Bathrooms
Niche tile: The tile in the niches is 1-by-2-inch Bianco Carrara brick tile. The niche surround is edged in Hampton Carrara polished marble pencil tile (0.625 by 12 inches). The niches themselves are framed with a narrower pencil tile, Carrara Somerset (0.375 by 12 inches). Solid Carrara pieces line the top, sides and bottom of the niche. Shower tile: Ceramic 3-by-6-inch subway tile Niche size: Each niche is 14 inches wide by 16 inches high. The bottom niche is 24 inches off the floor and is intended as a ledge for shaving. The niches and surrounding accent are centered within the 9-foot-high shower wall and are a total of 5 feet high.
The two-handle wide-spread faucets and towel ring have a Venetian bronze finish that coordinates with the shower fixtures, cabinet hardware, bronze-frame mirrors and bronze sconces that flank each mirror. “The lights are on dimmers, so you can wind down before bed,” Foster Hurd says. Faucets: Cassidy in Venetian bronze, Delta Faucet; mirrors: Astor arch wall mirror in bronze, Bellacor; sconces: Vendome in bronze, Visual Comfort; towel ring: Cassidy in Venetian Bronze, Delta Faucet
After: The new 36-inch-high custom double maple vanity with an earthy taupe base and a Taj Mahal quartzite top streamlines the layout. “It makes the bathroom appear so much larger,” Bruner says. The colors coordinate with the wall and shower tiles. Two soft-close drawers provide storage under each sink. The top drawers tip open and include contemporary round cabinet pulls. The other drawers have 6- and 10-inch cabinet pulls. “I always go with the size that most complements the width and size of the drawers,” Foster Hurd says. “Going with the larger pull is definitely easier for the homeowners to manage day to day.” The cabinet hardware has an oil-rubbed-bronze finish. A 33-inch-high floating makeup counter with seating in the center includes a drawer for makeup and skin products. “We did a pop-up outlet with an oil-rubbed-bronze finish [seen towards the back of the vanity counter], so Linda can plug in a curling iron or her hair dryer,” Foster Hurd says. A muted red, black and taupe rug brings in the tones of the rich woods, oil-rubbed bronze and sandy colors. The knotty alder pocket door to the right of the vanity opens to a hallway leading to the couple’s bedroom. Vanity ha...
Taj Mahal quartzite tops a built-in shower bench and coordinates with the vanity countertop, top of the pony wall and low-curb shower threshold. The control for the shower is located on the right, just inside the shower on the pony wall. “We wanted to make sure they had easy access to turn the shower valve on,” Foster Hurd says. She also made sure the handheld shower could reach across to the bench. Recessed niches near the bench store products and keep them hidden from view. “That’s something I really wanted,” Bruner says. A long niche on the bench provides a spot for resting a foot while shaving legs. The shower floor is 1-by-1-inch honed mosaic tile in brown, cream and ivory. “The smaller grout lines provide good grip,” Foster Hurd says. “Another important element was that the shower floor does a great job of tying together all the colors you see in this bathroom.”
The expanded shower includes fixtures and a decorative grab bar in a rich Venetian bronze finish. The 5-by-5-inch creamy wall tiles are glazed ceramic in a glossy finish. The varying tones mimic a handmade look. “The tiles stay true to the original style of the home, but still update it and elevate the design,” Foster Hurd says. Tempered-glass corner shelves hold shower products. “The husband has a bad back, so he wanted to make sure his storage was at a level that was easily reachable for him,” Foster Hurd says. Shower fixtures: 3-setting shower head and 3-setting slide-bar hand shower, both in Venetian bronze, Delta Faucet; shower wall tile: Cloe in Creme, 5 by 5 inches, Bedrosians Tile and Stone
First, the bad news. Hard water and soapy buildup allowed to accumulate on glass shower surfaces can cause etching and permanently damage the glass. If glass shower doors have a cloudy look, this may be the culprit. Cleaning will eliminate buildup, but it will not reverse etching, which is why the first and best defense is to prevent it from happening by wiping down the shower after each use with either a squeegee or a microfiber cloth.
