Bathroom Makeovers
Bathroom of the Week
Before and Afters
Bathroom of the Week: Warm Wood-and-Black Style in 51 Square Feet
Working remotely, a designer helps a couple update their primary bath with a low-curb shower and bold midcentury style
This young couple with three kids was excited to buy their first vacation home, a 1970s house overlooking the Salish Sea on the coast of Washington state. While the views were beautiful, the interiors needed help. That included the long and narrow, 51-square-foot primary bathroom, which had beige tones, carpet and laminate flooring, a dated wood vanity and an aging shower-tub combo.
Wanting to modernize the space, the couple hired designer Jasmine Galle. Working together remotely, they decided to keep the layout but replace the shower-tub with a low-curb shower with a frameless glass panel that makes the compact space feel more open. Matte green-and-gray porcelain tiles run across the floor and up the back shower wall, pulling the eye in to highlight the room’s length rather than its width. White paint on one side wall enhances the light, while black tiles on the other wall create the appearance of depth. A midcentury-style double vanity nods to the home’s vintage, and a knotty cedar ceiling treatment adds warmth.
Wanting to modernize the space, the couple hired designer Jasmine Galle. Working together remotely, they decided to keep the layout but replace the shower-tub with a low-curb shower with a frameless glass panel that makes the compact space feel more open. Matte green-and-gray porcelain tiles run across the floor and up the back shower wall, pulling the eye in to highlight the room’s length rather than its width. White paint on one side wall enhances the light, while black tiles on the other wall create the appearance of depth. A midcentury-style double vanity nods to the home’s vintage, and a knotty cedar ceiling treatment adds warmth.
After: Galle stripped the space back and replaced the shower-tub combo with a low-curb shower. “The clients wanted the most bang for their buck in such a small bathroom,” she says. “We opted to add a standing walk-in shower in the primary bathroom since the adjacent kids bathroom already had a tub. We made sure to put the control for the shower on the right wall so they could get into the shower without getting wet. This shower just made the room feel so open.” A fixed frameless glass panel adds to the airy look and feel.
Green-and-gray porcelain tiles with a concrete look and alternating geometric pattern run along the floor from the bathroom entrance to the shower curb and up the back wall, pulling the eye in to create the appearance of more space. “True midcentury homes tend to have geometric nuances, and we really wanted a statement tile that could ground the space and be visually appealing,” Galle says.
Matte black ceramic rectangular tiles cover the full wall on the left, as well as both sides of the shower area, adding drama and depth to the room. Tongue-and-groove knotty cedar on the ceiling adds texture and warmth, delivering on the homeowners’ request for the bathroom to “feel cozy and moody,” Galle says.
A 24-inch matte black towel bar outside the shower entrance keeps towels close by. A new exhaust fan with LED light outside the shower improves ventilation.
Floor and shower wall tile: Brando Green, 8 by 8 inches, TileBar; black tile: Makoto in Kuroi Black, Bedrosians Tile and Stone; towel bar: Trinsic, Delta Faucet
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Green-and-gray porcelain tiles with a concrete look and alternating geometric pattern run along the floor from the bathroom entrance to the shower curb and up the back wall, pulling the eye in to create the appearance of more space. “True midcentury homes tend to have geometric nuances, and we really wanted a statement tile that could ground the space and be visually appealing,” Galle says.
Matte black ceramic rectangular tiles cover the full wall on the left, as well as both sides of the shower area, adding drama and depth to the room. Tongue-and-groove knotty cedar on the ceiling adds texture and warmth, delivering on the homeowners’ request for the bathroom to “feel cozy and moody,” Galle says.
A 24-inch matte black towel bar outside the shower entrance keeps towels close by. A new exhaust fan with LED light outside the shower improves ventilation.
Floor and shower wall tile: Brando Green, 8 by 8 inches, TileBar; black tile: Makoto in Kuroi Black, Bedrosians Tile and Stone; towel bar: Trinsic, Delta Faucet
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The new custom 55-inch midcentury-style walnut double vanity includes straight walnut legs and custom walnut handles. “There are three drawers and two cabinets, and the integration of the walnut hardware is just seamless,” Galle says. “It lets the wood be the star of the show.”
