Bathroom of the Week: Warm Minimalism in 78 Square Feet
A designer tweaks popular design elements to create a bath with a fresh look that appeals to all ages
This hall bathroom in a home outside Birmingham, Alabama, hadn’t been renovated since the house was built in 1968. “It was very 1960s and very yellow,” interior designer Alima Deneke says. Her clients were looking for something in the designer’s signature style, which is modern and minimalist with organic touches. The 78-square-foot space was primarily used by the homeowners’ 11-year-old son and also served as the bathroom for a home office-guest room. So the designer needed to make the style and functionality of the room work for the son on a daily basis and design it to grow up with him. At the same time, she needed to create a space that would appeal to the adults who also use the room.
After: With the wall removed, Deneke was able to install a new vanity as well as a linen storage tower. The bottom of the tower has a pullout hamper with a removable liner that makes it easy to carry loads to the laundry room.
Deneke designed the cabinetry and had local cabinetmakers White Clover Cabinetry fabricate it. “I like to custom-design vanities whenever I can because I can get exactly what I want — the right drawer storage, the right sink placement and the right fit for the space,” she says. In this case, she was able to design a 6-foot-long vanity, leaving 22 inches of width for the linen tower.
The inset vanity drawers create a clean, minimalist profile. The jumping-off point for the room was the green color on the vanity. “I always ask my clients if they want to stick with strict neutrals or if they want a pop of color, and these clients were open to the pop of color,” Deneke says. “Green is such a great color. Since it’s so earthy, it can work like a neutral, working well with other colors. And I thought a nice olive-army green tone would work well for my clients’ son as well as the adults who would be using the bathroom.”
She also notes that a vanity is a smart place to bring in color, because if her clients tire of it, it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to repaint in a different color, whereas if they tire of a colorful tile, that would be more expensive, messy and time-consuming to replace.
Browse vanities in the Houzz Shop
Deneke designed the cabinetry and had local cabinetmakers White Clover Cabinetry fabricate it. “I like to custom-design vanities whenever I can because I can get exactly what I want — the right drawer storage, the right sink placement and the right fit for the space,” she says. In this case, she was able to design a 6-foot-long vanity, leaving 22 inches of width for the linen tower.
The inset vanity drawers create a clean, minimalist profile. The jumping-off point for the room was the green color on the vanity. “I always ask my clients if they want to stick with strict neutrals or if they want a pop of color, and these clients were open to the pop of color,” Deneke says. “Green is such a great color. Since it’s so earthy, it can work like a neutral, working well with other colors. And I thought a nice olive-army green tone would work well for my clients’ son as well as the adults who would be using the bathroom.”
She also notes that a vanity is a smart place to bring in color, because if her clients tire of it, it’s relatively easy and inexpensive to repaint in a different color, whereas if they tire of a colorful tile, that would be more expensive, messy and time-consuming to replace.
Browse vanities in the Houzz Shop
The countertops are Black Mist granite. “This is my favorite granite,” Deneke says. “It looks a lot like soapstone but it’s less expensive, more durable and lower-maintenance. Soapstone is beautiful, but it’s softer and scratches easily. So for a bathroom a young boy uses, this was the more practical choice.”
She played off the dark surface with the mirror frames, cabinet hardware and shower tile. The hardware is in two pieces and the backplates are optional. “I’ve used these pulls in other projects without the backplates, but I love them here,” Deneke says. “They look different from what you usually see.”
Vanity paint: Backwoods, Benjamin Moore; hardware: Top Knobs
She played off the dark surface with the mirror frames, cabinet hardware and shower tile. The hardware is in two pieces and the backplates are optional. “I’ve used these pulls in other projects without the backplates, but I love them here,” Deneke says. “They look different from what you usually see.”
Vanity paint: Backwoods, Benjamin Moore; hardware: Top Knobs
After: Deneke chose Kohler’s Underscore bathtub for the tub-shower combo. “This is such a great tub,” she says. “It has a super-clean flat front that doesn’t have any weird details, and it’s a nice height for a good soak.” A clear glass enclosure makes the room feel bigger and opens up the view to the visually impactful dark tiles of the shower surround.
The 1-by-1-inch square floor tiles add the organic material of Carrara marble. The square shape and grid layout give the traditional finish a modern look.
The 1-by-1-inch square floor tiles add the organic material of Carrara marble. The square shape and grid layout give the traditional finish a modern look.
The shower-tub tile is black 2-by-8-inch subway tile with charcoal grout, composed in a grid pattern. “I like the clean lines of a simple subway tile, but I almost always guide my clients toward a size that’s not the traditional 3-by-6-inch tile,” Deneke says. “And the straight vertical stacks are very appealing.”
All the plumbing handles in the house have a cross shape and are polished nickel, a great fit for a minimalist look.
Plumbing fixtures: Phylrich
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All the plumbing handles in the house have a cross shape and are polished nickel, a great fit for a minimalist look.
Plumbing fixtures: Phylrich
Find a local bathroom remodeler
The grid pattern continues uninterrupted in the shower niche. Details like this are worth paying close attention to, as a change in the pattern would be distracting to the eye.
After: The pendant lights have leather shades. “Bathrooms have so many cold surfaces like tile and countertops, so I like to bring in a little wood or leather to warm things up with something organic,” Deneke says.
For a minimalist look, she likes to keep outlets conveniently located but hidden. The outlets that serve the vanity are hidden on the side of the linen tower and under the overhang of the countertop on the left side of the vanity. She also found space for the hand towel hook on the side of the linen tower.
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For a minimalist look, she likes to keep outlets conveniently located but hidden. The outlets that serve the vanity are hidden on the side of the linen tower and under the overhang of the countertop on the left side of the vanity. She also found space for the hand towel hook on the side of the linen tower.
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In the floor plan, the openings near the tub are doorways to the two bedrooms, one of which is the son’s room, the other the home office-guest room. The opening on the right leads to the hallway.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their 11-year-old son
Location: Vestavia Hills, Alabama
Size: 78 square feet (7.3 square meters); 15½ by 5 feet
Designer: Alima Deneke
Before: The 1960s-era bathroom was ready for a fresh look. The toilet and tub-shower were in a separate room from the vanity. “I understand why this works well in a Jack-and-Jill bath for people with more than one child, but my clients only have one child,” Deneke says. “The wall limited how long the vanity could be, and it made the bathroom feel smaller.”
As for style, the designer finds most of her clients are looking for something different from the traditional style that’s popular in Birmingham. “Most of my clients find me on Houzz and other social media sites, and that’s how they found me. They wanted their house to feel like the projects I’d posted,” Deneke says. So putting a twist on the usual bathroom elements to create something unexpected was part of the plan.
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