Bathroom of the Week: High-Contrast Tile and a New Layout
Clever design choices and a wet room layout make good use of space in a compact main bathroom
Julie Sheer
March 9, 2021
Houzz Contributor; journalist with more than two decades of experience as a graphics editor and writer at the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune; outdoor guidebook author; lover of all things outdoors, nature and wildlife. Follow me at https://westcentric.wordpress.com/
Houzz Contributor; journalist with more than two decades of experience as a graphics... More
The owners of this home in Portland, Oregon, needed to update their main bathroom and had definite ideas for what they wanted. They hired Polina and Pavel Perju of the design-build firm Let’s Remodel to fulfill their wishes for a new wet room, using a high-contrast color scheme. The resulting wet room and clean, neutral palette were just what the homeowners requested.
“It was a design decision to combine a freestanding tub and shower, otherwise they would have been forced to do a shallow tub and shower combination,” Polina Perju says. “This way they get the best of both worlds. With small bathrooms this is a really creative solution.”
“It was a design decision to combine a freestanding tub and shower, otherwise they would have been forced to do a shallow tub and shower combination,” Polina Perju says. “This way they get the best of both worlds. With small bathrooms this is a really creative solution.”
Photos by Re Pixs
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: A young couple
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: 72 square feet (6.7 square meters)
Designer and builder: Polina and Pavel Perju of Let’s Remodel
The team used clever tricks with tile to fool the eye into thinking the room is larger, giving the homeowners a whole new look in a limited space. Walls of white subway tile with dark grout and black hexagonal tile with white grout on the floor provide a modern industrial style and the high contrast desired by the owners.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses it: A young couple
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: 72 square feet (6.7 square meters)
Designer and builder: Polina and Pavel Perju of Let’s Remodel
The team used clever tricks with tile to fool the eye into thinking the room is larger, giving the homeowners a whole new look in a limited space. Walls of white subway tile with dark grout and black hexagonal tile with white grout on the floor provide a modern industrial style and the high contrast desired by the owners.
Find a bathroom remodeler near you
Perju wanted to do something unexpected, so she carried the large-format black hexagonal tile from the floor up the back wall of the bathing area. “One thing I do is, what you expect to be on the floor I put on the wall. It gives you an interesting twist and catches your eye,” she says, adding that it also creates the illusion of more space.
“To make a space feel larger, I use tile from the floor on an accent wall. It leads the eye from the point of entry through the room and tricks the eye into thinking the space is bigger,” she says.
The bath area floor is slightly sloped so water flows to the linear drain opposite the tub. Cleaning this type of drain is a snap because it pops off when you press down on it, Perju says. “With linear drains, you can lift the top metal part and get rid of hair, so there’s no concern with maintaining them.”
“To make a space feel larger, I use tile from the floor on an accent wall. It leads the eye from the point of entry through the room and tricks the eye into thinking the space is bigger,” she says.
The bath area floor is slightly sloped so water flows to the linear drain opposite the tub. Cleaning this type of drain is a snap because it pops off when you press down on it, Perju says. “With linear drains, you can lift the top metal part and get rid of hair, so there’s no concern with maintaining them.”
The dark hexagonal floor tile extends past the low-curb bath area into the rest of the room, further leading the eye through the space. The team installed a heated floor, which Perju says is an important feature in wet rooms for drying the space out, as well as for heat. A fixed pane of glass extends only partway to the ceiling, so steam from the shower can escape.
For a clean, consistent look, Perju continued the white subway wall tile onto the pony wall that separates the bathing area from the rest of the bathroom. “The eye tricks you into feeling the space is larger because it keeps going with tile. The eye has a path of travel,” she says.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your bathroom project
For a clean, consistent look, Perju continued the white subway wall tile onto the pony wall that separates the bathing area from the rest of the bathroom. “The eye tricks you into feeling the space is larger because it keeps going with tile. The eye has a path of travel,” she says.
Check out our beginner’s guide to get started on your bathroom project
Wall-mounted tub fixtures like those shown here make sense for a smaller space and are more budget-friendly than floor-mounted versions, Perju says.
“Wall-mounted tub fillers are more space- and price-efficient, easier to clean and maintain,” she says. The handheld shower head also makes cleaning easier. While floor-mounted tub fillers are visually striking, Perju says they work best in larger bathrooms. “In most inspiration images with a floor-mounted faucet, they’re in huge bathrooms where there’s space to display them. Most bathrooms are way smaller,” she says.
“Wall-mounted tub fillers are more space- and price-efficient, easier to clean and maintain,” she says. The handheld shower head also makes cleaning easier. While floor-mounted tub fillers are visually striking, Perju says they work best in larger bathrooms. “In most inspiration images with a floor-mounted faucet, they’re in huge bathrooms where there’s space to display them. Most bathrooms are way smaller,” she says.
The room’s hanging barn-style entry door is a handsome design element that’s also a space saver. “We didn’t want to take up space with a swinging door so we did a barn door,” Perju says. “It’s a good feature for those who don’t want the door closed all the time but close it occasionally if there are guests.”
The vanity area features wall-mounted faucets and integrated medicine cabinets with dimmable side-mounted lights. The recessed medicine cabinets are multifunctional workhorses. There’s a mirror on the back of each door, along with glass shelves and plugs inside. “A good medicine cabinet with lots of built-in features is what I’m recommending for smaller spaces,” Perju says.
The high-gloss white laminate floating vanity provides storage and holds two sinks. “With small baths I like having floating vanities,” Perju says. “The eye needs space to travel and it goes under the vanity and you can see the floor, so it tricks the eye again.”
A black frame around the frosted glass window enhances the high-contrast design. Previously, the window had clear glass and Perju suggested replacing it with something translucent, which provides privacy without the need for a shade. It still allows natural light in, something especially helpful when the Pacific Northwest weather gets gloomy.
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Hello,
Here are the stats for the house and the space:
Bathroom size: 6ft x 12 ft
House age: it was built in 1900. It is a 1588sqft house with 2 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms.
Would you please share the dimensions of the vanity, the distance between the toilet and the vanity, the distance between the toilet and the half wall, the dimensions of the tub, and the dimensions of the "wet room"?
Thanks!
Sorry. We did this project quite a few years ago now I no longer have those specifics