Crazy powder room. Desperately need design ideas

last year

Help, help, help! We just moved into a lovely home with the most bizarre powder room. It’s nestled under a curved staircase which has given it the strange stair step ceiling and curved wall. Everything is GOING including the wall texture, fixtures and flooring. What can I do to transform this from Tuscan dungeon to a sleek modern statement?

Specifically:
• What can I do to make the stair case imprint go from eyesore to stunning architectural feature?
• What sink/ basin would you suggest?
• Any unusual wall treatments I should explore?

Thanks!

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PRO

Beth H. :

last year

last modified: last year

very similar ceiling to yours. paint it all white (or, you could continue that blue color, or black, up to the ceiling). do a tile wainscot if you like.

see how they carried this dark color up on the ceiling? you could choose to do a white tile wainscot, or a regular trim molding wainscot. or just paint the whole room one color

You could try sheet rock over them, I don't know if you'd have enough head room.

this one is cool w/the tile and wallpaper. you could do the wallpaper on the ceiling (not this one, whatever you like)

tile up to ceiling

I'd paint the ceiling a matte black. you're not going to hide the 'steps', so might as well embrace them and try to make them disappear. (especially if you don't like the color blocking)

doing the steps on the ceiling in black, a matte black, or any dark color will make it somewhat recede.

I think a black ceiling, some type of dark wallpaper, the marble console sink, sconces, and a white tile floor, would look perfect for that powder room. you could also do a black wainscot and paper above it, like shown above. or even tile below the paper. so many ways to do it)

you could also do all white, walls/ceiling, in a matte white. might do the same.

If you did the white ceiling, I'd do black walls, a black (or evne white) marble console sink,,

and a cool floor tile. could be marble, could be a zellige-herringbone, could be a cement tile.

once you get the texture removed prime everything w/a nice white and see how it looks.

Remove the molding, and the flooring? is that an option?

what kind of style would you like to see in here?

If you don't like the wallpaper ideas, how about a floating live edge wood w/vessel sink?

if you did a black ceiling, I like the live edge wood idea.

they did a charcoal tile on the wall, but you could do any tile, wallpaper or even paint. up to you

black tile on the one wall

all black walls with some picture frame molding,,, cool pendnat, dark wood floor

love this one too. (so many cool choices!)

or, do a type of tongue and groove molding on the one wall, around the 'steps', if you like, and the other walls in navy or black

another option, do some thin wood slats on the ceiling and 'steps' for a wood ceiling

same ceiling like yours. they did reclaimed wood on the 'steps'

might look cool to continue the slats down to the one sink wall. do a floating marble sink or marble console sink.

Comments (31)

cpartist
last year
What is the age and style of the rest of the house?
elcieg
last year
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decoenthusiaste
last year
last modified: last year
I see an excellent opportunity for some fun with geometry and color blocking, but that depends on the overall style you're going for throughout. The door hints at a pretty traditional/transitional home architecturally. What's the story? Powder rooms can often go a totally different direction than expected.

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Jennifer Hogan
last year
Might as well embrace and enjoy it's uniqueness. Love Decoenthusiasts' color blocking suggestion!
sparkleivy
Original Author
last year
Bright colors / color blocking isn’t my style at all.
So that is an absolute no go.

The rest of my home decor is the modern side of transitional. I like dramatic neutrals, interesting textures and great lighting.
sparkleivy
Original Author
last year
@JennferHogan - I don’t like it now so I cannot enjoy it. I’m asking for solutions to radically change the look / aesthetic through design.
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Debbi Washburn
last year
Can the toilet and sink be moved at all? If so, can you post some dimensions of the room?

If you are leaving the fixtures where they are, I would try to close in the stair step - IF it can be done without losing too much head room in front of the sink or toilet. Then go ahead and find a tile you love to put on the wall behind the toilet and the sink. Paint out everything else. Find a beautiful flush mount light for the ceiling and either a small vanity or nice sized pedestal . All that will make it look completely different.

You will have to embrace the angled and curved walls. Play up the interest in them while toning down the quirky space.

Best of luck!
er612
last year
I'd keep it light and bright.
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sparkleivy
Original Author
last year
Toilet and sink need to stay as placed. If I close in the step area, too much headroom is lost.
er612
last year
last modified: last year
Another thing to consider would be paint the sink wall and steps the one color and everything else another. The first example below is extreme. You can definitely achieve a similar impact with shades of the same color on the wall and matching sink and toilet.
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Celery. Visualization, Rendering images
last year
last modified: last year
Some inspro

And let all world is waiting....
Wendy
last year
last modified: last year
From the photo's it looks like it is under a curved staircase? Is that correct? I can't find many pictures of powder rooms situated like that but you could drywall such that it is smooth instead of stepped if headroom would allow. A floorplan with dimentions and ceiling heights would help. But certainly lightening up the walls would go a long way. If the step profile has to stay maybe blend it in with a slatted wood ceiling treatment that fools the eye a little and looks modern? . Good Luck!
Jennifer Hogan
last year
Okay, the bathroom was stuck under a stairwell when someone decided they needed a downstairs powder room.. There is very little room, no ability to change the placement of anything. May very well not be up to code - head room over sink looks too low.