Tyler created a feature band of vertically running tile that includes 10-by-16-inch tiles with strips of 2-by-12 pieces of the same tile. She surrounded this with 12-by-24-inch glossy white tiles. “This allows the mirrored tile to really stand out on its own without overtaking the space,” Tyler says.
Polished chrome is found frequently in contemporary fixtures, because it’s sleek. And Little says a lot of the faucet and fixture designs that work so well come out of Europe, where chrome is favored because it is long lasting, is easy to clean and stays true to the material. “If [chrome is] the best thing, then you make it out of that and expose the material. You don’t hide it behind an ornate copper element,” Little says.
Marble and marble-look tile helped bring a luxurious, classic look. On the floor, large-format ceramic tile that looks like marble was a way to deliver style while keeping costs down substantially, Crow says. A 3-by-5-foot basket-weave inlay of marble helped break up the main floor area and add interest. “That part turned out amazing,” Crow says.
If you’ve got the room, you can create a completely open shower area like the one in this Tiburon, California, bathroom by Schneider Design Associates. A small curb and partial wall offset a large marble-tiled wet area with enough room for multiple wall-mounted shower heads, a rain shower head and a freestanding tub.
Relocating the shower controls to an opposite wall during a remodel solves that problem. You can see in this shower by designer Bronwyn Poole how the controls are on the wall opposite where you enter, far from the shower spray to the left.
I just love it when a well-thought-out, clever little detail shot makes the ranks of the most popular photos. It goes to show the large effect a small part of a design can have. Designer Kimberly Horton repeated the shower floor’s hexagonal tile on the back of two shower niches, turning the functional niches into artful accents. Style note: Pencil tiles in black frame the front of the niches.
Style note: A way to enjoy a shower surround like this without dreading the glass cleaning so much is to place pane dividers on the outside of one large sheet of glass and to leave the inside of the shower stall plain. That way it’s easier to clean.
Curtain and drain. A weighted ceiling-height shower curtain and a Schluter linear curb floor drain, pictured, keep water from splashing out of the wet area. The shower floor rises imperceptibly (about one-eighth inch per foot) toward the back bench to direct water toward the curb drain, which is flush with the bathroom floor. This saved some money compared with open showers where the floor is recessed for drainage, Carnemark says, as digging into the floor costs more. The clients have told him the shower area is working well for them.
. A window in the shower. This is a great feature if done properly. Some things to consider: Choose a frosted-glass panel for privacy and preferably one that opens for fresh air. Next, ensure that there are stone jambs along the entire installation so that this area is watertight. Also, ensure that the sill gets sloped down and away for proper drainage. Lastly, I always specify a tilt-and-turn window in a shower, because the screen is located on the outside of the window; the handles are plastic, so they won’t rust; and the window provides full privacy even when tilted open.
5'6" × 7'-0" room with Restoration Hardware "Hutton" vanity (36"w x 24"d) and "Hutton" mirror, sconces by Waterworks "Newel", shower size 36" x 36" with 22" door, HansGrohe "Axor Montreux" shower set. Wall paint is "pearl white" by Pratt & Lambert and wood trim is "white dove" eggshell from Benjamin Moore. Wall tiles are 3"x6" honed, carrara marble with inset hexagonals
hese provide something for you to hold on to as you’re entering and exiting your shower. It’s best to install one on the outside of your shower and on each of your interior walls so you can safely navigate the space. Grab bars are highly functional; they can also double as towel and robe racks.
Increase the height of your vanity. The standard vanity height is 31½ inches (not including your countertop). This isn’t always high enough for homeowners. Raising the cabinet height to 34½ inches (this will reach standard kitchen counter height, including a 1½ inch countertop) can prevent you from having to hunch over as you’re washing up.
