A Too-Big Master Bath Becomes Two Just-Right Bathrooms
A designer uses wood, marble and porcelain to create new spaces inspired by a bathroom at a favorite Nantucket inn
With one exceedingly large bathroom upstairs, this Boston-area couple decided they’d be better off with two separate bathrooms instead — one that would serve as their master and one that would serve overnight guests off the hallway. Here’s how interior designer Kelly McGuill made better sense of the space and gave them the fresh “Nantucket modern” style they wanted.
Master Bathroom
The new master bathroom is 102 square feet. The homeowners love to stay at the same inn on Nantucket every year, Greydon House, and they showed McGuill a photo of a bathroom they liked there. It had white shiplap walls, an open wood vanity and brass nautical-inspired elements. “We used the photo for inspiration but we definitely put our own spin on it,” the designer says. She calls the resulting style “Nantucket modern.” Also on the wish list were a soaking tub, a separate shower stall and a vanity with large drawers.
For the shower stall, McGuill used a large-format (12-by-24-inch) honed Carrara marble tile on the walls and repeated it on the main bathroom floor. The shower floor is small hexagon tile in Carrara marble. The view into the shower is open thanks to the clear glass enclosure. “This makes the room feel so much larger,” McGuill says. The shower also includes a rain shower head and a handheld shower head.
Wall paint: Decorator’s White, Benjamin Moore; faucets: Kohler
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The new master bathroom is 102 square feet. The homeowners love to stay at the same inn on Nantucket every year, Greydon House, and they showed McGuill a photo of a bathroom they liked there. It had white shiplap walls, an open wood vanity and brass nautical-inspired elements. “We used the photo for inspiration but we definitely put our own spin on it,” the designer says. She calls the resulting style “Nantucket modern.” Also on the wish list were a soaking tub, a separate shower stall and a vanity with large drawers.
For the shower stall, McGuill used a large-format (12-by-24-inch) honed Carrara marble tile on the walls and repeated it on the main bathroom floor. The shower floor is small hexagon tile in Carrara marble. The view into the shower is open thanks to the clear glass enclosure. “This makes the room feel so much larger,” McGuill says. The shower also includes a rain shower head and a handheld shower head.
Wall paint: Decorator’s White, Benjamin Moore; faucets: Kohler
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“My clients have some beautiful wood bureaus in their bedroom that they wanted to emulate in here,” the designer says. She designed a wall-mounted stained oak vanity with the large drawers they desired. The wood on the drawers is bookmatched, which means the graining pattern is continuous across all the drawers. The long pulls add a modern touch. “These pulls have a really nice heft to them,” McGuill says. Mirrored medicine cabinets offer additional storage.
Like the floor and shower tile, the countertop and backsplash are Carrara marble. The couple also appreciated the look of wall-mounted faucets in the inn’s bathroom, so the designer used them here. They allow for a clean-lined countertop. And while the warm brass finishes nod to the Nantucket bathroom, the silhouettes in here are streamlined rather than overtly nautical. Floating the vanity and keeping things minimalist also gives a more modern look.
Browse wall-mounted vanities in the Houzz Shop
Like the floor and shower tile, the countertop and backsplash are Carrara marble. The couple also appreciated the look of wall-mounted faucets in the inn’s bathroom, so the designer used them here. They allow for a clean-lined countertop. And while the warm brass finishes nod to the Nantucket bathroom, the silhouettes in here are streamlined rather than overtly nautical. Floating the vanity and keeping things minimalist also gives a more modern look.
Browse wall-mounted vanities in the Houzz Shop
The simple silhouette of the soaker tub is also minimalist and modern. But McGuill also matched existing elements of the Arts and Crafts-era home in here, such as the molding around the pocket door and the 8-inch-high baseboards. Elements like this keep the room cohesive with the rest of the house.
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Browse white freestanding bathtubs
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Browse white freestanding bathtubs
“Open shelves are a great spot to display items that are useful and pretty,” McGuill says. Woven baskets conceal the less pretty items.
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Guest Bathroom
In the new 41-square-foot bathroom off the hallway, the idea was to keep things very clean and simple. McGuill embraced linear elements to achieve that and to make the room feel larger. The couple wanted a tub-shower combo to accommodate guests with young children. McGuill found a streamlined soaking tub that fit in well with the room’s strong linear elements. Classic 3-by-6-inch subway tiles surround the tub, while a slate-like porcelain tile on the floor adds contrast. McGuill placed the long tiles in a running bond pattern. “This made the space feel longer and wider,” she says.
Wall paint: Decorator’s White, Benjamin Moore
In the new 41-square-foot bathroom off the hallway, the idea was to keep things very clean and simple. McGuill embraced linear elements to achieve that and to make the room feel larger. The couple wanted a tub-shower combo to accommodate guests with young children. McGuill found a streamlined soaking tub that fit in well with the room’s strong linear elements. Classic 3-by-6-inch subway tiles surround the tub, while a slate-like porcelain tile on the floor adds contrast. McGuill placed the long tiles in a running bond pattern. “This made the space feel longer and wider,” she says.
Wall paint: Decorator’s White, Benjamin Moore
The structure of the open vanity with the trough sink was inspired by the sink at the inn. The shelf underneath and the shelves in the mirrored medicine cabinet provide all the storage needed for guests. Polished chrome fixtures and a marble counter give the sleek room an elegant look.
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Bathrooms at a Glance
Who uses them: A couple uses the master bathroom; guests use the new hallway bathroom
Location: Arlington, Massachusetts
Size: Master bathroom: 102 square feet (9.5 square meters); hall bathroom: 41 square feet (3.8 square meters)
Designer: Kelly McGuill of Kelly McGuill Home
Builder: Sequoia Custom Builders
Before: At 170 square feet, the original bathroom had a lot of wasted space. It had two entry doors — one off the hall and one off the master bedroom. And in spite of the expansive square footage, it had a tub-shower combo. The couple knew they’d be better served by dividing the space into a master bathroom for themselves and a separate hall bath for overnight guests.