Bathroom with furniture style custom cabinets. Notice the tile niche and accent tiles. Part of whole house remodel. Notice vertical subway tile.

The family commissioned a local Seattle artist to paint an ocean mural in this remodeled kids bathroom. © Cindy Apple Photography

The guest bath features double vanity, shower/tub combination and large frameless mirror.

Mike and Anne of Barrington Hills desperately needed to update and renovate both their kid’s hall bath and guest bath, and in their 1980’s home each project presented a different set of unique challenges to overcome. When they set out to identify the right remodeling company to partner with, it was important to find a company that could help them to visualize design solutions for the bath renovations. When they came across Advance Design Studio’s website, they were immediately drawn to the solution-oriented remodeling process and the family friendly company. They say they chose Advance Design because of the integrated approach of “Common Sense Remodeling”, making the design, project management and construction all happen in one place. When they met with Project Designer Michelle Lecinski, they knew they chose the right company. “Michelle’s excellent work on the initial designs made it easy to proceed with Advance Design Studio,” Mike said. Like most homeowners anticipating a big renovation project, they had some healthy fears; with two bathrooms being remodeled at the same time they worried about timeframes and staying within budget. With the help of Michelle, and the “Common Sense” guidelines, they were confident that Advance Design would stay true, orchestrating all the moving parts to stay within both the estimated timeline and budget. The guest bath offered the biggest design challenge. A dormer obstruction made the already cramped shower awkward to access. Mike and Anne also wanted the shower size to be expanded, making it more accommodating. Working with Advance’s construction expert DJ Yurik, Michelle relocated the shower concealing the original dormer and creating a larger, more comfortable and aesthetically pleasing guest shower. The unsightly and not at all user-friendly closet was removed and replaced with elegant White Maple Dura Supreme cabinetry with much improved function featuring dual tall linen cabinets, a special makeup area and two sinks, providing a dual vanity which was extremely important for better guest use. The Fossil Brown quartz countertop is in pleasing contrast to the white cabinetry, and coordinates nicely with the mocha porcelain tile gracing the shower for an accent. The decorative glazed turquoise tile backsplash, tile border, and bottle niche adds a taste of marine green to the room, while marble-looking porcelain tile makes guests feel they are staying in a 5-star hotel. Polished nickel Kohler plumbing fixtures were chosen to add a touch of sophistication. This renovated guest bath is comfortable and elegant, and Anne and Mike’s house guests may never want to leave! “The end result was updated and restyled bathrooms that the client will enjoy and increase the value of their home,” Designer Michelle said. The children’s hall bath had its own set of challenges. The current placement of the sink was not conducive to the best use of the existing space, nor did it allow for any visual interest, something Advance’s designers always work to achieve even within the tight confines of a small bath. Advance removed the linen closet and used the gain in wall space to create a dramatic focal point on the vanity wall. They also took additional space that wasn’t being used for new Storm Gray Dura Supreme tall built-in linen cabinets, creating functional storage space that the former bath lacked. A customized glass splash panel was created for the bath, and the high ceilings with skylights were accented with a custom-made track lighting fixture featuring industrial pipe and cage materials. Authentic cement encaustic tile was used wall to wall surrounding the vanity to create a dramatic and interesting back drop for the new elegant and stately furniture-like double sink wall. Hand-made encaustic tile originated in Western Europe beginning in the 1850’s and reminded Mike and Anne of tile they had seen and loved from their travels overseas. Today, encaustic tile has made a re-appearance in today’s modern bath design with its wide array of appealing patterns and artistic use of color. Oil rubbed bronze Kohler fixtures echo the black accents in the beautiful tile pattern and reflect the matte black of the unique lighting detail. Easy to maintain Blanca Arabescato Quartz countertops add practicality and natural beauty and compliments the warm wood porcelain tile floors. This handsome bath has generated praise from friends and family even before it’s complete unveiling as photos of the space leaked out on social media! It’s not only completely functional to use, but especially pretty to look at. “Advance Design Studio did a terrific job for us. We really appreciated how easy it was to work with them on a complex project of the complete remodeling of two bathrooms. They very capably handled all the details from design, to project management, to construction. It is a great group of people to work with and we would welcome the opportunity to work with them again anytime,” Mike said.

Юрий Гришко

The secondary bathroom is large enough for 2 people to comfortably share. It has plenty of storage, including a large linen closet (behind the entry door). The large shower/tub combo has an alcove to keep products off of the side of the tub.

Janis nicolay

Step inside Ericka Hart’s favorite room. The primary bathroom in Ericka’s renovated Victorian home was transformed into an elegant haven thanks to 2” Hexagon Tile in Chateau and Basalt across the floor, 3x3 Ceramic Tile in Peabody surrounding the shower and tub, and a wainscot of 3x6 Chateau bracketed by Peabody 4x4 and Polias Trim. Design: Ericka Hart Photos: Kelly Marshall Product Shown: Peabody 3x3 Straight Set Sheeted, Basalt 2" Hexagon Sheeted, Chateau 2" Hexagon Sheeted, Chateau 3x6, Polias Trim Peabody

What started as a kitchen and two-bathroom remodel evolved into a full home renovation plus conversion of the downstairs unfinished basement into a permitted first story addition, complete with family room, guest suite, mudroom, and a new front entrance. We married the midcentury modern architecture with vintage, eclectic details and thoughtful materials.

The clients were keen to keep upheaval to a minimum so we kept the existing layout, meaning there was no need to relocate the services and cutting down the time that the bathroom was out of action. Underfloor heating was installed to free up wall space in this bijou bathroom, and plentiful bespoke and hidden storage was fitted to help the clients keep the space looking neat. The clients had a selection of existing items they wanted to make use of, including a mirror and some offcuts from their kitchen worktop. We LOVE a no-waste challenge around here, so we had the mirror re-sprayed to match the lampshades, and had the offcuts re-worked into the surface and splash back of the vanity.

Maximizing the potential of a compact space, the design seamlessly incorporates all essential elements without sacrificing style. The use of micro cement on every wall, complemented by distinctive kit-kat tiles, introduces a wealth of textures, transforming the room into a functional yet visually dynamic wet room. The brushed nickel fixtures provide a striking contrast to the predominantly light and neutral color palette, adding an extra layer of sophistication.

The client wanted a bigger shower, so we changed the existing floor plan and made there small tiny shower into an arched and more usable open storage closet concept, while opting for a combo shower/tub area. We incorporated art deco features and arches as you see in the floor tile, shower niche, and overall shape of the new open closet.

Bathroom renovation

To lighten and brighten this bath, we scraped and painted the popcorn ceiling and added pot lights and a decorative vanity sconce. The sconce is installed through a hole in the full-height mirror, for extra illumination. We also added a secondary vanity for extra storage. Thoughtful touches, including the tub’s barn-door style glass slider and faceted mosaic tile running vertically down the shower wall - provide extra character.