Wood, White and Green Bathroom With a Bold Surprise

After: The wife suggested introducing a bold green tile, which became the jumping-off point for the entire design. “It was just a matter of finding one in the right color and shape,” Fraley says. “Everything else fell into place from there.” That “everything else” includes a walnut double vanity with a marble mosaic tile backsplash, marble floors, a sculptural tub and refined brass accents.

Fraley describes the home’s architecture as contemporary Northwest with hints of midcentury modern style. That sensibility guided the creation of a clean-lined bathroom with a carefully curated material palette. The walnut on the vanity is bookmatched, allowing the wood grain to flow continuously across the doors and drawers. Its legs give it a lighter, furniture-like appearance, while a brass toekick prevents dust from collecting underneath.

Behind the cabinet doors, a pullout shelf holds a trash bin and allows easy access to items stored in back. Inset flush doors and drawers feature European soft-close hinges that sit flat within the frame. Together, these details make the vanity both highly functional and visually streamlined.

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To accommodate the couple’s storage needs, Fraley added two countertop cabinets. Interior outlets power toothbrushes, shavers and hair tools. Extending the cabinets to the ceiling draws the eye upward and gives the vanity wall a strong architectural presence.

Because there wasn’t enough space for both countertop cabinets and two sinks, Fraley proposed a long trough sink with dual faucets. “It’s nice to be able to pull out tricks we have up our sleeves like this when they are needed,” he says.

Marble-look quartz countertops coordinate with other marble finishes in the bathroom. The homeowners opted for quartz over real marble for its durability and resistance to water spotting.

Backsplash tile: Ann Sacks; faucets: Hansgrohe

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Tile placement throughout the bathroom required careful planning. “We were really, really careful to minimize the cuts on the tile,” Fraley says. “They are all full tiles except for the top and the bottom rows, where we tried to split the difference.”

Using a gridded tile layout also meant the ceiling needed to appear level. “Because the ceiling was not level, the sheetrockers added a heavy coat of mud to meet the top of the tile line evenly,” Wortel says. Otherwise, the angled line would have subtly thrown off the entire room.

The wall tiles edging the tub and shower area have finished glazed edges. Eliminating the need for tile edging strips helped maintain the bathroom’s clean-lined look.

Previously, double doors connected the bathroom and bedroom (left). By reducing the opening, Fraley gained space around the tub. This is one of two new red birch and etched glass pocket doors in the bathroom; the other opens to the primary closet. The birch matches other doors in the home, while the etched glass allows light to pass through while preserving privacy.

The bathtub and shower stall sit on a platform. Large-format marble tiles with a water-rated honed finish cover the platform in the tub area, providing slip resistance.

Overhead, the white-glass-and-brass ceiling light is damp-rated and adds an intricate flower pattern to the modern material palette. It’s also a hint that a big floral surprise awaits elsewhere in the bathroom.

Before: The tub had a large surround, and the connection to the shower stall felt awkward and inefficient.

After: While the shower stall remained in the same location, Fraley relocated the entry to the adjacent side and left it open, greatly improving circulation in and out of the shower.

The marble-tile-clad platform continues into the shower, where the floor shifts to 2-by-2-inch tiles. The increased grout lines provide extra traction. The rich green wall tile extends into the shower as well. Notice how the top row of tiles on the partial wall (left) remains full-size and aligns perfectly with the tiles and grout lines on the adjacent wall — a result of meticulous planning and installation.

Although the raised platform was primarily an aesthetic decision, Fraley notes that it’s also practical. Because the shower has no door or divider, the floor needed to slope toward a linear drain at the back. “Because this bathroom is on the second floor, it was easier to run the plumbing beneath a raised platform to create the slope required for the shower to drain,” he says. “Otherwise, we would have had to get into the floor joists [to create the required slope] and risked damaging the ceiling below.”

The shower controls are positioned within easy reach from outside the stall, allowing the homeowners to turn on the water and let it warm up before stepping in. Two hooks just outside the shower provide convenient spots for towels or robes.

The shower niche further demonstrates the thoughtful tilework. Two rows of full tiles inside the niche allow the grid pattern to continue uninterrupted. “We always try very hard to make tiles line up perfectly like this,” Wortel says.

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Along with the marble floor, a walnut shelf visually ties the toilet room to the rest of the bathroom.