New This Week: 5 Vanity Walls With Fresh Design Ideas
Wall treatments, custom millwork, fancy mirrors and more can elevate your vanity area
Considering you use your vanity multiple times a day, it makes sense that this area should be attractive and inviting. Detailed millwork, eye-catching wall treatments, flashy finishes and unique mirrors are just a few features you can incorporate to spiff up your vanity wall. Here are five bathrooms that hit all the right notes.
2. Beachy
Designer: Patricia McGrath
Location: Sag Harbor, New York
Homeowners’ request. A comfortable, livable and not too fussy environment.
Special features. Aqua wallpaper with floral motif. Marble tile wainscoting. Marble tile floor with basket-weave tile “rug” inset. Vintage black metal chair reupholstered in Belgian linen. Custom shell-and-pebble mirror. “Since this house is on the water, they wanted to add some coastal elements, which we did with our pebble-and-shell mirror as well as the aqua blue color of the wallpaper and chair fabric,” designer Patricia McGrath says.
Designer tip. “Using custom components wherever possible brings warmth and depth to the space provided,” McGrath says.
Wallpaper: Osborne & Little
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Designer: Patricia McGrath
Location: Sag Harbor, New York
Homeowners’ request. A comfortable, livable and not too fussy environment.
Special features. Aqua wallpaper with floral motif. Marble tile wainscoting. Marble tile floor with basket-weave tile “rug” inset. Vintage black metal chair reupholstered in Belgian linen. Custom shell-and-pebble mirror. “Since this house is on the water, they wanted to add some coastal elements, which we did with our pebble-and-shell mirror as well as the aqua blue color of the wallpaper and chair fabric,” designer Patricia McGrath says.
Designer tip. “Using custom components wherever possible brings warmth and depth to the space provided,” McGrath says.
Wallpaper: Osborne & Little
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3. Transitional
Designer: Melanie Love of Love & Interiors
Location: San Francisco
Homeowners’ request. The home was designed as a spec home for a local builder, Sutter Street Investments. “The design concept was inspired by the Craftsman-style homes in the Berkeley Hills with a modern twist for a young family,” designer Melanie Love says.
Special features. Graphic floor tile. Blue-gray double vanity with brass hardware. Creamy white walls (Calm by Benjamin Moore). Multiple wall sconces in brass finish. “I really wanted the master bath to feel like a special space separate from the rest of the home,” Love says. “The other spaces in the home are a bit more subdued, while in this bathroom we really embraced pattern and mixed metals. I always try to use a mix of finishes in bathrooms to give the space a more thoughtful design that will not become dated quickly.”
Designer tip. “While this is a spec home and budget was a priority, we really wanted there to be special details, like the Arteriors mirrors,” Love says. “They were a great investment, as they offer a huge wow factor and accent the tall ceilings perfectly. We also upgraded a basic ready-made vanity with brass hardware to make the blue-gray finish pop.”
“Uh-oh” moment. “The wall sconces were on back order, and the client wanted to source new options,” Love says. “I did some digging, but the original selection really was the best fit. I pushed them to wait, and it paid off.”
Designer: Melanie Love of Love & Interiors
Location: San Francisco
Homeowners’ request. The home was designed as a spec home for a local builder, Sutter Street Investments. “The design concept was inspired by the Craftsman-style homes in the Berkeley Hills with a modern twist for a young family,” designer Melanie Love says.
Special features. Graphic floor tile. Blue-gray double vanity with brass hardware. Creamy white walls (Calm by Benjamin Moore). Multiple wall sconces in brass finish. “I really wanted the master bath to feel like a special space separate from the rest of the home,” Love says. “The other spaces in the home are a bit more subdued, while in this bathroom we really embraced pattern and mixed metals. I always try to use a mix of finishes in bathrooms to give the space a more thoughtful design that will not become dated quickly.”
Designer tip. “While this is a spec home and budget was a priority, we really wanted there to be special details, like the Arteriors mirrors,” Love says. “They were a great investment, as they offer a huge wow factor and accent the tall ceilings perfectly. We also upgraded a basic ready-made vanity with brass hardware to make the blue-gray finish pop.”
“Uh-oh” moment. “The wall sconces were on back order, and the client wanted to source new options,” Love says. “I did some digging, but the original selection really was the best fit. I pushed them to wait, and it paid off.”
4. Contemporary
Designer: Emily Andersen of DeOld Andersen Architecture
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Homeowners’ request. An accessible, spacious powder room that would depart from the neutral palette used in the rest of the home.
Special features. Hand-painted cement tile. Custom walnut cabinets. Quartz countertop.
Designer tip. “The homeowners travel to the Middle East often, and have collected objects and artwork with highly patterned motifs,” designer Emily Andersen says. “A laser-cut screen at the residence’s exterior has a Moroccan-inspired motif, and so this design language was carried into the interior. The hand-painted cement tile captured the spirit of this exterior screen, and utilized color in a way that we thought would make this room a unique moment within the project.”
“Uh-oh” moment. “The originally specified tile backsplash became unavailable due to a longer-than-expected lead time, so our supplier was able to find an alternate product that matched our original design intentions,” Andersen says. “The homeowner selected the pattern that was eventually used.”
Tangier cement tile: Villa Lagoon Tile
Browse wall and floor tiles
Designer: Emily Andersen of DeOld Andersen Architecture
Location: Omaha, Nebraska
Homeowners’ request. An accessible, spacious powder room that would depart from the neutral palette used in the rest of the home.
