Bathroom of the Week: Cottage Style With a Touch of Elegance
A designer balances cozy cottage style with glamorous details in this Birmingham, Alabama, primary bath
These homeowners said they wanted cottage style for their primary bathroom, but from the look of the rest of their home and from talking with them, designer Leslie Davis could tell they also liked clean lines and some glamour. The bathroom design is a careful balance between cottage classics like tongue-and-groove wainscoting and glam touches like brushed gold mirror frames. The result is a lovely and inviting space in a style the designer calls “elevated cottage.”
After: Davis cleaned up the layout by taking down dividing walls within the bathroom. This allowed her to place two vanities and a large shower in one larger space. She was able to put the toilet into its own private water closet at the opposite end of the room, where the pass-through space had been.
The designer likes to begin with tile as a jumping-off point for the materials. A marble-like porcelain tile on the floor brings in some elegant glamour, and its beige undertones add warmth. Davis balanced this with the cozy cottage touch of tongue-and-groove paneled wainscoting.
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
The designer likes to begin with tile as a jumping-off point for the materials. A marble-like porcelain tile on the floor brings in some elegant glamour, and its beige undertones add warmth. Davis balanced this with the cozy cottage touch of tongue-and-groove paneled wainscoting.
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity
Before: This wall separated the vanity area from the shower and toilet.
After: Davis removed the wall and moved the toilet to its own water closet. This created one open space for the vanities and shower, with a roomy stall that measures 44 by 56 inches.
The clear glass shower enclosure keeps the space feeling as expansive and airy as possible. It also provides a view of the surround tile, which is a variegated ceramic in a soft warm white with hints of gray. The shower floor is covered in a small hexagonal tile in warm white.
The couple each have their own vanities with plenty of storage.
Toilet: Memoirs Stately, Kohler
The clear glass shower enclosure keeps the space feeling as expansive and airy as possible. It also provides a view of the surround tile, which is a variegated ceramic in a soft warm white with hints of gray. The shower floor is covered in a small hexagonal tile in warm white.
The couple each have their own vanities with plenty of storage.
Toilet: Memoirs Stately, Kohler
Before: Because the toilet was on the dividing wall that Davis took down, it had to be moved. This worked out well because having a water closet was on the homeowners’ wish list.
After: The window here is the same one seen in the previous photo. Davis recommends frosting a bathroom window like this to gain privacy without sacrificing natural light. The botanical fabric she found for the Roman shade picks up on the blue vanity color while adding some warmer tones that play off the color of the wainscoting and floor.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Before: To understand the transformed space better, check out this existing floor plan and compare it with the new plan. The primary bedroom entry was on the left, the office entry on the right. The latter had a lot of wasted space around it.
The space in the bottom right corner is a powder room off the den.
The space in the bottom right corner is a powder room off the den.
After: Davis removed the office entry at the top right and reconfigured the pass-through space into the water closet for the toilet. Then she used the remaining space to lay out the large shower stall and two vanities. Though she had to remove one window to get the vanity placement right, the room still gets plenty of natural light.
By removing the office entry area and small linen closet, she also was able to give the powder room a better layout. “Because they had an ample crawl space below, moving toilets was not a problem,” she says.
By removing the office entry area and small linen closet, she also was able to give the powder room a better layout. “Because they had an ample crawl space below, moving toilets was not a problem,” she says.
The homeowners were willing to sacrifice the direct entry into the bathroom from the office to gain the toilet closet. (The office is around the corner from the powder room anyway.)
Davis continued the blue-and-white theme into the water closet by hanging two lovely hydrangea prints on the wall. The space had an existing window.
Davis continued the blue-and-white theme into the water closet by hanging two lovely hydrangea prints on the wall. The space had an existing window.
Davis worked with a custom cabinet company to create the vanities she designed. She gave them a furniture-like look with details like turned feet, ogee countertop edges and high backsplashes with curved edges. The doors are inset, in keeping with the cottage vibe and clean lines the clients like. Meanwhile, a subtle beaded trim edge adds that little something extra.
Above both vanities, Davis placed matching mirrors with brushed gold frames, flanked by brushed gold sconces. An Oriental rug adds warmth to the center of the floor. “There are so many great rug options out there for bathrooms now. And wool is perfectly fine for a bathroom,” Davis says.
Vanity paint: Tarragon, Sherwin-Williams; rug: Bianca, Loloi
Above both vanities, Davis placed matching mirrors with brushed gold frames, flanked by brushed gold sconces. An Oriental rug adds warmth to the center of the floor. “There are so many great rug options out there for bathrooms now. And wool is perfectly fine for a bathroom,” Davis says.
Vanity paint: Tarragon, Sherwin-Williams; rug: Bianca, Loloi
To keep the design timeless, Davis added plumbing fixtures with a classic polished nickel finish. “Polished nickel is a choice you’ll never regret because it’s so timeless,” she says. “The depth of it is so beautiful that it’s worth the splurge.” She notes that mixing metals works especially well when working within a neutral color palette.
Faucets: Weymouth two-handle high-arc, Moen
Faucets: Weymouth two-handle high-arc, Moen
On the wife’s side of the room, a cabinet tower makes up for a linen closet that was removed during the renovation. The door is glass, which keeps things light. Davis shopped for the accessories throughout the room, including blue and white china.
The shower fixtures include a rain shower head, a dedicated high-intensity shower head and a handheld shower. Three vertically stacked niches to the right of the shower heads provide plenty of space for products. Davis included a low niche for shaving.
The niche locations keep products out of view from the rest of the bathroom. “I like to tuck niches in a spot where they are not visible as soon as you walk into the room,” Davis says.
The niche locations keep products out of view from the rest of the bathroom. “I like to tuck niches in a spot where they are not visible as soon as you walk into the room,” Davis says.
The homeowners also wanted the luxury of warm towels, which is provided by this towel warming rack. The painting above it is by local Birmingham artist Laurel-Dawn Latshaw.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Birmingham, Alabama
Size: 134 square feet (12 square meters)
Designer: Leslie Davis of Deeply Southern Home
Before: The bathroom hadn’t changed since the house was built in the late 1980s. “The bathroom layout had been chopped up so badly that I knew we’d need to take down walls,” Davis says. The space had entrances to the primary bedroom, seen here on the left, and to a home office on the opposite side. This vanity area was separate from a tub-shower and toilet area in the center. On the opposite side was a small linen closet and pass-through to the office entry. The latter was a waste of space.
To get a sense of her clients’ style, Davis looked through their inspiration images and the style of the rest of their home. “My clients liked the warmth, coziness and charm of a cottage style, elevated by some more glamorous finishes,” she says. “But I could also see from the rest of their house that they liked clean, modern lines.” In addition, one of the homeowners mentioned that she loved blue and white.
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