contemporary bathroom fixtures in old home

16 years ago

My husband and I are thinking of doing a gut renovation in the main very small pink bathroom in our 1927 Dutch Colonial. Our tastes run to the modern and we are disagreeing on the type of bathroom vanity to install - I am leaning to the wallmounted Kohler Purist single vanity with the flat sink but my husband is concerned this will not work given the style of our home.

Has anyone had experience using more modern fixtures in much older homes? While we are not planning on moving anytime soon, we are aware of negative resale impact. Any feedback would be appreciated!

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Comments (7)

giacomo_it
16 years ago
in Italy will do all the time!
houses are hold very hold!! many houses from the outside they are left the original and inside completely modern, it's a delight surprise when you enter in this houses.

clik for more images
giacomo_it
16 years ago
another thing...
Kohler is a wonderful company but stick with them for the pluming products, the furniture is low quality for what you pay.
the drawer with the 45 cut is very delicate easy to chip.
my suggestion is find a italian bathroom brand in your area and I'm pretty sure will last longer.
I design a kitchen 2 years ago and they install the Purist in the powderroom I went in back 3 months ago.. and is it in a very bad shape.
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Here is how IRC defines ceiling heights for bathrooms in my area: "2. Bathrooms shall have a minimum ceiling height of 6 feet 8 inches (2032 mm) at the center of the front clearance area for fixtures as shown in Figure R307.1. The ceiling height above fixtures shall be such that the fixture is capable of being used for its intended purpose. " So the way the code is interpreted in my area, the ceiling height above the entire footprint of fixture doesn't necessarily have to be 6'8". This allows toilets, for example, to be tucked against a wall with a sloped ceiling. It's essentially the area where you stand (the front clearance area) to use the fixture that has to hit the 6'8" target height. Now, to define "the center of the front clearance area": Two of the areas I work in simply go by the following drawing. This drawing is the basic one included in IRC: One other town very specifically defines the "center of the front clearance area" as needing a 6'8" height specifically at a point 10.5" in front of the fixture along the centerline of the fixture. That is smack dab in the middle of the 21" clear space shown in the drawing. And then there is the last sentence in the paragraph, what I consider to be the "common sense" provision: "The ceiling height above fixtures shall be such that the fixture is capable of being used for its intended purpose." Essentially, follow code and follow common sense. If you're close to the minimum clearances in IRC, assuming IRC applies to you, then visit your code office with your drawings for an interpretation. Your sloped ceiling seems to come in to play with the toilet and with one of the sinks. The way code is interpreted in my area, if you have a 6'8" ceiling height along the centerlines of those two fixtures, from the front edges of those fixtures to a point extending out a minimum of 21" in front of the fixtures, you'd be good to go. The "common sense" provision, the idea that "the ceiling height above fixtures shall be such that the fixture is capable of being used for its intended purpose", that would be used by my inspectors with regards to your ceiling sloping up from the wall to the side of the fixtures instead of what is usually more common, the ceiling sloping up from the wall behind the fixture. You wrote that you hit the 6'8" height just a few inches from the wall. In that case, you should have no issues whatsoever. But again, when in doubt, get an interpretation ahead of time. I think your layout makes sense. The door and the windows pretty much restrict your shower footprint to being in the corner where you have it. You could change the size of the shower a bit, but that would impinge on the openness of the bath. The one area of caution would be the location and swing of the entry door and its relationship to the sink just inside the door. An inspector could nix that. Primarily because if that sink was a vanity with drawers, an open drawer would prohibit the bathroom door from being opened into the bathroom. Even if it was a pedestal sink with no drawers, it could be prohibited because of the possibility of the pedestal being swapped out for a drawered vanity, or simply because the door swing violates the clear space in front of the sink. In that case, as has been mentioned, you'd have to change the swing of the door or make it a pocket door.
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We have a full bath in the attic that I suspect was for a maid; there's a bedroom up there with a heating duct and a window. The other side of the attic is a room, but it is neither heated nor has an original window, although a skylight is there now. The attic bath has a ballfoot tub, a very small one, with a retrofitted shower and a ring around the tub to hold the shower curtain. I love that tub! The main bath on the second floor has a totally non-remarkable tub and a tiny marble shower stall. I suspect that the house started out with a claw- or ballfoot tub in the second floor too, and it was replaced in an effort to "modernize." Waaaah!
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mahatmacat1
16 years ago
Giacomo, I was actually thinking "I wonder if giacomo will reply" since it's such a common (and fabulous) thing in Europe. The one caveat I'd add to your post (interesting info about Kohler case goods, btw) is that in Europe, it's the *whole* inside that is addressed in this eclectic way--mix of architectural elements which may have been there for hundreds of years with interior appointments which may be next year's state-of-the-art. Much of their best building stock is way older than we can ever hope ours to be, and the quality of building was often inherently better even if it was constructed 200 years ago. I have often heard/read European commentators/designers say that they don't believe in tearing down a building just because it's old; they respect their elders over there :) and want to have the old coexist with the new, have the two play off each other in intergenerational, historical dialogue. I *absolutely love* that look, myself. It's like a story that reveals fun and surprising twists and turns as you go through the home.

That said, lisachip, my suggestion to you would be to make sure that this bathroom isn't the modern cheese left to stand alone, as it were, in the midst of an otherwise completely Dutch Colonial idiom. You need to have other aspects in the house (not just furniture, IMO) that relate to the new aesthetic, or it will really look jarring. If you have a kitchen or other significant space that has been given the modern treatment, it will help a lot to convey that lovely dynamic of new-inside-old, which is completely viable if it's done consistently.

So unless you've already got modern somewhere else in your Dutch Colonial, now your little bathroom project *has* to experience project creep--it's an aesthetic must :)
organic_donna
16 years ago
I second everything that flyleft said. If you want a modern bathroom the whole house should have modern fixtures.

As far installing a Kohler vanity, I installed a Kohler toilet and am very unhappy with their product. I've had nothing but problems and their customer service is terrible. I would not purchase Kohler products.

I love the look that you are going for though. It could be a start for doing the rest of the house in the near future.
Donna
cat_mom
16 years ago
Giacomo--WOW, WOW, WOW!!! Those bathroom pics are gorgeous (DH and I were drooling over them!). Are those pics from a showroom, a particular manufacturer, your own work? Who is (are) the manufacturer? Available in the US? Pricing (outrageous or within reach for us mere mortals)? I'm in love!
giacomo_it
16 years ago
flyleft,
I don't have many words.. just one: "balance".
you have a 1927 Dutch Colonial and if you can balance the old with the modern look, nobody going to say negative things, or problem to resale.(my experience)
...of course if all your house is 1927hics and you have olny one bath modern.. well I will found very inappropriate, but if you are going to live there for many years... I will suggest: make the house in the way that you enjoy living it.

Donna, I receved your email I will be in NY next week for a project, but I will write to u.

CAT_MOM: Some pictures are showroom pictures some are baths, I work direct with many italian companies below the websites:
I work all over US, depend where do u live or where is your project I can make you in contact.
http://www.altamareabath.it/
http://www.novalineabagni.com/
http://www.rifra.com/english/

unfortunatly right now I have many projects and I can dedicate much time to GW, but I will try to support and give my advices... for the simple reason that I like my job and good design :-)
cat_mom
16 years ago
Giacom, thanks! You have mail BTW!

contemporary bathroom fixtures in old home

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