Bathroom of the Week: Attic Becomes a Master Suite
A design-build firm helps a Minneapolis family stay in their starter home by adding a bathroom and more upstairs
This family of three love their Tudor-style house and Minneapolis neighborhood, which is within walking distance of Lake Nokomis. But they knew that as their family continued to grow, they would outgrow their home. Not wanting to move, they hired Jkath Design Build + Reinvent to transform their dated attic into an updated bedroom suite. In the bathroom, designer Katie Wick created a beautiful transitional space with natural materials including marble, basalt and rift-sawn white oak.
Wick designed all of the cabinetry in the room herself, and the design-build firm’s in-house cabinet shop crafted it. The white oak she chose for the vanity added the warmth of natural wood that her clients had admired in their ideabook photos.
The double vanity has three sets of three drawers as well as storage space under the sinks. The designer added outlets to the drawers for charging toothbrushes and electric razors. Three wall sconces flank two mirrors. The round sconce bases and rounded mirror corners add some soft curves over the vanity, which has a lot of hard straight lines.
Wall paint: White Dove, Benjamin Moore; sconces, Vendome, Visual Comfort; mirrors: Rejuvenation
The double vanity has three sets of three drawers as well as storage space under the sinks. The designer added outlets to the drawers for charging toothbrushes and electric razors. Three wall sconces flank two mirrors. The round sconce bases and rounded mirror corners add some soft curves over the vanity, which has a lot of hard straight lines.
Wall paint: White Dove, Benjamin Moore; sconces, Vendome, Visual Comfort; mirrors: Rejuvenation
The vanity and sconce styles lean more traditional, while the undermount sinks and streamlined faucets are contemporary. These combinations strike a transitional balance. The countertops are quartz. “They have a rough river-washed finish that has a texture to it,” Wick says. The hard manmade material is very durable and has the look of natural stone.
Sinks: Boulevard undermount, American Standard; faucets: Trinsic, Delta
Sinks: Boulevard undermount, American Standard; faucets: Trinsic, Delta
The hardware, plumbing fixtures and other accessories are matte black. This finish plays well off the quartz countertops and basalt floor.
Door knobs: Essex, Top Knobs; drawer pulls: Rejuvenation
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Door knobs: Essex, Top Knobs; drawer pulls: Rejuvenation
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“They had more storage requirements on this floor because they didn’t want to have to go downstairs every time they needed extra linens or bathroom supplies. And we had the extra space in this bathroom to add a linen cabinet,” Wick says. She designed a tall white-oak cabinet that matches the vanity. The piece was crafted in their cabinet shop in the same quarter-sawn white oak they used on the vanity.
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“It’s a special piece, and it created a special moment. The white oak warms up all of the cool marble,” Wick says.
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The shower stall is a roomy 22 square feet. A long ledge provides plenty of room for products along one side of the stall.
Wick chose a basalt mosaic tile in a chevron pattern for the shower floor. This brought some additional geometry to the stall. It was a close match to the colors in the countertop quartz, which Wick also used on the shower threshold. And the texture of the basalt as well as all the grout between the small pieces added lots of grip, making the shower floor safe.
The shower wall mosaic tile has an interesting composition. Rectangles form squares within the mosaic. The shower stall has the most modern look in the room, with its stricter color palette and straight lines. The tile expands across the vaulted ceiling.
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Wick chose a basalt mosaic tile in a chevron pattern for the shower floor. This brought some additional geometry to the stall. It was a close match to the colors in the countertop quartz, which Wick also used on the shower threshold. And the texture of the basalt as well as all the grout between the small pieces added lots of grip, making the shower floor safe.
The shower wall mosaic tile has an interesting composition. Rectangles form squares within the mosaic. The shower stall has the most modern look in the room, with its stricter color palette and straight lines. The tile expands across the vaulted ceiling.
More on Houzz
Read more bathroom stories
Browse bathroom photos
Find a bathroom designer
Shop for your bathroom
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of three
Location: Hale neighborhood of Minneapolis
Size: 100 square feet (9.3 square meters)
Designer: Katie Wick of Jkath Design Build + Reinvent
Existing plumbing dictated a specific corner of the attic for the bathroom. By tying into those pipes, they were able to save a significant amount on the budget. At 100 square feet, the space was gracious, and its existing window provided a lot of natural light. Wick was able to fit in a generous double vanity, a spacious shower stall and a tall linen closet while maintaining an airy feel.
Her clients shared inspiration images, including Houzz ideabooks, to give the designer a sense of their style. “They were clearly drawn to black-and-white contrast, natural materials and warm wood accents,” she says. The majority of the materials in the room are natural — the tile choices are a mix of marble and basalt, and the cabinetry is rift-sawn white oak.
The overall style of the bathroom is a transitional mix of traditional and contemporary. The home is an older Tudor-style house. While Wick didn’t make overt nods to the architectural style, she acknowledged its vintage through materials that were commonly used 100 years ago, like marble. The floor tile is a marble mosaic in a star shape, and the shower tile is a marble mosaic in a more modern rectilinear pattern.
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