Have a flat shower entry. This minimizes your risk of tripping over a step as you enter your shower. It’s also a wheelchair-accessible feature. If you forgo a shower step, your shower floor will need to be properly sloped to allow water to drain correctly. If you do include a step, don’t make it large and bulky.
Look for textured flooring. No matter which kind of flooring you decide to put in your bathroom, choose one that has high slip resistance. A slick tile can increase the likelihood of an injury from a fall. You can spot a floor with good slip resistance by looking for grooves or feeling for texture. Generally speaking, the more textured a floor is, the higher its slip resistance. There are ways to measure a floor’s slip resistance. Tile, for example, is rated by measuring the coefficient of friction. A flooring material’s slip resistance can normally be found on the manufacturer’s website.
Choose porcelain wall and floor tile. Porcelain can last a lifetime, so chances are you won’t have to replace it as you get older. It’s also perhaps the easiest surface to clean. Water and a rag normally do the trick. If you’re concerned about grout, look for porcelain tile with a rectified edge. Finely cut edges allow for thin grout joints (as little as 1/16 inch in some styles). You can purchase a presealed grout as well.
Curbed-shower enthusiasm. A curbless shower makes a bathroom feel bigger and look cleaner — plus, it's very practical for aging-in-place homeowners, since it adheres to universal design principles. This look is fairly easy to achieve in a new bathroom or a remodel — just make sure you mention it to your architect or contractor prior to construction.
Making it all about the toilet. That leads me to my next blunder: Avoid making the toilet the first thing you see in the bathroom, and avoid any sight lines to it from adjacent rooms. I like to put the toilet and shower in their own room while keeping the sink separate. This allows someone to take a shower while someone else gets ready at the sink. In the bathroom floor plan here, the wall between the two rooms adds only a couple of inches to the overall size of the bathroom but doubles the room's functionality.
Kirsten Marie Inc, KMI Save Email If you are planning a toilet compartment, the NKBA recommends a space about 36 by 66 inches, with a 32-inch-wide doorway. The absolute minimum would be 30 by 60 inches, which leaves just 15 inches of space on either side of the toilet rough-in.
Plan Out Your Shower First If you're planning on having a barrier-free shower near your toilet, consider installing a wall-mount toilet to make waterproofing measures simpler for your contractor.
What a classic bathroom — I love it. The look and feel of the toilet fits in with the baseboard and crown molding perfectly. I would guess the baseboard wraps behind the toilet for a seamless look.
8. Shower bases. Gone are the days of boring beige prefabricated shower bases. More and more, I’ve been using shower systems that have modern, clean bases made out of acrylic or porcelain. Don’t overlook other options for your shower floor.
This elegant master bathroom in Greenwich, Connecticut, includes a deep soaking tub, pink striped wallpaper and one of the leading ladies of Hollywood glamour: Audrey Hepburn, in the 1957 film Funny Face.
Defined areas. Depending on your entry point in this two-door bathroom, the toilet can be seen or not seen at all. Within the layout it is essentially treated as a room within a room. The cabinet that divides the space creates extra storage and is a great alternative to a wall, cleverly giving privacy to the toilet area.
T-shape. By planning a T-shaped bathroom, you allow the vanity to be the hero. Here, the toilet sits neatly behind one wing and the shower behind the other. Function is taken care of, while form is delivered in full.
Horizon Habitats Save Email Nib wall. A nib wall is a very handy addition to a bathroom. In this case it has created a logical place for the vanity to run into and has partially blocked the toilet from view.
Hide the toilet
Bold-Contrast Bathrooms All-white bathroom finishes continue to dominate homeowners’ choices. But in recent years some people have been inching toward hits of dark contrasting colors. Navy blue vanities and accent tile have gained popularity, and some homeowners are taking a step further to the dark side with jet-black vanities and other black details set against crisp white backdrops. The white finishes keep things light and airy, while the black creates a touch of drama. Brass details and wood-look tile flooring help add warmth to the classic palette
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