Stylish Showers & Tubs | Kitchen & Bath Design News

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Designer tubs and showers can present a shocking aesthetic point of interest to the tub, whether or not making a daring shade assertion, showcasing placing architectural components or creating a relaxed sanctuary for reflection and rejuvenation.

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Kim Berndtson | March 10, 2020

Showers and tubs are sometimes the principle occasions in grasp loos. At their most elementary, they provide a easy place to cleanse initially or finish of a day. Nonetheless, at their most superb, they are often an aesthetic point of interest, making daring statements as sculpted architectural components or tiled masterpieces. They can be sanctuaries for leisure or rejuvenation, and even cultural havens for meditation and reflection.

This month, KBDN requested designers to share grasp lavatory initiatives that remodel the essential tub and bathe into one thing far more celebrated.

Honoring a heritage

There are a number of time-honored rituals and traditions inside Japanese tradition in relation to bathing, lots of which had been shared with Byron Kellar and Jennifer Renninger, designers on the Neil Kelly Firm in Portland, OR, by their purchasers after they renovated this grasp lavatory.

“She grew up in Japan and, after assembly an American soldier who was stationed in Tokyo on momentary project throughout the Vietnam Battle, the couple married and moved to america within the early Nineteen Seventies,” says Kellar. “Within the years since, they’ve lived in a number of completely different properties, they usually’ve all the time wished to incorporate a Japanese-style lavatory just like the one she grew up with and like these they might use after they visited her household.”

Since that is their ‘ceaselessly’ house, the couple determined that now was the time. On the coronary heart of the reworked area is a customized 54″x30″ Zen Bathworks ofuro soaking tub accented with a Brizo tub filler. In reverence to age-old custom, they selected one crafted from wooden, particularly Alaskan pink cedar, which gives a transparent, knot-free grain and uniform shade.

With a continued consciousness of Japanese customs, the designers had been cognizant to incorporate a handheld showerhead and tap, each built-in into an adjoining bench, so their purchasers can totally cleanse earlier than entering into the bathtub. A bucket and stool, extra equipment related to the washing ritual, are positioned inside attain.

“Based on custom, no cleaning soap ever goes into the bathtub,” he says. “It’s only for soaking.”

To construct upon the natural tone set by the bathtub, Kellar and Renninger sheathed the outside wall with Elegant Wooden Brazilian Koa porcelain tile that resembles wooden, mitering it across the edges of the recessed window surrounds. For the reason that soaking tub is mixed with a standard bathe to create a moist room atmosphere, the remaining partitions are clad with large-format Stone Field Black Ink porcelain tile whereas the ground is comprised of Century Kosmos Orion porcelain tile.

“Giant-format tile, reminiscent of 12″x24″ to 36″x48″, is a development for a lot of purchasers,” says Kellar, “as is tile in distinctive sizes, reminiscent of 2″x30″ and 4″x36″.”

Throughout from the bathe and tub enclosure is a customized Neil Kelly double self-importance in African Ribbon mahogany, topped with Perla Venata quartzite. A separate space incorporates a bookcase for displaying particular gadgets and capabilities because the water closet. A 3rd room is the walk-in closet.

The trio of areas gives a haven with dramatically completely different design vibes from the remainder of the house, which options white home windows, woodwork, mouldings and trims.

“The toilet is a stand-alone piece,” Kellar says, noting that they overcame that problem by designing a customized pocket door entry with white paint on one aspect and a stained cherry paneled profile that matches the closet door on the opposite. “After they step by way of the door, it’s like stepping by way of a portal into one other tradition.”

Mountain fashionable retreat

Spanning the course of two years, Talie Jane remodeled this early Nineties house right into a mountain fashionable retreat, full with an Asian-influenced grasp lavatory designed for performance and leisure.

Impressed by her purchasers’ current journey to Peru, the rectangular-shaped area incorporates a structure based mostly on a toilet in a luxurious resort during which they stayed the place a central self-importance and make-up station are flanked by a non-public rest room room on one finish and an opulent open bathe/tub room on the opposite.

