to traditional design, but adding the honey bronze touches and cleaner lines marry modern and traditional.” The flooring is 24-by-24-inch porcelain tiles in beige and white. “When you lay it on a diagonal, it makes the space feel larger,” Siemer says.
The arched niche contains a new makeup vanity with six drawers. A round ottoman in beige velvet has storage inside. Glossy 2-by-6-inch porcelain tiles cover the back wall of the niche and coordinate with the shower walls. A mirror with a gold leaf frame has gentle curves. “We wanted the mirror to have softer edges and complement the arch,” Siemer says. The reflection shows the updated arched doorway with softer edges. “Soft edges are really having a moment in design,” Siemer says. “We knew we wanted to incorporate arches into the updated bathroom and update this hard-edged arch to match what we wanted to do at the makeup vanity.”
Floor tiles: Synchronic in beige and white, Daltile; makeup vanity mirror: Lyenda, Bassett Mirror; wall tiles: Celine in white, 2 by 6 inches, Bedrosians Tile and Stone
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Widespread sink faucets with lever handles and a luxe gold finish are mounted on a 12-inch marble-look quartz backsplash, the same material used for the countertops. “It’s just a really great affordable option to give that timeless marble look,” Siemer says.
Hand-rubbed antique brass sconces with linen shades flank rounded-edge mirrors with an unlacquered brass finish that will develop a patina over time. A warm off-white paint (Greek Villa by Sherwin-Williams) in an eggshell finish for the walls, flat finish for the ceiling and semgloss finish for the trim creates a cozy and inviting atmosphere. “When you use the same paint in different finishes, it makes the room feel taller because you don’t have anything being cut off,” Siemer says. “It becomes a really nice background.”
Faucets: Odin, Brizo
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Hand-rubbed antique brass sconces with linen shades flank rounded-edge mirrors with an unlacquered brass finish that will develop a patina over time. A warm off-white paint (Greek Villa by Sherwin-Williams) in an eggshell finish for the walls, flat finish for the ceiling and semgloss finish for the trim creates a cozy and inviting atmosphere. “When you use the same paint in different finishes, it makes the room feel taller because you don’t have anything being cut off,” Siemer says. “It becomes a really nice background.”
Faucets: Odin, Brizo
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Before: Previously, the shower with its short glass enclosure felt squished next to the large tub. “They had a corner shelf that really bugged them inside that shower,” Siemer says.
After: Eliminating the old tub and replacing it with a freestanding model created breathing room. The upgraded shower has a taller, custom tempered-glass enclosure and a built-in bench. The shower floor is the same beige porcelain tiles seen on the main bathroom floor but in a 1-by-6-inch size that helps create a nonslip surface. The shower walls and wall portion surrounding the tub feature the same glossy white tiles used for the makeup niche. “We wanted a soothing retreat,” Siemer says. “A great way to achieve that is using the same tile or same color over and over so everything is cohesive and speaks to each other instead of having lots of busy tile.”
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Before: Here’s another look at the massive built-in jetted tub that ate up physical and visual space.
After: The freestanding tub and light finishes brighten up the new space. An arched wall niche coordinates with other arches in the room. Shelves inside the niche are made from the same quartz used for the vanity countertops and backsplashes. A floor-mounted tub filler with a hand shower has the same luxe gold finish as the vanity faucets. “Don’t be afraid to use a limited palette or limited finishes,” Siemer says. “We remained within this palette of materials, and that’s why it feels so good.” An updated water closet is behind the niche.
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10 Smart Bathroom Storage Solutions
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with three sons
Location: Encinitas, California
Size: 100 square feet (9.3 square meters)
Designers: Lynn Siemer and Dani Pestka of Blythe Interiors
Before: The homeowners felt their former bathroom and its brown, beige and white finishes lacked personality. Partition walls and a soffit gave the vanity areas a cramped feel. “They felt boxed in because of those walls,” Siemer says. “The cabinets were old and had very ineffective storage.”
Furthering the closed-in feel was a large jetted tub with a tiled surround jammed up against the shower stall. “It was difficult to access and was really big,” Siemer says of the tub. “They wanted a freestanding tub to give them more access to bathe their sons.” The couple wanted to keep the arched doorway seen here in the mirror but give it a fresh look.