The clients are native New Englanders returning home after a decade living abroad. The house is a traditional Chestnut Hill Tudor that was in need of updating. The challenge was to preserve the fine architectural detailing of the residence while meeting the needs and aesthetics of a globetrotting 21st century family. Our challenge was to accommodate a chic yet youthful bathroom along with a full laundry area that was outfitted with storage, a folding area and ironing space. The vision for this second floor bathroom renovation was two fold, make the space high functioning and visually appealing to the client’s teenage daughter. Although the basement level hosts a laundry space, our goal was to fulfill the need and convenience of a modern day family by designing a complete working laundry at the same level as the living areas without compromising on the bathroom or the over all aesthetics of the space. We reconfigured the existing bathroom and hallway effectively by moving a few of the walls and relocating the w/c and plumbing. We redesigned the tub into a walk in shower with an infinity drain eliminating the need for a threshold in combination with a simple star fire glass splash panel we created a seamless look. The shower walls are covered in a stunning and playful mosaic of glass + stone tile complimented with a simple white square tile and a pebble floor creating a wonderful play of pattern and visual interest, making this bathroom a very tactile. A convenient niche in the shower holds all the toiletries. The custom vanity, trendy chrome fixtures from Waterworks and the fun Jonathon Adler mirror are perfect accouterments to the rest of the space, the paint color inspired from the mosaic tile tie the space together and creates a fun and youthful bathroom.
In the laundry area we stacked the washer and dryer to maximize square footage opening up vertical space for storage like linens and cleaning supplies. Our biggest challenge was venting the dryer, which we approached creatively – up through to the floor of the 3 floor and ran it under there till the eave then out to the roof, this took some engineering skills and working in small tight corners. When laying out the bathroom we made sure that the laundry had enough space to hold the washer dryer on one end and have folding/ironing area on the opposite side with the entry in the center maximizing the space both in the bathroom as well as in the laundry. The beautiful slate like porcelain floor tile flows between both spaces seamlessly without a threshold and both spaces are heated through the floor by radiant heat. By configuring the bathroom and laundry schematically in the same look we were able to do the custom cabinetry and countertops with the same finish and material giving this efficient space not only some pizzazz but also a cohesive look.
The client was very happy with both the function and aesthetic and the huge impact this renovated bath and laundry spaces made to their daily lives and to the feel of entire house.
