Project Overview

This master bathroom was a lot of fun for me. The homeowner had very specific ideas as to what materials and overall look she wanted in this room, but no idea how to rearrange the old bathroom to accomplish her goals. The original photos show the original condition of this 1930’s vintage bath. The key to the plan was rearranging the bath so there were no fixtures on the outside window wall. One of the two existing windows was actually covered up in a dead space when someone had added the shower some time in the distant past.

The theme of this bath was heavily influenced by the clients extensive travels to South America and her love for the culture and vibrant colors commonly used there. Our client loved the overall plan and the details particularly the numerous niches in the tub/shower wall allowed us to creatively use her tile color selections to create an extremely stunning visual presence in this project while also being highly functional.

The tub/shower combination area with its numerous niche’s and tile design is the visual focal point of this bath. The shower portion used both a rain head in the ceiling and a traditional shower head on the wall, with a control valve and diverter valve on the wall that the client can use to select which to use depending on whether she wants to get her hair wet. The tub has its own deck mounted valve and diverter valve with two water sources. One the tub fill and the second a hand held wand. All these tub valves and sources are on the lowest niches on the wall. The highest niches are for decorative purposes only, while the middle niches are normally used to hold shampoo or conditioner and other items used when showering. Each niche has a floor which is slightly slanted towards the tub so any water that may get on it will flow back into the tub. The unique shape of this tub is perfect for the room, opening up the middle of the room and making it easy to move around in this relatively small space.

This bathroom also fits the criteria for my functional bathroom concepts I discuss on this web site. The wall cabinets at the corner sink each have electrical outlets inside within arms reach of a person standing at the sink, so all electrical appliances could be plugged in and ready for use at any time and never have the need to be left out in sight when not in use. Again the clients material choices are in keeping with what she had experienced in her travels. We used Oak cabinets with patterned perforated copper inserts on the base cabinets. We used mirror inserts on the wall cabinets creating a three way mirror.

For more privacy, the toilet was hidden behind the tub/shower wall with the control valves where the old shower was once added. This allowed us to use the old window that have been hidden for years, brining in more natural light into the entire room. We installed a wall cabinet above the toilet for added storage, which was very lacking in the original bath.

When you look at the tile work on the walls, counter tops and tub/shower wall you see not odd cuts or changes in alignment or height of the tile border that is on the sink backsplash, continues around the room at the top of the wall wainscot tile and then into the shower and becomes the face of the lowest division between niche’s. This does not happen by accident. Precise measurements of exactly how thick the floor tile will be, the exact height of the cabinets and location of the niche’s is required. Careful planning and paying attention to technical details along with very close communication with and listening to the client is the only way to create a room with this much detail and visual pop all while meeting the clients original vision.