Bill Worley

Timeless Shower Design based on Classic Roman Architecture. Photographed by DMD Real Estate Photography.

By Design LLC

In this bathroom reno in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia, highly functional vanity cabinets were already doing a great job of meeting the homeowner’s storage needs. It’s just that they were a dated dark brown wood color and a bit scuffed up. These cabinets, coupled with frosted closet doors on the opposite wall, made for a luxe washing and dressing area in the homeowner’s en suite bathroom. So why spend money and create waste replacing these elements when we can refresh them? A charcoal paint and new chrome hardware on the cabinets and a fresh white wall paint in the room makes the existing surfaces look good as new. Then, to truly update and brighten the space, we specified new sinks and faucets and bright white picket-shaped tile to be installed up to the ceiling. The quartz countertop has a stunning black vein running across the white surface and special care was taken to template this top so that the most striking part of the veining would be visible between the sinks on this double vanity. A header above the mirror that hid a fluorescent light tube was demolished to allow the ceiling to soar and we instead installed stylish linear vanity lights and a large black framed mirror. David Bowie vintage poster is reflected in mirror.

Kids' bathroom

quartz shaving foot shelf

Acquiring a new house is an exciting occasion but often has many challenges. My clients came to me to help modernize and update their new home that clearly had not been touched since the 70s. For the powder room, we pushed out into the garage on the other side of the wall to enlarge a very cramped, below-code space. Then we took organic textures and ocean and forest colors from the surrounding coastal and mountain region as inspiration. A gold and white porcelain floor runs up the wall accompanied by handmade artisanal tiles in a custom blue glaze. Grasscloth wallcovering backed with light blue paper, a sky blue ceiling, and an art photograph of blue ocean waves never fails to delight visitors. Photos by Bernardo Grijalva

Ian Coleman Studio

My client hated their large 80's style jacuzzi, and wanted us to remove it. We added a much larger shower, with seating, and a new coat of paint on their vanities, with a new quartz countertop. I had fun, with running their porcelain floor in a herringbone pattern, to add more elegance to this space. My client also wanted to keep cost down, so we went with cabinetry from pottery barn, instead of a custom build. These changes took this space from 80's builder grade look, to a new sleek design, that is sure to last years to come.

Our clients house was built in 2012, so it was not that outdated, it was just dark. The clients wanted to lighten the kitchen and create something that was their own, using more unique products. The master bath needed to be updated and they wanted the upstairs game room to be more functional for their family. The original kitchen was very dark and all brown. The cabinets were stained dark brown, the countertops were a dark brown and black granite, with a beige backsplash. We kept the dark cabinets but lightened everything else. A new translucent frosted glass pantry door was installed to soften the feel of the kitchen. The main architecture in the kitchen stayed the same but the clients wanted to change the coffee bar into a wine bar, so we removed the upper cabinet door above a small cabinet and installed two X-style wine storage shelves instead. An undermount farm sink was installed with a 23” tall main faucet for more functionality. We replaced the chandelier over the island with a beautiful Arhaus Poppy large antique brass chandelier. Two new pendants were installed over the sink from West Elm with a much more modern feel than before, not to mention much brighter. The once dark backsplash was now a bright ocean honed marble mosaic 2”x4” a top the QM Calacatta Miel quartz countertops. We installed undercabinet lighting and added over-cabinet LED tape strip lighting to add even more light into the kitchen. We basically gutted the Master bathroom and started from scratch. We demoed the shower walls, ceiling over tub/shower, demoed the countertops, plumbing fixtures, shutters over the tub and the wall tile and flooring. We reframed the vaulted ceiling over the shower and added an access panel in the water closet for a digital shower valve. A raised platform was added under the tub/shower for a shower slope to existing drain. The shower floor was Carrara Herringbone tile, accented with Bianco Venatino Honed marble and Metro White glossy ceramic 4”x16” tile on the walls. We then added a bench and a Kohler 8” rain showerhead to finish off the shower. The walk-in shower was sectioned off with a frameless clear anti-spot treated glass. The tub was not important to the clients, although they wanted to keep one for resale value. A Japanese soaker tub was installed, which the kids love! To finish off the master bath, the walls were painted with SW Agreeable Gray and the existing cabinets were painted SW Mega Greige for an updated look. Four Pottery Barn Mercer wall sconces were added between the new beautiful Distressed Silver leaf mirrors instead of the three existing over-mirror vanity bars that were originally there. QM Calacatta Miel countertops were installed which definitely brightened up the room! Originally, the upstairs game room had nothing but a built-in bar in one corner. The clients wanted this to be more of a media room but still wanted to have a kitchenette upstairs. We had to remove the original plumbing and electrical and move it to where the new cabinets were. We installed 16’ of cabinets between the windows on one wall. Plank and Mill reclaimed barn wood plank veneers were used on the accent wall in between the cabinets as a backing for the wall mounted TV above the QM Calacatta Miel countertops. A kitchenette was installed to one end, housing a sink and a beverage fridge, so the clients can still have the best of both worlds. LED tape lighting was added above the cabinets for additional lighting. The clients love their updated rooms and feel that house really works for their family now. Design/Remodel by Hatfield Builders & Remodelers | Photography by Versatile Imaging

This beautiful master bath design is in a Heirloom shadow finish with all soft close drawers. The Cambria top in Swanbridge is just subtle enough to add a little brightness to this bathroom. The shower is in large marble tile that allow for almost no grout lines.

Though undecided about selling or staying in this house, these homeowners had no doubts about one thing: the outdated forest green powder room had to go, whether for them to enjoy, or for some future owner. Just swapping out the green toilet was a good start, but they were prepared to go all the way with wainscoting, wallpaper, fixtures and vanity top. The only things that remain from before are the wood floor and the vanity base - but the latter got a fresh coat of paint and fun new knobs. Now the little space is fresh and bright - a great little welcome for guests.