Bathroom of the Week: A Master Bath in Black, White and Walnut
A Seattle couple finds a designer on Houzz to transform a heavily brown space into a light, bright and stylish dream
Looking for help updating their master bathroom and its overwhelmingly brown expanses of vanity and floor, a suburban Seattle couple searched Houzz for an interior designer and found Alinda Morris. She introduced a black-and-white color palette with touches of warm wood to modernize the look, then converted a raised and somewhat dangerous shower-tub combo into a spacious new double shower with plenty of room left over for a jet-black freestanding tub.
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After: This photo (taken from the opposite direction of the previous photo) shows how a new palette of colors and materials helped brighten the space, which receives lots of light from skylights.
Morris replaced the dark wood floor with 12-by-24-inch carbon-colored porcelain tiles that have a bit of texture. “The pattern of the floor tile helps draw your eye in,” she says. “When you have a light room and go darker on the floor, it visually helps push the space out.”
White 3-by-12-inch tile in a herringbone pattern on the vanity wall and bright white wall paint (Snowfall White by Benjamin Moore) enhance the abundant natural light. “They wanted it to feel not quite hotel chic but have a lot of design value,” Morris says.
The door seen in this photo opens to an existing water closet that was updated with a new toilet and wall sconce.
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Morris replaced the dark wood floor with 12-by-24-inch carbon-colored porcelain tiles that have a bit of texture. “The pattern of the floor tile helps draw your eye in,” she says. “When you have a light room and go darker on the floor, it visually helps push the space out.”
White 3-by-12-inch tile in a herringbone pattern on the vanity wall and bright white wall paint (Snowfall White by Benjamin Moore) enhance the abundant natural light. “They wanted it to feel not quite hotel chic but have a lot of design value,” Morris says.
The door seen in this photo opens to an existing water closet that was updated with a new toilet and wall sconce.
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A custom floating walnut vanity adds warmth and includes a durable polished quartz countertop, the same used in the home’s updated kitchen. The two integrated undermount rectangular sinks have a clean, contemporary style and polished chrome faucets.
Two round mirrors with black metal frames contrast nicely with the straight lines of the vanity while coordinating with the dark grout of the white wall tile. “I knew I wanted to go with round mirrors from the beginning,” Morris says. “And if I went with chrome instead of black, it wouldn’t have been as dramatic.”
Two round mirrors with black metal frames contrast nicely with the straight lines of the vanity while coordinating with the dark grout of the white wall tile. “I knew I wanted to go with round mirrors from the beginning,” Morris says. “And if I went with chrome instead of black, it wouldn’t have been as dramatic.”
The eye-catching black metal mini pendants above the vanity have round LED lights inside that look like crystal balls. Morris had the builder reinforce the soffit above to support the heavy pendants.
The transom windows, which were existing, allow natural light inside while maintaining privacy.
Pendants: Tech Lighting
The transom windows, which were existing, allow natural light inside while maintaining privacy.
Pendants: Tech Lighting
Before: The original raised shower-tub combo had a hazardous stepped entry into a deep tub. Also notice how the shower heads (there’s another one out of view on the left wall) extended from a box for some reason.
After: Morris replaced the combo with a spacious 7-foot-long shower that has a tempered-glass enclosure. A half wall supports shower niches and divides the space between the shower and the new freestanding tub.
Morris used the same budget-friendly white tiles she used for the backsplash tile to wrap the walls here, except she installed them in a brick-set pattern. “This was one of the items we ‘value engineered’ because we needed so much tile,” Morris says.
Morris used the same budget-friendly white tiles she used for the backsplash tile to wrap the walls here, except she installed them in a brick-set pattern. “This was one of the items we ‘value engineered’ because we needed so much tile,” Morris says.
The shower includes an articulating shower head on the left and an adjustable handheld shower on the right. “This allows two people to use the shower at the same time,” Morris says. “We used the exact same plumbing locations, which helped save a lot of money.”
Also notice the bar on top that provides support for the shower’s thick tempered-glass enclosure. “We didn’t want a frame, so we needed a way to structurally support it,” Morris says.
Also notice the bar on top that provides support for the shower’s thick tempered-glass enclosure. “We didn’t want a frame, so we needed a way to structurally support it,” Morris says.
The oval 59-inch-long acrylic freestanding tub features a shiny black exterior and a wall-mounted tub filler. The black-and-white tub, picked by the homeowners early on, helped inspire the overall color palette in the room. “They’re the hippest people,” Morris says of the couple. “They’re well-traveled and had specific ideas of what they wanted for this space. We wanted it to feel special, like they were on a vacation when they’re here.”
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More on Houzz
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Find home design and remodeling professionals
Shop for bathroom products
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with three young children
Location: A suburb of Seattle
Size: 217 square feet (20 square meters)
Designer: Alinda Morris Interior Design
Before: The original master bathroom in the 1981-built home had a muddy brown vanity and heavy brown-stained wood floor. “Everything just seemed dark,” Morris says. “It had a lot of visual weight for a space that size.”