bathroom: from listing to lovely

Some of our dear friends just bought a house in our town, and I couldn’t be more excited! They got a gorgeous, stately house — a place with a great sense of history and depth. It has fabulous wood floors, beautiful moldings, and some cool stained glass pieces that make the house feel unique and loved.

One of the first places they want to tackle is their primary bathroom. I haven’t seen it in person yet, but the pictures make it look huge! Everything is in working order, and the vanity is gorgeous, but the rest of the room isn’t quite their style. They love the stained glass, but it calls to mind Southwest vibes, and they prefer Prairie style.

What would you suggest they do as a temporary measure, without a full reno? They’re two dynamic adults, no kids, and they work mostly from home. What would make them feel happy when they walk into this room?

I love the idea of wallpapering the nook where their vanity is, as a way of highlighting it. I had trouble finding a wallpaper that included the colors in the stained glass, but I think green would be a great complement. I like that the wallpaper pictured below has a cream background, so it wouldn’t be too stark against the stone tile surrounding the shower entrance. And wouldn’t it be great to paint the ceiling and the rest of the walls the cream color in the background of this wallpaper? With a style this classic, we could stencil the design instead of using wallpaper, but I’m not sure my friend trusts me that much!

Although I love matte black fixtures in bathrooms, I think that would be too much of a contrast here. This room feels more organic than modern, and they love Prairie style, so I think oil-brushed bronze would be fabulous. I suggested an intricate, wooden mirror for two reasons: 1. there are many straight lines in this room, so the curves would be good as a contrast, and 2. I’m already suggesting bronze sconces and a bronze faucet — the eye needs something on this wall that isn’t metal.

If you look closely at the pictures of the current room, you’ll see that the top of the vanity is tile. Not super great when you’re trying to balance bottles on it and keep it clean. The new homeowners are considering substituting a new countertop, and the solid white countertops with a built-in sink are a great value. But it feels like it might be a little stark here. I think it could be fun to do a wooden vanity top. We could use high-quality plywood, cut out a hole for the sink, and put lots of varnish on it to protect it from water. It would be a little quirky, but I think it would complement this space without costing an arm and a leg. I’d also love to do a slate countertop, but then we’d need to do chrome for the faucet and maybe the lights, too.

Sources:

• wallpaper (design using this website)
• faucet
• sconces
• mirror
• rug

I think this room calls for lots of natural greenery, multiple sources of light, and texture. I’d put a big, wicker laundry basket under the counter and add some plants in woven containers. It might be great to add some shallow shelves to the side walls above the vanity. they could store essentials in woven baskets and add a couple of plants in wicker containers.

Here’s their shower area. My friend is contemplating hiring a company to spray paint the inside of the shower walls white. (We used a service like this in one of our bathrooms, with mixed results, but our friends don’t have wild kids and wouldn’t plan on painting the shower floors. So they might have better results than we did.) Still, I’m not sure I’d love a white tile in this shower, especially considering that there’s natural stone outside the door of the shower. Until they’re ready to do a full reno, I’d prefer to keep the current materials and make it feel like a sauna, with lots of hanging plants, some eucalyptus, and a teak shelf.

What do you think? What would you do with this shower? And what would you recommend for the bathroom in general? More to come soon from this beautiful house!