Designer’s Own Powder Room Packs in History, Color and Charm
A special wallpaper print and curated antiques help update this powder room in a 1790 Boston home
Designer Amy Mitchell and her family live in a 1790 farmhouse just outside Boston that retains many of its original features and charm. “We’ve lived in the house for eight years and I have been renovating it room by room ever since we moved in,” Mitchell says. Her latest project was the remodel of the powder room located off the mudroom. “The room didn’t have any heat, so it didn’t get much use in the winter,” the designer says. The finished (and fully heated) room now features a mix of old and new finds and a timeless look that befits the historic home.
Mitchell considers a powder room a great space to feature wallpaper, and the one she chose for her own speaks to her personally. The woman depicted in the wallpaper is holding a copy of a book on solfège, a vocal training system.
“I’m a trained opera singer, so I fell in love with this wallpaper immediately,” Mitchell says.
The tiger maple Chippendale mirror is an antique that Mitchell picked up at an estate sale years ago and had been eager to use in the right project.
“I’m a trained opera singer, so I fell in love with this wallpaper immediately,” Mitchell says.
The tiger maple Chippendale mirror is an antique that Mitchell picked up at an estate sale years ago and had been eager to use in the right project.
The designer added a pair of contemporary exposed-bulb sconces on either side of the mirror. “I like to add something contemporary to even the most traditional of spaces because it allows you to share something from the current generation,” Mitchell says. “It’s a reminder of the people who live there now and tells a more complete story.”
Shop for contemporary bathroom sconces on Houzz
Shop for contemporary bathroom sconces on Houzz
Mitchell used a round toilet rather than an elongated oval one to free up more space. Pleated linen curtains and a Roman shade valance on the original window allow natural light in. “For such a small bathroom, the window is quite large and provides lots of great light,” Mitchell says.
The bathroom floor is covered in new zellige tiles in a shade of green apple selected to complement the wall trim, door and window molding painted in Benjamin Moore’s Herb Garden.
The bathroom floor is covered in new zellige tiles in a shade of green apple selected to complement the wall trim, door and window molding painted in Benjamin Moore’s Herb Garden.
There’s a scene in a TV adaptation of the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen in which Mr. Darcy jumps into an algae-filled pond. “My husband and I both love the book, but he always mentions how gross that pond must be,” Mitchell says. “I found this little painting at an antique shop and it reminded me of that scene.”
She says it’s a perfect match for the room because her husband likes for there to be a story behind every piece of art they hang in the house.
More on Houzz
102 Eye-Popping Powder Rooms
Look for a bathroom designer
Shop for wallpaper
She says it’s a perfect match for the room because her husband likes for there to be a story behind every piece of art they hang in the house.
More on Houzz
102 Eye-Popping Powder Rooms
Look for a bathroom designer
Shop for wallpaper
Powder Room at a Glance
Who lives here: Designer Amy Mitchell, her husband and their two kids
Location: Boston
Size: 18 square feet (1.7 square meters)
Designer: Amy Mitchell of Home Glow Design
“The powder room is only 6 feet by 3 feet, so every design decision had to be well thought out,” Mitchell says. The new wall-hung porcelain sink helps to visually enlarge the space. “It’s important to see the floor; even a small pedestal sink would’ve felt too big,” the designer says.
Find for a designer near you