Kitchen and Bath Ideas

Main bathroom

In the master bathroom, a Duravit tub and pair of sinks are surrounded by black and white Crossville tile.

The master bathroom’s countertops are detailed with the same Carrara marble seen in the kitchen. The faucet and shower trims are by Kallista.

Opposite the inner courtyard and master bedroom, the bathroom enjoys a view of the lush garden space. Polished concrete floors and walls, and white Carrara counters offer cohesion with the rest of the home. American Standard plumbing fixtures and reclaimed midcentury pendant lamps round out the space.

The new master bathroom also benefits from its position along the canted exterior wall. The couple initially envisioned a tub for the space, but realized during the design process that it would pose a functional challenge when paired with a push-out casement window. Bringing in valuable light and air, the casement window remained in the final design, while the tub was changed to a shower. The geometric bathroom features a custom walnut vanity by the Building Workshop, ash porcelain tile floor, and Modwalls Lush glass wall tile.

White Thassos floor and wall tile from thassos.com lines the bathroom surfaces. The vanity is custom, the sink and shower faucets are from Lacava, and the sink is Decolav. Photo by Frank Oudeman.

Adjacent to the bedroom, the bathroom features microcement-coated walls, along with a custom sink and vanity. Dornbracht Tara sink faucets and dual rainfall showerheads finish the space.

In the bathroom, the architects mounted a Kohler sink on a sloped, custom-slate countertop. Since the stone doesn’t hold up well in water, the architect switched to black mosaic tile in the shower. The faucets are from Cabano’s Century series.

The master bathroom strikes a balance between the desires of both parties. Warm wood cabinets and floors mingle with the darker glass and stone setup in the shower area. “Although this was very much Lisa’s addition, there was an understanding between the two that Bruce had to be part of it,” Valerio says.

The blue bathroom tiles were inspired by a “Corbusian use of color,” according to the architect, and take advantage of the lowered floor to create a metaphorical step into a pool. The corrugated metal continues throughout, even wrapping around the walls of the shower.

The entrance is immediately flanked on its left by a mudroom for hiking gear and the bathroom.

“Keeping the kitchen and bathrooms simple saved money for the important things,” Harkness explains. They went with a soothing color palette and hardware from Reece.

In the bathroom, Roca wall tile in Rainbow Azul continues the citrus color scheme, and the floor is clad in ceramic plank. The Ikea sinks and faucets also helped the design come in on budget.

A tight construction budget informed the choices Sean Guess made as he designed a house for a couple in Austin, Texas. Budget-minded materials, like the James Hardie fiber-cement siding, helped hold construction costs to $130 per square foot. Sherwin-Williams’s Cyberspace hue colors the exterior and Parakeet coats the custom kitchen cabinets by Austin Wood Works. The planter is made from Cor-Ten steel.

In the kitchen, designer Maca Huneeus prepares lunch with her daughters Ema, 12, and Ofelia, 7. The pendants are Jonathan Adler; the island is a custom design, inspired by a 1960s Dansk tray that belonged to Huneeus’s mother. The barstools are from Blu Dot.

A view of the kitchen.

The family shares a meal at the counter in the kitchen.

In the airy kitchen, meals are prepared on a Silestone White Storm countertop. The backsplash’s tiles match those on the staircase’s risers. In the adjoining dining area, a Caboche suspension light by Foscarini hangs over a CB2 dining table and Real Good Chairs by Blu Dot.