Special features. Hand-painted cement tile. Custom walnut cabinets. Quartz countertop.
Designer tip. “The homeowners travel to the Middle East often, and have collected objects and artwork with highly patterned motifs,” designer Emily Andersen says. “A laser-cut screen at the residence’s exterior has a Moroccan-inspired motif, and so this design language was carried into the interior. The hand-painted cement tile captured the spirit of this exterior screen, and utilized color in a way that we thought would make this room a unique moment within the project.”
“Uh-oh” moment. “The originally specified tile backsplash became unavailable due to a longer-than-expected lead time, so our supplier was able to find an alternate product that matched our original design intentions,” Andersen says. “The homeowner selected the pattern that was eventually used.”
Tangier cement tile: Villa Lagoon Tile
Browse wall and floor tiles
5. Traditional
Designer: Mary Young of 309design
Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Homeowners’ request. A comfortable, beautiful new master bathroom that would honor the traditional home.
Special features. White furniture-style vanity with marble countertop. Beadboard wainscoting painted gray. Oversize chair rail. Wall-mounted cabinets. Black porcelain floor tile that “adds an elegant and timeless contrast to the overall soft palette of the room,” says designer Mary Young, whose clients used photos from Houzz to share their vision for the bathroom design.
Designer tip. “Removing an existing partition, opening up the space with the beautiful frameless shower and using white, marble and soft grays throughout created an open, soothing and luxurious space,” Young says.
“Uh-oh” moment. “We ran into an issue with the plumbing configuration that made removing the existing partition a lot more challenging,” Young says. “After talking over our options, the contractor was able to pack out the back wall to relocate the plumbing. This necessitated changing the overall shower dimensions and caused us to have to do a custom shower enclosure, but the results are well worth it.”
Builder: B. Lawrence Homes; Thundercloud Gray wainscoting paint, Seattle Gray wall paint and White Opulence paint for chair rail, trim, door and millwork: Benjamin Moore
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Designer: Mary Young of 309design
Location: West Chester, Pennsylvania
Homeowners’ request. A comfortable, beautiful new master bathroom that would honor the traditional home.
Special features. White furniture-style vanity with marble countertop. Beadboard wainscoting painted gray. Oversize chair rail. Wall-mounted cabinets. Black porcelain floor tile that “adds an elegant and timeless contrast to the overall soft palette of the room,” says designer Mary Young, whose clients used photos from Houzz to share their vision for the bathroom design.
Designer tip. “Removing an existing partition, opening up the space with the beautiful frameless shower and using white, marble and soft grays throughout created an open, soothing and luxurious space,” Young says.
“Uh-oh” moment. “We ran into an issue with the plumbing configuration that made removing the existing partition a lot more challenging,” Young says. “After talking over our options, the contractor was able to pack out the back wall to relocate the plumbing. This necessitated changing the overall shower dimensions and caused us to have to do a custom shower enclosure, but the results are well worth it.”
Builder: B. Lawrence Homes; Thundercloud Gray wainscoting paint, Seattle Gray wall paint and White Opulence paint for chair rail, trim, door and millwork: Benjamin Moore
More on Houzz
32 Home Design Trends That Will Rule in 2019
The 20 Most Popular Bathroom Photos of 2018
Find home design professionals
Shop for bathroom products
Designer: Timothy Giguere of TMS Architects
Location: Meredith, New Hampshire
Homeowners’ request. A relaxing, casually elegant and functional space with two vanities.
Special features. Custom-designed and custom-milled double vanity. “The cabinetry bumps out at the sinks to help define his and her individual spaces and also visually break down the long face of cabinetry to make it more aesthetically interesting,” designer Timothy Giguere says.
Meanwhile, a curved elliptical arch above the vanity does a few things. “Along with framing a soft focal point toward the vanity wall, it also limits what is perceived as the ceiling space in the room, making the large bathroom feel cozier,” Giguere says. “The arch also pads out the wall for double medicine cabinets on either side that contain glass shelving and outlets.”
Other special features include a glass tile backsplash, an Imperial Danby marble countertop, oval pivoting mirrors, sconce lights, hidden outlets in the top drawers and a hidden trash receptacle in the middle pullout.
Designer secret. “The vanity, archway and upper-wall paneling are extensions of the trimwork and have the same furniture-grade painted finish to tie everything together,” Giguere says. “However, we coordinated with several craftsmen to accomplish this look. The cabinetry was custom-milled off-site in a paint-grade hardwood, while the archway and medicine cabinets were framed on-site. The elliptical trim, keyway and paneling encasing the archway were fabricated by another craftsman who works with my CAD [computer-aided design] files to produce those shapes in a high-density urethane board not typically associated with the building industry, but able to be painted and finished to have the same final appearance as the woodwork.”
“Uh-oh” moment. “One of the original reasons for incorporating the archway around the vanity was to create a transition point for tile wainscoting in the bathroom to terminate against the elliptical trim’s back band, and not continue around the vanity,” Giguere says. “In the end the wainscoting was eliminated from the bathroom, but the archway was such a beloved element for all of those involved in the design process, it stayed to help define the casually elegant bathroom you see today.”
Cloud White vanity paint: Benjamin Moore; Cromarty wall paint: Farrow & Ball; Bristol sconces: Visual Comfort
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