Midcentury modern bathroom with floor to ceiling subway tile and floating vanity.

sara yoder

Mark Compton

Robert Schwerdt

Kim Serveau

Stylish bathroom project in Alexandria, VA with star pattern black and white porcelain tiles, free standing vanity, walk-in shower framed medicine cabinet and black metal shelf over the toilet. Small dated bathroom turned out such a chic space.

This artistic and design-forward family approached us at the beginning of the pandemic with a design prompt to blend their love of midcentury modern design with their Caribbean roots. With her parents originating from Trinidad & Tobago and his parents from Jamaica, they wanted their home to be an authentic representation of their heritage, with a midcentury modern twist. We found inspiration from a colorful Trinidad & Tobago tourism poster that they already owned and carried the tropical colors throughout the house — rich blues in the main bathroom, deep greens and oranges in the powder bathroom, mustard yellow in the dining room and guest bathroom, and sage green in the kitchen. This project was featured on Dwell in January 2022.

The original bathroom on the main floor had an odd Jack-and-Jill layout with two toilets, two vanities and only a single tub/shower (in vintage mint green, no less). With some creative modifications to existing walls and the removal of a small linen closet, we were able to divide the space into two functional bathrooms – one of them now a true en suite master. In the master bathroom we chose a soothing palette of warm grays – the geometric floor tile was laid in a random pattern adding to the modern minimalist style. The slab front vanity has a mid-century vibe and feels at place in the home. Storage space is always at a premium in smaller bathrooms so we made sure there was ample countertop space and an abundance of drawers in the vanity. While calming grays were welcome in the bathroom, a saturated pop of color adds vibrancy to the master bedroom and creates a vibrant backdrop for furnishings.

Working with the eaves in this room to create an enclosed shower wasn't as problematic as I had envisioned. The steam spa shower needed a fully enclosed space so I had the glass door custom made by a local company. The seat adds additional luxury and the continuation of the yellow color pops is present in accessories and rugs.

The homeowners wanted a dual vanity (who doesn't?) but it was a small space, so we designed custom cabinetry to the depth that would work in the bathroom and kept it floating so that the space would look bigger. And the blue tile is a play off of the kitchen downstairs to keep a consistent thread throughout the house.

John Merkl

Half bath Built Photo

Steam shower with Fireclay "Calcite" field tile with white oak cabinets and floor. Photo by Clark Dugger

Jasmine Star