By Jennifer Shapira
Tucked away in the late 1920s-era DC Design House last spring was a retro-style, jewel box of a guest bathroom. The sophisticated yet playful palette, in unconventional purple and black, was a dramatic departure from the trendy cool gray tones that comprise so many bathroom remodels.
“We really wanted to show with a smaller bathroom that you don’t have to be afraid of putting in some color or some drama into the space,” says interior designer Jenna Randolph, of Grossmueller’s Design. “I feel like a lot of the time people think a small bath has to be light and bright. But what we really did there was actually play with the reverse of what everybody’s doing.”
In fact, that idea was precisely what got Randolph’s creative juices flowing. The end result: the room’s dazzling high-style was reflected in the tile choices. An already existing window brought in lots of natural light and Randolph kept the home’s original commode and medicine cabinet, which she says lent a vintage flair, providing just the right vibe to the “boudoir-ish” space.
For added glamour, the ceiling was painted a metallic silver. Randolph says, it’s a “subtle way of introducing color,” a strategy she and her colleagues will employ on the client who is shy about going bolder. Painted ceilings can make a statement, but one that she says is understated and not so in-your-face.
“That’s the beauty of it,” says Randolph, especially if it’s an opportunity to highlight coffered or tray ceilings, or as in this case, to give those architectural details some character.
For the flooring, they chose a white-marbled black tile; for the shower, a floor-to-ceiling, high-impact, high-gloss black 3×6-inch ceramic beveled-edge subway tile.
“We made sure that it was glossy so it would be reflective, which would add some light into the space,” she says. “Then we installed it on a linear pattern so it would look cleaner and show some visual textures to make it interesting. That bathroom was a small bathroom, but it carries a lot of punch.”
The punch was indeed its show-stopping “art deco, sexy vibe,” says Randolph which was a direct reflection of the home’s integrity. It was also an example of just how important an opportunity a remodeled bath is to a home’s intended occupants.
With that in mind, design experts plan for all finishing touches, tailoring every detail in the room right down to the shower drain. So much so that a drain is no longer just a drain. Instead, much like all the other planned-for aesthetic elements, it too, is a thoughtful design decision.
And that is an innovative trend that is hopefully here to stay, says Kerry Ann Rodriguez, a designer for Cahill Design Build, who also made over a bathroom/pool dressing room at the Design House. Drains are hardly sexy, but today’s manufacturers like California Faucets and Newport Brass have elevated them to high art. And while a drain is not something that the average homeowner puts much thought into, Rodriguez says, if you’re spending the money on a new, updated master bathroom, it makes sense to finish it properly. “It just adds that much more of a ‘wow’ factor to it,” she says.
Depending on design, long, linear drains are now tile-able so that they disappear into a shower floor, or they are available in other shapes that can stand out in tasteful patterns and in finishes to match faucets and fixtures. They can even be illuminated with LEDs for added interest and ambiance.
Experts say that updating a master bathroom, predictably, offers the most bang for your buck. But that doesn’t mean that for a home’s resale value you should leave the other bathrooms untouched. If you’re not ready for a complete overhaul, in the meantime, consider some small fixes. Post-master renovation, Rodriguez suggests using the leftover tile in a guest bathroom or powder room.
“You can upgrade a powder room pretty inexpensively,” says Rodriguez. “In a master, the shower or tub is the big expense. So for a powder room, that could be something that you worked into your budget, while you’re doing another bathroom.”
For the DIY-er, a powder room can be made over in no time. Paint one of its walls in a shock of color. Replace a tired mirror with one that’s more interesting, upgrade the lighting with pretty twin sconces, and you’ll have completed a new look that’s both fast and on-budget.
Home buying experts have been saying for years that keeping one bathtub in the home is crucial for resale. That makes sense for buyers who have children, but for homeowners who intend to stay in their homes for decades, the bathing choice is theirs to make. And if a shower fits their personality, so be it.Rodriguez recalls one recent forever home renovation for an athletic family in Alexandria with adult children. The family’s multi-bathroom redo called exclusively for rejuvenating steam showers.
While that’s not the norm, if you can afford to have a separate tub and shower in the master, that’s always preferable, says Rodriguez, especially when it comes to gorgeous free-standing, sculptured soakers. But if space and budget limit such a decision, it’s truly a matter of personal preference.
But on the opposite end of the spectrum, “powder rooms are super, super small,” says Randolph, “and trying to abide by building codes and create function and satisfy the need of a powder room, we’ve been having to get creative,” when it comes to sizes and shapes. And although their use is universal and their components strictly essential, a powder room’s imaginative solutions often involve a floating vanity, a micro-pedestal sink or a corner basin.
For a guest or hall bath, the challenge, aside from function, is to provide enough utility and storage space for the intended user. If it’s a shared bathroom for children, it’s important to select materials that they can grow into. Don’t commit to a tiled mosaic fit for a toddler. Instead, go neutral and consider pops of color in paint choices, which can easily be redone years later, or coordinate color in towels and other accessories.
Julia Walter, showroom manager at Boffi in Georgetown, says today’s bathrooms of all sizes are big on texture and high on design. Walter says the design of accent walls in gorgeous, textured tiles in high-gloss and matte finishes, or a chiseled lava stone that adds a light-reflective interest, ensures that “the whole wall is basically a piece of art.”
Available in reclaimed wood and stone materials, “a floating cabinet is the way to go,” she says, adding, “it’s very high-style.” Wall-mounted fixtures will save space, keeping the countertop sleek and uncluttered, for purely utilitarian purposes.
Even in a small bathroom, a floating cabinet can make a bathroom look bigger. “You don’t have any of the materials touching the floor so it makes it much easier to clean and it just looks much nicer,” says Walter. “And the way the cabinets are done nowadays, even though they’re not going all the way to the floor, and don’t have that overall height, they have much more storage capacity.”
Think back to the classic under-sink cabinets that housed the bulk of plumbing. Most of that space was unusable. Now, a lot of manufacturers are creating clever, space-efficient drawers around the plumbing fixtures so that no space is lost, says Walter.
Rodriguez offers up another sophisticated storage choice: cabinets fronted with antique mirrored glass. The look can be a traditional or modern touch, and, she says, “you can use a little or a lot,” depending on the size of the room. The mirrors create light and the cabinets will serve as an attractive way to conceal a bathroom’s necessities without the pressure to keep things tidy all the time, says Rodriguez. Just another example of how today’s bathrooms work hard to look good so you don’t have to.
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(September 2014)