Room of the Day: Drab Toilet Closet Now a Dramatic Powder Room
Moving a wall, reconfiguring the layout and adding graphic wallpaper help turn a former water closet into a functional space
Awkward design often begins with the best intentions. In this older home in San Francisco, previous owners had put a toilet in a closet to make more room in a nearby guest bathroom. The problem was, without a sink, guests using the toilet would have to exit the water closet, turn down the hall and then enter the bathroom to wash up.
Even though the powder room and guest bathroom are separated by a wall, the spaces called for some visual connection. Allen used a black-and-white color palette for both, including black trim and the same black hex tiles for the floors.
It’s hard to tell in the photos, but metallic paint on the ceiling enhances the bold wallpaper. An antique mirror backsplash helps protect the wallpaper and complements the oversized antiqued-mirror pendant light.
Leiden porcelain wall-mount sink with towel bar: available on Houzz; faucet: Purist, single hole, Kohler
It’s hard to tell in the photos, but metallic paint on the ceiling enhances the bold wallpaper. An antique mirror backsplash helps protect the wallpaper and complements the oversized antiqued-mirror pendant light.
Leiden porcelain wall-mount sink with towel bar: available on Houzz; faucet: Purist, single hole, Kohler
To save space, Allen replaced a swing-out door with a pocket door.
General contractor: Ronan Agnew of Dunros Construction
More
Photo Flip: 102 Eye-Popping Powder Rooms
Key Measurements to Help You Design a Powder Room
Homeowner’s Workbook: How to Remodel Your Bathroom
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General contractor: Ronan Agnew of Dunros Construction
More
Photo Flip: 102 Eye-Popping Powder Rooms
Key Measurements to Help You Design a Powder Room
Homeowner’s Workbook: How to Remodel Your Bathroom
5 Ways With an 8-by-5-Foot Bathroom
Powder Room at a Glance
Location: San Francisco
Size: 13½ square feet (1.2 square meters); 4½ by 3 feet (1.3 meters by 0.9 meter)
Designer: Christy Allen
The current owners hired designer Christy Allen to come up with a solution. She expanded the water closet by pushing into the nearby guest bathroom. This allowed her to flip the toilet to another wall, freeing up space for a wall-hung sink to turn the closet into a more traditional powder room.
“I love interesting powder rooms,” Allen says. “I feel like it’s one room in the house where people can kind of branch out and get a bit dramatic and interesting with design,” Allen says.
Wallpaper: Grove Garden in black, Osborne & Little; Knox Am pendant: Worlds Away, available on Houzz; floor tiles: hexagon, Galleria Tile