The house's second bathroom was only half a bath with an access door at the dining area. We extended the bathroom by an additional 36" into the family room and relocated the entry door to be in the minor hallway leading to the family room as well. A classical transitional bathroom with white crayon style tile on the walls, including the entire wall of the toilet and the vanity. The alcove tub has a barn door style glass shower enclosure. and the color scheme is a classical white/gold/blue mix.

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.

Designer: Terri Sears Photography: Melissa M Mills

Bathroom remodel - replacement of flooring, toilet, vanity, mirror, lighting, tub/surround, paint.

Candy

This bathroom remodel was designed by Nicole from our Windham showroom. This remodel features Cabico Essence cabinets with maple wood, Stretto door style (flat panel) and Bonavista (blue paint) finish. This remodel also features LG viatera Quartz countertop with Rococo color and standard edge. This also was used for shelves in the shower. The floor and shower walls is 12” x 24” by Mediterranean with Marmol Venatino color in honed. The shampoo niche is also in the same tile and color but in 2” x 2” size in honed. Other features includes Maax tub in white, Moen chrome faucet, Kohler Caxton white sink, Moen Chrome Showerhead, Moen Chrome Valve Trim, Moen Flara Chrome light fixture, Moen chrome Towel Ring, and Moen chrome double robe hook. The hardware is by Amerock with Chrome Handles and Knobs.

Beautiful tile and a flexible hand-held shower head makes for a soothing bathing experience. Photo: A Kitchen That Works LLC

You don't have to own a big celebrity mansion to have a beautifully appointed house finished with unique and special materials. When my clients bought an average condo kitted out with all the average builder-grade things that average builders stuff into spaces like that, they longed to make it theirs. Being collectors of colorful Fiesta tableware and lovers of extravagant stone, we set about infusing the space with a dose of their fun personality. There wasn’t a corner of the house that went untouched in this extensive renovation. The ground floor got a complete make-over with a new Calacatta Gold tile floor, and I designed a very special border of Lunada Bay glass mosaic tiles that outlines the edge of every room. We ripped out a solid walled staircase and replaced it with a visually lighter cable rail system, and a custom hanging chandelier now shines over the living room. The kitchen was redesigned to take advantage of a wall that was previously just shallow pantry storage. By opening it up and installing cabinetry, we doubled the counter space and made the kitchen much more spacious and usable. We also removed a low hanging set of upper cabinets that cut off the kitchen from the rest of the ground floor spaces. Acquarella Fantasy quartzite graces the counter surfaces and continues down in a waterfall feature in order to enjoy as much of this stone’s natural beauty as possible. One of my favorite spaces turned out to be the primary bathroom. The scheme for this room took shape when we were at a slab warehouse shopping for material. We stumbled across a packet of a stunning quartzite called Fusion Wow Dark and immediately fell in love. We snatched up a pair of slabs for the counter as well as the back wall of the shower. My clients were eager to be rid of a tub-shower alcove and create a spacious curbless shower, which meant a full piece of stone on the entire long wall would be stunning. To compliment it, I found a neutral, sandstone-like tile for the return walls of the shower and brought it around the remaining walls of the space, capped with a coordinating chair rail. But my client's love of gold and all things sparkly led us to a wonderful mosaic. Composed of shifting hues of honey and gold, I envisioned the mosaic on the vanity wall and as a backing for the niche in the shower. We chose a dark slate tile to ground the room, and designed a luxurious, glass French door shower enclosure. Little touches like a motion-detected toe kick night light at the vanity, oversized LED mirrors, and ultra-modern plumbing fixtures elevate this previously simple bathroom. And I designed a watery-themed guest bathroom with a deep blue vanity, a large LED mirror, toe kick lights, and customized handmade porcelain tiles illustrating marshland scenes and herons. All photos by Bernardo Grijalva

White and bright bathroom project with white hexagon tiles and blue pendant lights. White & blue engineered quartz with white painted vanity .

Custom bathroom with granite countertops and a three wall alcove bathtub.

Crisp white tile surround this new tub/shower combo.

Photo Credit: Aimée Mazzenga

This original 1960s bathroom needed a complete overhaul. The original pink floor and vanity tile as well as the pink ceramic bathtub were all removed and replaced with a clean, timeless look. A majority of the wall space was retiled with classic white subway tile while the floor was redone with a beautiful black and white geometric tile. Black faucets and vessel sinks add a modern touch with the completed look being a combination of modern finishes and traditional touches.

This bathroom remodel was designed by Nicole from our Windham showroom. This remodel features Cabico Essence cabinets with maple wood, Stretto door style (flat panel) and Bonavista (blue paint) finish. This remodel also features LG viatera Quartz countertop with Rococo color and standard edge. This also was used for shelves in the shower. The floor and shower walls is 12” x 24” by Mediterranean with Marmol Venatino color in honed. The shampoo niche is also in the same tile and color but in 2” x 2” size in honed. Other features includes Maax tub in white, Moen chrome faucet, Kohler Caxton white sink, Moen Chrome Showerhead, Moen Chrome Valve Trim, Moen Flara Chrome light fixture, Moen chrome Towel Ring, and Moen chrome double robe hook. The hardware is by Amerock with Chrome Handles and Knobs.

This children's bathroom remodel is chic and a room the kids can grow into. Featuring a semi-custom double vanity, with antique bronze mirrors, marble countertop, gorgeous glass subway tile, a custom glass shower door and custom built-in open shelving.