A custom mirrored medicine cabinet with thin black frame and rounded corners sits over each sink and provides additional storage.
The wood-lined skylight floods natural light into the room. Linear two-globe vanity lights above the mirrors add to the illumination. “They really wanted to incorporate light fixtures that coordinated with their midcentury globe lights throughout the home,” Galle says. A pair of floating wood shelves on the tiled wall above the white toilet offer a spot for plants and accessories.
Double vanity: Draftwood Design; vanity lights: Linear Globe in natural brass, Shades of Light
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A custom mirrored medicine cabinet with thin black frame and rounded corners sits over each sink and provides additional storage.
The wood-lined skylight floods natural light into the room. Linear two-globe vanity lights above the mirrors add to the illumination. “They really wanted to incorporate light fixtures that coordinated with their midcentury globe lights throughout the home,” Galle says. A pair of floating wood shelves on the tiled wall above the white toilet offer a spot for plants and accessories.
Double vanity: Draftwood Design; vanity lights: Linear Globe in natural brass, Shades of Light
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The double vanity has a durable marble-look quartz top that features a pearl white background softly veined with subtle gray streaks. “We wanted something minimal but something that still had character and pattern,” Galle says.
Each rectangular undermount white sink is paired with a two-handle widespread faucet in a brushed gold finish. “We knew we wanted to use some gold to carry warmth throughout the space and add a bit of sparkle against the black tile,” Galle says. “But we didn’t want it to be overpowering, so we used a mix of metals.”
Sinks: Verticyl, Kohler; faucets: Kree in brushed gold, Ultra Faucets
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Each rectangular undermount white sink is paired with a two-handle widespread faucet in a brushed gold finish. “We knew we wanted to use some gold to carry warmth throughout the space and add a bit of sparkle against the black tile,” Galle says. “But we didn’t want it to be overpowering, so we used a mix of metals.”
Sinks: Verticyl, Kohler; faucets: Kree in brushed gold, Ultra Faucets
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This view inside the shower shows the two types of tile on the walls. The matte black pressure-balanced shower system includes a shower head and a hand shower on a slide bar that creates flexibility and also gives the homeowners the ability to rinse down the walls.
Shower system: Lentz, Signature Hardware
Before and After: 4 Bathrooms in 65 Square Feet or Less
Shower system: Lentz, Signature Hardware
Before and After: 4 Bathrooms in 65 Square Feet or Less
The shower floor is 2-inch round matte green porcelain mosaic tiles that come in 10-by-10-inch sheets. Galle used gray grout and included an integrated linear drain.
Shower floor tile: Makoto in Midori Green, Bedrosians Tile and Stone
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Shower floor tile: Makoto in Midori Green, Bedrosians Tile and Stone
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Before: Here’s another look at the former bathroom. The door straight ahead connects to the primary bedroom. Another door on the left opened to a linen closet that also connected to the kids bath in the hallway. Galle and the homeowners decided to eliminate the closet to enlarge the kids bathroom and to create more privacy in the primary bathroom.
After: Galle painted the updated bathroom door, walls and trim in a white paint with a subtle green undertone (Spare White by Sherwin-Williams). “The white gives room for your eye to rest, with all the other bold and bright finishes happening,” she says.
Towel ring: Trinsic, Delta Faucet
Towel ring: Trinsic, Delta Faucet
Floor plan: Galle carefully considered every square inch of space in the updated bathroom. The new walk-in shower (right) was the key change that made a huge difference. “Changing out the shower-tub to an open shower concept greatly improved how the space felt and improved the function,” Galle says. “We modernized everything and created an extremely functional small bathroom with big style.”
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of five, part time
Location: Port Angeles, Washington
Size: 51 square feet (4.7 square meters)
Designer: Jasmine Galle of Sage & Soul Interiors
Before: The couple felt the layout of the former bathroom worked fine, but the overall style and components needed a major overhaul. They disliked the beige walls and the wall on the right with gray plaster-look wallpaper. Linoleum and carpet also had to go, as did the dated vanity with laminate countertop. Wood-framed mirrors and a soffit gave the space a heavy look. “In that soffit, there was boxed lighting that was super dated too,” Galle says. “There was also an existing skylight above the vanity that was a great feature, but it needed to be updated to avoid leaking in the future.”