Front view of the home
Our Clients Asked for Interior Design Inspiration
Our clients in Central Vermont who we recently helped with backyard area redesign concepts later asked us back to develop more design ideas, but this time for their lower living level bathrooms.
A five-bedroom home built in 1970, the bathrooms still had their original finishes, molded one-piece shower stalls, sinks, counters, lighting fixtures, and toilets. Still serviceable, but tired out, the clients wanted to refresh and update them for their next generation of use. However, their house was not your average house as the original owners had it built from a kit from the Acorn Deck House Company still based today in Acorn, Massachusetts.
With this design heritage, a unique design opportunity presented itself by focusing on aligning the new bathroom upgrade concepts with the special design spirit of their fifty-year-old home.
A timeless Deck Home inspires innovative ideas building on its past while looking to the future
The Deck Company, then and now, has forged a unique natural living aesthetic fusing elements often seen in Sunset Magazine issues of that era, and classic Japanese architecture all melded into an easy-living multi-level home design. Its layout also had ties to the indoor-outdoor aesthetic championed by the Los Angeles-based Case Study Houses from the 1940s through the mid-1960s. Built with exposed Douglas Fir 4 x 12 roof and floor framing, tongue-and-groove floor sheathing, slim-line profile windows, and generous overhangs, these homes cut a timeless contemporary appearance.
Interior view of kitchen
The backyard has an easy connection with interior living and dining spaces, many deck
levels, and a large pool facing an expansive mountain range view across a field. We sought to amplify the modern Japanese feel in the bathroom concepts aligning with the simplicity of the douglas- fir wood framing, their interaction with the exposed tongue-and-groove wood ceilings, openness, and connection details.
Developing a common bathroom update design theme
Creating a unifying concept and theme for the clients would really help them as the house has three (3) full baths including a master-bedroom bathroom suite, and then one powder bathroom. But for the immediate focus, the two bathrooms on this lower level, we developed two different design approaches with inspirations for shower and bath design, sink vanity, lighting, color schemes, wall, and floor finishes.
By having two ideas, it would be easier for the client and ourselves to mix and match the best elements of both into a common design theme. Developing a common theme would help in updating the lower level bathrooms with a similar mood and character in one construction phase. After completion of this first phase, the owners may later adopt this design approach into the other bathrooms in later renovations.
Bathrooms 1 and 2– One in a narrow interior space, and the other on an exterior wall
Please see the below enlarged-floorplan showing the existing bathrooms near the central stair.
Partial existing floor plan
Bathroom 1 is in the middle of the lower level in a narrow space with the bath and shower unit built-in at the rear. Bathroom 2 has a squarish rectangular shape and has a garden level window providing daylight. Both have easy access to the four bedrooms accessed from this level and the central internal stair connecting all the four floor-levels. Both share dated appearances in their color combinations, floor finishes, vanity, fixtures, and outlet covers.
Bathroom 1 - view of bath and shower unit
Bathroom 1 - vanity view
Existing bath 2 - view of bath and shower unit
Existing bath 2 - overall
Existing bath 2 - vanity view
Bathroom design concept one
On the left, the smaller interior bathroom gets redone in soft gray and green tones with wood highlights. In the sliding-glass door shower unit, sink, and toilet wall, angled tile covers the wall punctuated by a darker grey accent band. To lighten the ceiling, we replace the tongue and groove paneling at the duct-chase with painted drywall. This makes the ceiling less heavy.
For the vanity, we suggest a lighter gray hand-cast or premanufactured counter with open grey wood shelving and baskets below. An up-downlight strip fixture lights the vanity area supplemented by an attractive ceiling fixture. We suggest matching nickel or darker bronze finish faucet and controls, towel racks, shower-heads, and controls. Flooring will match the walls to unify the space.
On the right, the larger bathroom with daylight access shifts to a yellow and warm-gray motif with a dual shower-head walk-in shower with sliding glass doors. Vertical 12” wide warm-gray tile is accented by a thin band of darker vertical glass tile. A lighter butter-yellow wall color contrasts the tile and other finishes. A narrow mirror at the vanity has thin side by side fixures with darker metal accents matching the faucets, showerheads, and their controls, as well as towel-racks and interior doorknobs. Tile flooring would be done with a smaller 1” mosaic warm-gray and dark-toned mix.
bathroom design concept two
On the left, the smaller interior bathroom gets redone in soft grayish warm-off white, and green tones with warmer cherry wood highlights with crisp lines. A white tub with mossy green shower curtain anchors the rear wall. Like in the other concept, we replace the tounge and groove paneling at the duct-chase with painted drywall with flat white ceiling extending down on all wall faces matching the duct depth. This makes the ceiling less heavy.
The mirror and medicine cabinet are top-lit from a low-profile LED fixture in the soffit above. Optional LED hidden strip-lighting behind the floating medicine cabinet edge could be installed to create a glowing effect around the mirror. We suggest matching nickel or darker bronze finish faucet and controls, shower curtain bars, towel racks, shower-heads-faucet and controls. Flooring will match the walls to unify the space.
On the right, the larger bathroom with daylight access shifts to a simple but elegant warm-gray motif with a dual shower-head walk-in shower with frameless glass doors. Horizontal 6” wide warm-gray wall tile is accented by a thin band of darker glass tile. A lighter grayish off-white wall color contrasts with the tile and other finishes. A narrow mirror at the vanity again has thin side by side fixures with darker metal accents matching the faucets, showerheads, and their controls, as well as towel-racks and interior doorknobs. Outlet and light switch covers will match the other metal finishes. We envision tile flooring would be redone with a 12” ashlar pattern in a warm-gray complimentary selection. The vanity could be either custom lighter warm reddish gray-toned wood with a site-cast concrete or integral sink countertop.
Detail inspiration imagery
See the below images. They supplement the hand-sketches above by showing more detailed combination possibilities of the wall and floor tile treatment concepts, types of glass shower and bath enclosures, lighting concepts, fixtures, and fittings. These image boards build on what we do on Pinterest or Houzz-Arocordis Design Inspiration sometimes with our clients. It is a visual way to easily illustrate ideas with three-dimensions to amplify the design intent of the flat on elevation drawings above. Pictures always help!
Feature wall and shower inspiration
Accent and wall tile inspirations
Vanity ideas to accentuate the design concept further
stay tuned for next steps
Check back in 2021 to see updates on the status of this project now in the early design stage. We hope to work again with these clients to refine these ideas into a unified approach as they get clearer on their budget, priorities, and more. Meanwhile, we hope you enjoyed learning more about design process.
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