Bathrooms, Some Fresh Ideas

Kitchens and Bathrooms can be some of the most challenging and expensive rooms in a house to design. Because of this, I try to make my designs as timeless as possible, but at the same time, try and inject some fresh ideas, so that they don't look boring and uninteresting. The bathroom pictured above, is in an old 1920's style home that I recently worked on, I think that we were pretty successful in staying true to the period, but here are some ways that we tried to make it feel fresh and and a bit out of the ordinary.

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  One of the first things you might notice is that the floors are wood, normally a big no no. If you look in the image, you will notice a stone slab, right outside of the shower, this is the wettest part of the bathroom, and it serves to protect the floor from water damage. Its a great feeling to walk on bare wood in a bathroom, it is so much warmer than tile or stone. On another Bathroom I did recently I also used wood, but used a marine varnish on it (normally used on boats) that will also protect the floor, and with some care you could even eliminate the stone slab.


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  I wanted an open, airy feeling, so instead of creating a wall to provide privacy to the commode, I used a wooden folding screen, it takes a lot less space and doesn't intrude on the architecture of the room, and can even be a cool place to hang paintings over the tub.


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  Instead of using art to decorate the walls, I found these great stained glass windows, and incorporated them into the design. Sourcing out great salvage places in your city, can really help you get some unusual at a very affordable price.


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  Look into using free standing towel and toilet paper holders, once again it is those small details that will provide you with interest in a timeless sort of way.


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  I really like freestanding tubs as well. This particular tub is by Ultrabath and also is jetted so you can still get the therapeutic benefits of that while maintaining a classic, old world look.

The key to success is to keep your design simple and be clear about your concept, it will make decision making easier and the end result better.