“The toilet has three distinct sections, every divided by customized, sliding hanging glass doorways,” says the principal designer/ASID, Talie Jane Interiors in Lake Tahoe, NV. “An open bathe and tub room, like on this lavatory, is turning into highly regarded. It will possibly create the looks of a bigger lavatory whereas permitting for extra space. You not must plan for a separate tub and bathe, so you possibly can get pleasure from broad open area – with plenty of elbow room— when washing.”

On this moist room, Talie Jane centered on making a spa-like aesthetic through two waterfall showerheads complemented with an overhead rain showerhead and a Kohler soaking tub, positioned to reap the benefits of the view.

“Owners are additionally requesting that their open showers be totally geared up…suppose his/her rain or waterfall showerheads; misting techniques; hand-held bathe attachments; built-in Bluetooth speaker techniques; voice-activated techniques; electrified, polymer privateness glass and extra,” she continues. “The development isn’t only for contained in the bathe both, since folks additionally need sensible bogs and TV installations, reminiscent of on this lavatory, which incorporates a customized TV built-in into the mirror.”

One other spotlight of the area is texture, illustrated by juxtaposing large-format, clean Brazilian Black slate flooring tile with the rounded Island Stone Medan Charcoal pebble bathe flooring tile and tough Lava Stone Chisel bathe/tub wall tile. Talie Jane additionally added texture through leathered Black Pearl granite, sourced from a quarry in Andhra Pradesh, India. She used the pure stone as a encompass for the soaking tub and for the self-importance tops, the latter of which incorporates a hand-chipped edge to create a tough and natural texture.

“Incorporating texture actually brings in loads of depth, regardless of the darkish tones,” she says.

Past the odd

Whereas the preliminary architectural plans for this grasp lavatory known as for a plain, odd sheet of drywall as a separation between the bathtub and bathe, Lisa Diaz noticed it as a chance to create one thing particular for her purchasers as they get pleasure from a peaceable soak of their tub.

“Figuring out that the bathtub can be in entrance of the wall, I wished to do one thing completely different…to decorate up the wall and make it the focal function of the room,” says the proprietor of Nuela Designs in Austin, TX, who labored with Jonathan Traylor of Meridian Customized Properties on the venture.

To coordinate with an total design theme of sunshine, brilliant and serene, she selected to cowl the complete wall with pure stone mosaic from Marazzi. The crisp, brilliant marble creates a monochromatic, but placing, backdrop for the American Commonplace soaking tub, which she accented with a Brizo tub filler in a Chrome end to coordinate with the metallic particulars within the tile.

The tile’s linear hexagon form provides curiosity whereas making a distinction from the large-format, rectangular flooring tile, which can be marble.

“I wished one thing geometric and graphic so it might make a press release,” she says, noting that utilizing completely different tile on the ground and accent wall makes the latter particular and distinctive.

Diaz additionally added a distinct segment at tub top that extends almost the complete size of the wall.

“It’s useful for holding soaps, loofahs, and many others.,” she says. “It supplies easy accessibility so that you don’t want a tray to drift throughout the bathtub, nevertheless it’s additionally visually impactful as a result of it spans the complete wall.”

To create continuity between the bathtub space and bathe, the latter of which is situated on the again aspect of the accent wall, Diaz repeated the mosaic tile within the bathe area of interest, giving it an elongated form that echoes the bathtub area of interest. The designer additionally carried the large-format marble tile into the bathe, utilizing it as a wall masking. The generously sized bathe additionally has sufficient room for a pair of showerheads, one thing that’s turning into a extra frequent request from lots of her purchasers who additionally usually need a hand bathe, she notes.

Aware compliance

Ashley Campbell was within the midst of renovating this grasp lavatory when her consumer suffered a coronary heart assault, leading to compromised mobility.

“We had been reconfiguring the complete upstairs stage to incorporate an ensuite grasp lavatory in addition to a grasp closet,” says the ASID member/principal, Ashley Campbell Inside Design in Denver, CO, who labored in collaboration with Littleton Development. “After his coronary heart assault, the renovation rapidly grew to become about making the toilet ADA compliant. He additionally wished to keep up as most of the preliminary design choices as attainable as a result of he knew his spouse had fallen in love with loads of the picks we had made.”

