New Layout and a Refreshing Palette in a 55-Square-Foot Bathroom
Removing an entry area and layering in Parisian-inspired color transforms a 1970s space
A couple with a young daughter purchased this 1978 Austin, Texas, ranch house from its original owner. While the new residents appreciated that the interiors had remained untouched since the ’70s, they wanted to make the house their own and hired Realty Restoration to fully renovate it.
Part of the work involved transforming the dated hall bath with an awkward layout into an en suite guest bath. The owners “had lived in Paris and wanted to bring some of the beautiful style they’d seen there to Texas,” says Realty Restoration project manager Jenny Curtiss. “They loved color and pattern so much that they even wanted to try and save some of the original vintage wallpapers in the house.”
Though necessities like reframing, shoring up walls, moving plumbing lines and bringing the electrical system up to code made that impossible, they hired interior designer Lauren Jerden of Lauren Allyn Interiors to keep the home’s colorful, spirited soul alive.
Part of the work involved transforming the dated hall bath with an awkward layout into an en suite guest bath. The owners “had lived in Paris and wanted to bring some of the beautiful style they’d seen there to Texas,” says Realty Restoration project manager Jenny Curtiss. “They loved color and pattern so much that they even wanted to try and save some of the original vintage wallpapers in the house.”
Though necessities like reframing, shoring up walls, moving plumbing lines and bringing the electrical system up to code made that impossible, they hired interior designer Lauren Jerden of Lauren Allyn Interiors to keep the home’s colorful, spirited soul alive.
After: The bathroom’s expanded footprint allowed them to replace the two small existing vanities with one larger vanity. To create more countertop space, the homeowners agreed that one sink would be better for guests than double sinks. The plaster finishes on the mirror frame and botanical sconces nod to the Parisian style the homeowners requested.
The room’s focal point is the vanity, painted in Benjamin Moore’s Del Mar Blue, a color that recalls patinaed zinc roofs in Paris. To complement it, Jerden drenched the walls, trim and ceiling in Benjamin Moore’s Sage Tint paint. The cream-and-gray quartzite counter bridges the gap between the warm gold plumbing fixtures and cool paint tones. “This particular quartzite has hints of light green in it that pick up on the wall color beautifully,” Curtiss says.
Jerden specified glossy shower wall tiles in a mix composed of 40% cerulean blue, 40% aquamarine blue and 20% coconut white. The latter connects to the Thassos marble floor tile and marble mosaic shower floor and accent tile.
Custom cabinets: Chapman Woodworks; cabinet hardware: Riverside pull in honey bronze, Top Knobs; floor tile: Thassos A1 select marble, 6-by-12-inch field tile, Pratt + Larson; toilet: Cimarron, Kohler; sconces: Alberto, Visual Comfort; sink: Verticyl, Kohler; plumbing fixtures: Kintsu in Luxe Gold, Brizo
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The room’s focal point is the vanity, painted in Benjamin Moore’s Del Mar Blue, a color that recalls patinaed zinc roofs in Paris. To complement it, Jerden drenched the walls, trim and ceiling in Benjamin Moore’s Sage Tint paint. The cream-and-gray quartzite counter bridges the gap between the warm gold plumbing fixtures and cool paint tones. “This particular quartzite has hints of light green in it that pick up on the wall color beautifully,” Curtiss says.
Jerden specified glossy shower wall tiles in a mix composed of 40% cerulean blue, 40% aquamarine blue and 20% coconut white. The latter connects to the Thassos marble floor tile and marble mosaic shower floor and accent tile.
Custom cabinets: Chapman Woodworks; cabinet hardware: Riverside pull in honey bronze, Top Knobs; floor tile: Thassos A1 select marble, 6-by-12-inch field tile, Pratt + Larson; toilet: Cimarron, Kohler; sconces: Alberto, Visual Comfort; sink: Verticyl, Kohler; plumbing fixtures: Kintsu in Luxe Gold, Brizo
Should You Have One Sink Or Two in Your Primary Bathroom?
Vanity wall elevation: Removing the walls created space for a custom vanity about 5½ feet long with ample countertop space. Because the custom cabinetry offered plenty of storage for guests, the homeowners opted for a wall mirror instead of a medicine cabinet. They also ultimately decided they didn’t need the extra cabinet over the toilet shown here and used the wall space for a towel bar instead.
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Before: The vestibule was completely open to the hallway. After opening up the floor plan, the designers added a new entry door to the hall in the opening seen here.
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After: The new 5-by-2½ foot shower stall includes a built-in bench. Located within reach of the shower head’s handheld wand, it offers convenience for guests who may need to sit while showering. To visually connect the shower stall to the rest of the bathroom, Jerden topped the bench in the same quartzite she used on the vanity.
“Lauren expertly balanced in some ivory among the blues,” Curtiss says. The shower niches are backed in the same triangular marble mosaic tile that the designer helped the homeowners select for the shower floor.
Wall tile: Tbrick in 40% Cerulean, 40% Aquamarine, 20% Coconut, Sartoria; shower floor tile: Doge white mosaic polished stone triangle, Artistic Tile
“Lauren expertly balanced in some ivory among the blues,” Curtiss says. The shower niches are backed in the same triangular marble mosaic tile that the designer helped the homeowners select for the shower floor.
Wall tile: Tbrick in 40% Cerulean, 40% Aquamarine, 20% Coconut, Sartoria; shower floor tile: Doge white mosaic polished stone triangle, Artistic Tile
Before: The small vestibule was open to the hall and had a door between it and the bathroom.
After: The new bathroom footprint incorporates the existing vestibule. The original door to the main part of the bathroom and the walls around it were removed, and new doors to the hall and bedroom were added. A larger vanity replaced the two original small vanities and was placed on the opposite side of the room, making space to create an en suite setup for the guest bedroom.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of three
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: 55 square feet (5.1 square meters)
Design-build firm: Realty Restoration
Interior designer: Lauren Jerden of Lauren Allyn Interiors
Before: Originally, the hall bath served three bedrooms and also functioned as the home’s powder room. However, the renovation added a new en suite bathroom for the homeowners’ daughter and turned one of the bedrooms into a gym. That created an opportunity to turn the hall bath into an en suite bathroom for the guest bedroom.
The existing hall bath was chopped up. The small vestibule seen here was open to the hallway on the right and connected to the rest of the bathroom on the left. The design-build firm’s in-house architect, Christopher Davison, collaborated with Jerden on the layout to create an airier atmosphere and make room for a second door opening to the adjacent bedroom. They decided to remove the walls around this vanity and place a new, larger vanity on the opposite side of the room. (See floor plans below.)
Curtiss says she always sends clients to Houzz at the beginning of the design-build process. “Houzz is a great tool to help our clients narrow down their scope and selections right from the start,” she says. “We ask them to share ideabooks and to comment on what they like about each picture.”
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