Credits
From Kimberly Dahlen Design
The bathroom on the main floor of this 1927 Portland bungalow was no different than most other bathrooms from the era: small, lacking charm, inefficient layout, no storage. The homeowners had nearly abandoned its use altogether, favoring a trip to the larger basement bathroom instead. As the younger members of this family are getting bigger each day, however, a second functional bathroom has quickly become a must have.
When I was hired to help renovate this 34 square foot bathroom along with providing ways to brighten and refresh their main living spaces, I’m pretty sure making the bathroom 4 square feet smaller was not what the homeowners had in mind. That’s exactly what we did, nonetheless, to achieve the larger goal of visually connecting the kitchen at the east end of the house to the living and dining rooms up front to the west. The bathroom bumped out into the central hallway to allow for its door to swing inward, which blocked the view from the kitchen to the living spaces. We decided to remove this bump altogether and replace it with a pocket door. To enhance the visual connection and daylighting even more, the lath and plaster were removed from a section of the living room bearing wall studs to allow the sun to travel through the house over the course of the day.
The homeowners wanted a clean, modern look but with some substance. Handcrafted and intentional versus severe and clinical. This little bathroom would pack a punch, mixing metals and patterns and materials. The basement bathroom already has a tub so we felt comfortable going with just a shower in this bathroom to help free up space for the new counter and vanity cabinet. The quartz counter slab is only 16 inches deep but nearly 5 feet long, providing much needed surface area for the layout of various toiletry items. A sink and faucet offset to the right along with a large mirror allow two users to comfortably stand at the counter at the same time. The floating walnut vanity cabinet has 6 drawers to store bathroom essentials and an open space underneath to tuck away a stepstool for kids. A compact wall hung toilet with walnut medicine cabinet above completes the small yet efficient bathroom layout.
Playing with scale, we contrasted the petite size of the bathroom with large rectangular wall and hexagonal floor tiles. The wall tiles are set on a 1/3 stagger pattern giving a more unique look than that of the standard 1/2 stagger. The sturdy cement floor tiles make a modern, on-trend statement but will stand up over time in this high-use bathroom. Finally, a combination of brass, chrome and black hardware along with globe pendant lights offer a fresh, curated vibe.