To that finish, they saved the preliminary plan for a moist room.

“A number of 4 Seasons Resorts all through the nation are combining the bathtub with the bathe into one room, and my purchasers are large followers of the idea,” she says, noting that the inclusion of a curbless entry permits easy accessibility for his wheelchair.

Authentic end choices that remained unchanged included the Ann Sacks Statuary Traditional marble that clads the bathe/tub space.

“She loves pure stone and marble and we had already chosen the attractive ceiling and bathe wall tiles,” she says.

One other authentic product choice was the Native Trails concrete tub, which she positioned completely to suit beneath the angled ceiling. Accenting it with a Kallista tub filler provides to its magnificence.

“It isn’t essentially ADA compliant, nevertheless it’s spectacular,” she says, including that freestanding tubs, usually, are a well-liked request from lots of her purchasers.

The comparatively darkish coloration of the bathtub additionally reinforces the idea of distinction inside the area, Campbell continues, including that she references the venture as ‘elevated duality.’

“There’s distinction between gentle and darkish finishes,” she states. “There’s additionally distinction between refined and formal finishes just like the polished marble juxtaposed towards the economic, informal components reminiscent of the bathtub.”

Choices that finally modified included the bathe flooring tiles, which Campbell switched to Waterworks Matte Black penny mosaic for further grip. The designer additionally added a handheld bathe and a seize bar, the latter of which was purposefully chosen for operate in addition to aesthetics.

“This venture is all about kind assembly operate,” she says. “We had been very aware about making choices that wouldn’t make it apparent that it was an ADA-compliant lavatory.”

Up to date coastal

The purpose for this lavatory renovation could have been to enhance the general area plan, however designers at LD & A had been additionally keenly conscious of their purchasers’ want for finishes that mirrored a recent coastal theme.

“The earlier flooring plan wasted loads of area with an enormous nook tub and tiny bathe,” says Lindsey Tsang, a designer with the Calgary, Alberta, Canada, agency. “The house was additionally caught within the Nineties, so modernizing the finishes, in addition to the structure, was a driver for the renovation.”

Addressing the structure first, designers centered on reconfiguring the area.

“One consumer likes to take baths, and each just like the effectivity of a bathe,” she says. “Fortuitously, we had sufficient area to incorporate each.”

With regard to the bathtub, these purchasers wished one which was comfy, with further options reminiscent of jets and a heated again relaxation.

“She wished a spot the place she may totally chill out,” Tsang says in reference to the Bain Extremely mannequin. “Generally, we discover that freestanding tubs are gaining popularity as folks get pleasure from having a spot to chill out, in addition to benefit from the aesthetic look they carry.”

Spacious showers with a number of showerheads are standard with most of the agency’s purchasers, and whereas these purchasers wished one which was massive sufficient to incorporate storage, it didn’t must be large. To accommodate this, designers included a distinct segment in addition to a bench that continues past the bathe to function a touchdown place for towels, and many others., or as a spot to show ornamental gadgets.

“Our purchasers wished to keep up the home windows to let in pure gentle,” she says. “Tucking the bathtub into the nook would have been awkward, so we prolonged the bench into that area. We had been nonetheless in a position to place the bathtub beneath a window which, for the reason that lavatory is on the second flooring, supplies a pleasant tree-top view.”

With a purposeful eye towards a recent coastal vibe, the designer included heat impartial tones accented with calming blue hues and an total ‘clear’ look.

For the bathe wall, that meant Arrow tile, in shiny Silk Gesso, laid in a chevron sample highlighted by darkish Smoke Gray grout.

“The contrasting grout permits the tile sample to be actually apparent,” Tsang explains.

Tile used all through the remainder of the area contains varied sizes and styles of Kingwood, a glazed porcelain tile that resembles wooden.

“We favored the colour and the motion of its delicate wooden grain sample,” she says. “And, because it was accessible in a number of sizes and styles – reminiscent of mosaics, large-format rectangles and hexagons – we had been in a position to obtain the look we wished with out altering the colour.” ▪