Room of the Day: Tiny Powder Room With a Treehouse Feel
Clean lines and whimsical wallpaper create a delightful jewel box under the stairs in a Connecticut home
The colonial-style house is generously sized, but this powder room is tiny. The homeowner loves the simplicity and sleekness of Scandinavian modern style but also has a penchant for the whimsy of English country. Interior designer Lorey Cavanaugh balanced these two inspirations as well as small and large gestures in the compact room. The result is a little jewel box that feels far from claustrophobic.
“Another way we created a visual expanse was keeping the area underneath the sink clear,” the designer says. She chose a small wall-mounted sink with an integrated towel bar and wall-mounted faucets to save space. The sink, radiator and toilet have a clean-lined style that brings in the minimalist Scandinavian feeling. This allows the delightful pattern of the wallpaper to be the big design statement in the room.
The X shape of the faucets plays off the existing diamond-paned windows. A simple folded shade tucks up at the top when not needed for privacy.
Sink: The Bath Outlet; faucets: Kohler
The X shape of the faucets plays off the existing diamond-paned windows. A simple folded shade tucks up at the top when not needed for privacy.
Sink: The Bath Outlet; faucets: Kohler
“My client is a fabric designer, and she incorporates birds into many of her pieces,” Cavanaugh says. So Schumacher’s A-Twitter wallpaper was a perfect fit. “It also gives the room a treehouse feeling.”
The designer had a local glass shop make a beveled mirror, which is installed on wood to make it float off the wall. Oil-rubbed bronze sconces nod to the home’s traditional style, pick up on the tones in the travertine floor and provide contrast to the modern polished chrome fixtures.
Sconces: Hudson Valley Lighting
The designer had a local glass shop make a beveled mirror, which is installed on wood to make it float off the wall. Oil-rubbed bronze sconces nod to the home’s traditional style, pick up on the tones in the travertine floor and provide contrast to the modern polished chrome fixtures.
Sconces: Hudson Valley Lighting
The toilet is tucked underneath the staircase. Replacing a clunky, space-hogging cast-iron radiator with a 2-inch-deep unit from Runtal was a big space saver and added more clean lines.
“At first we were wondering how far to go with the wallpaper but decided to just go for it,” Cavanaugh says of covering the slanted ceiling. Even though her experienced hanger said there was no way to match up the pattern on the slants, the way the branches and birds worked out is just right. The ceiling paint matches the color of the trunks and branches in the print.
“Working with a client who is an artist made this a true collaboration,” Cavanaugh says. “She was a lot of fun to work with.”
Toilet: Persuade Circ, Kohler
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“At first we were wondering how far to go with the wallpaper but decided to just go for it,” Cavanaugh says of covering the slanted ceiling. Even though her experienced hanger said there was no way to match up the pattern on the slants, the way the branches and birds worked out is just right. The ceiling paint matches the color of the trunks and branches in the print.
“Working with a client who is an artist made this a true collaboration,” Cavanaugh says. “She was a lot of fun to work with.”
Toilet: Persuade Circ, Kohler
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Powder Room at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Hartford, Connecticut
Size: 17 square feet (1.6 square meters)
Designer: Lorey Cavanaugh
This powder room is just inside the front door, tucked under the staircase. Measuring just under 6 by 3 feet, the space is tight, and Cavanaugh knew she’d have to create visual expanses wherever she could. One way she did that was by continuing rustic travertine flooring from the foyer into the room.
In addition to the flooring, she fit the design into the 1920s home by keeping original elements like the trim, door, glass knob and leaded diamond-paned windows, and bringing in more-traditional wallpaper and sconces. At the same time, a sleek sink, toilet, radiator and window treatment add minimalist simplicity that keeps the room from looking fussy.