Marble Tile Brings Spa-Like Luxury to a Master Bath
A designer liberally uses the stone to deliver bright, refreshing style to a once-dark California bathroom
Mitchell Parker
June 6, 2019
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor.
Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative... More
What do you do when your client requests something elegant, spa-like, calming, bright and white to update a dark and dated master bathroom? Designer Samatha Crow turned to timeless marble and a breezy tone-on-tone color palette to achieve the look. To keep things from being too boring, she played with tile size, material and pattern to create lots of style and character.
Photos by Kat Alves
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple who both work in finance
Location: El Dorado Hills, California
Size: 100 square feet (9.3 square meters)
Designer: Samantha Crow of Juxtaposed Interiors
Before: The homeowners felt the existing bathroom, with its dark cabinetry and dark tile, was out of date. Plus the gold finishes and built-in tub didn’t provide the bright, spa-like feeling they were going for. “When looking at the space, I saw quickly the potential that could happen and knew I could bring her vision to life,” Crow says.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple who both work in finance
Location: El Dorado Hills, California
Size: 100 square feet (9.3 square meters)
Designer: Samantha Crow of Juxtaposed Interiors
Before: The homeowners felt the existing bathroom, with its dark cabinetry and dark tile, was out of date. Plus the gold finishes and built-in tub didn’t provide the bright, spa-like feeling they were going for. “When looking at the space, I saw quickly the potential that could happen and knew I could bring her vision to life,” Crow says.
Find a bathroom designer near you
After: Whites and grays played a major role in brightening the bathroom, while playing with pattern, texture and finishes kept it from looking too sterile.
Shop for double vanities
Shop for double vanities
Marble and marble-look tile helped bring a luxurious, classic look. On the floor, large-format ceramic tile that looks like marble was a way to deliver style while keeping costs down substantially, Crow says. A 3-by-5-foot basket-weave inlay of marble helped break up the main floor area and add interest. “That part turned out amazing,” Crow says.
Lucite handles on the marble-topped double vanity “add that extra touch,” Crow says.
Lucite handles on the marble-topped double vanity “add that extra touch,” Crow says.
Honed Carrara marble tile wraps the shower walls and curb and extends to the lower walls surrounding a new standalone bathtub. To mix things up, Crow added honed marble set in a herringbone pattern on the shower floor.
The toilet sits inside a water closet to the left of the shower.
The toilet sits inside a water closet to the left of the shower.
A close-up of the shower niche shows the elegant detailing of the marble tile and its subtle, nuanced coloring of golds, grays and whites.
The project wasn’t without its “uh-oh” moment. Through some miscommunication, the tile got over-installed, leaving just a small hole for the bathtub connection. After some head-scratching on how to install the tub without damaging or ripping up the tile, a plumber cut a hole in the ceiling below this second-floor bathroom and created enough room to connect the tub. The homeowners luckily were repainting the downstairs ceilings anyway, but they had to pay for the drywall repair. “ It was pretty intense, but what I have learned from my years of remodels is there is almost always a way to work around a problem,” Crow says. “You just need to stop and take time to think about it and work through it and it all works out in the end.”
A gray ottoman with a silver tray adds a finishing touch to round out the spa-like feel.
A gray ottoman with a silver tray adds a finishing touch to round out the spa-like feel.
While the floor plan of the bathroom comes across as super simple, it shows how far the right mix of materials, pattern and color can go to create a rich design.
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More on Houzz
Before and After: 9 Small-Bathroom Makeovers That Wow
2 Compact-Bathroom Makeovers, for Her and for Him
Get bathroom design ideas
Find a bathroom design professional in your area
Shop for bathroom products
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What are the dimensions of this bathroom?
GORGEOUS I love this awesome bathroom!
Can you tell me the dimensions of the bathroom and the size of the tub
Looking to redo mine