Buy a modern flush mount lighting fixture, and paint everything the same color as the walls outside of the powder room. Paint the mirror trim the same color as the trim in the rest of the house. Decide if you can live with the sink and toilet paper holder. If not replace them with something more traditional. Find a small piece or two of wall art that will fit on either above the toilet or beside the toilet or both..

Maybe get some unique holder for toilet paper and use it as part of the décor so the toilet paper isn't just sitting on the back of the toilet.

http://adorablecountryclassics.blogspot.com/2012/01/birdhouse-toilet-paper-holder-in.html

Small drawers or baskets can also make unique toilet paper holders and hold things like hand soap, sanitizers . . .
Jilly
last year
last modified: last year
My first thought was something similar to this … wallpaper, and paint the ceiling/stair blocks black. Nice molding, tile, cool sink, beautiful light.

A bit sleek, a bit glam, dramatic.

Ignore set ups, just showing elements.

I would just treat the stair blocks as the rest of the ceiling.
sparkleivy
Original Author
last year
@er612 - the offset color is a very intriguing idea.
@Beth H. Thanks for a wealth of great inspiration. I like the idea of an edgy black. But, the all white also helps it recede. And yes, EVERYTHING is going including the flooring, “molding” and fixtures. @jinx, I like that first phot with the wallpaper quite a lot.
sparkleivy
Original Author
last year
I hadn’t planned on using a stark black prominently in my design but it’s gorgeous. I can modify to an almost black charcoal, however, which would fit well.
Jilly
last year
I think the ceiling and steps in black/charcoal would look fantastic. The room is big enough to handle it. It would look very cool as you enter.

Meant to say earlier, Alice Lane is the designer:

https://www.alicelaneinteriordesign.com
palimpsest
last year
If you have some money to spend I would see if someone could come in and drywall the ceiling to a curve that followed the bottom of the stairs.

My otherwise very modest house has curved ceilings under the stairs, even down to the basement, probably because the very old houses here with box winder stairs have curved plaster on their undersides.
Jennifer K
last year
If you like the texture, prime everything white and then reassess. If you don't like the texture, cover it with 1/4" drywall, prime and then reassess.
palimpsest
last year
This is an almost 200 year old house around the corner from me showing how the undersides of the stairs were typically handled. Yes, someone lived in this house until recently in "stabilized ruin" conditions. I may be able to find a picture of a restored one but this is essentially how it was done:
palimpsest
last year
The code requirement for ceiling height at the back of the sink or the back of the toilet are surprisingly low: 60"
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FrameMyMirror
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Whoa, totally unique! A statement wallpaper on an accent wall and then a modern round or rounded edge mirror. https://www.houzz.com/products/cheyenne-framed-round-mirror-nickel-prvw-vr~157485002
arcy_gw
last year
It will take some serious primer to fix that color! You can't fix the layout and it's only a powder room so relax. Me, I would swap that statement piece sink asap and find a less in your face color possibly a tiny cabinet tucked somewhere in for back up TP, cleanser and towels and call it done.
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AiFL
last year
I’d wallpaper it all…the more movement in the paper/ pattern the better. Think florals or abstract, nothing linear or evenly spaced and repeating. Your eye will see the pattern long before it sees the corners and angles. And then you could temper the bolder design with a traditional sink, flooring, mirror, etc. also be conscious of where the light source is…whether it hits the corners and casts shadows or it lit from below the steps and doesn’t
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Patricia Colwell Consulting
last year
last modified: last year
IMO wallpaper or wainscoting are both all wrong with that stepped ceiling both of those would add to the confusion in the space I love ER612 first pic with the black wall.But everything needs to go the toilet needs to be one piece and of course loow flush the TP needs to have ahome so a really coolor small vanity with a tiny bit of storage a nice wll shelf with disposible hand towels a nice mirror .And for sure a fabulous light.
nhb22
last year
last modified: last year
sparkleivy - Would trimming out the back of the stairs be too traditional for your taste?
gigi4321
last year
I think you can design around the steps once the walls are smooth and the tuscan decor is removed. They give an edgy contemporary vibe. It's hard to tell the dimensions from the photos, but you could try dropping the ceiling to get rid of the last step, sheetrock down over the next space, then make the last one go all the way to the left wall. You could try this with cardboard. But as I said, I think you can design around it, especially with all the great ideas thrown out here. Look forward to see what you do!
suero
last year
Just put a Harry Potter name tag on the door. Calendar and spiders inside are optional.
HU-996389822
last year
Looks a like a nice wood floor.

I’d either do a bold wallpaper to make the steps less noticeable or a subtle ombre paint up the steps.
everdebz
last year
last modified: last year
LED lighting somehow under each stair, highlighting each horizontal line... or whatever formation seems appealing.