Bathroom of the Week: Updated 1920s Style in a Chicago Condo
A designer uses a classic palette and a wet-room strategy, as well as a creative solution for hiding the litter box
Becky Harris
June 7, 2022
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe as "collected."
I got into design via Landscape Architecture, which I studied at the University of Virginia.
Houzz Contributor. Hi there! I live in a 1940s cottage in Atlanta that I'll describe... More
The architectural style of this 1920s Chicago building inspired the owner’s bathroom renovation. Kitchen and bath designer Susan Klimala gave her client an updated traditional look that fits in seamlessly with the rest of the condo. Materials like subway tiles, marble mosaic basketweave tiles, Shaker-style cabinets and polished nickel fixtures with traditional silhouettes nod to the era. Klimala addressed not only the usual bathroom storage needs, but also the concealment of her client’s cat’s litter box in a clever yet easily accessible way.
Before Photo
“After” photos by Michael Alan Kaskel
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman and her cat
Location: Chicago
Size: 98 square feet (9.1 square meters)
Interior designer: Susan Klimala of The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn
Contractor: Arkwright Construction
Before: The homeowner’s main complaint about her bathroom was the small size of the shower stall. And the tub was quite shallow. “The room was pretty dark, so we wanted to brighten it up,” Klimala says. “Plus it just didn’t have any pizzazz.”
The designer had helped this client remodel her kitchen a few years earlier, so she already had a good sense of her style. “The building is very vintage in flavor, and my client wanted to play off that with updated traditional style,” Klimala says.
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A woman and her cat
Location: Chicago
Size: 98 square feet (9.1 square meters)
Interior designer: Susan Klimala of The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn
Contractor: Arkwright Construction
Before: The homeowner’s main complaint about her bathroom was the small size of the shower stall. And the tub was quite shallow. “The room was pretty dark, so we wanted to brighten it up,” Klimala says. “Plus it just didn’t have any pizzazz.”
The designer had helped this client remodel her kitchen a few years earlier, so she already had a good sense of her style. “The building is very vintage in flavor, and my client wanted to play off that with updated traditional style,” Klimala says.
After: In order to fit in a larger shower stall and a freestanding tub, Klimala used a wet-room strategy. “Because this condo is on the top floor and because we used electric in-floor heating, the shower stall stays warm and isn’t drafty,” she says. A partial wall and clear glass separate the stall from the rest of the bathroom.
Klimala anchored the floor in a classic marble mosaic basketweave tile. Then she brought that same tile up beneath the chair rail as an accent. The colors in the natural stone inspired paint shades of gray for the walls and cabinetry.
By the way, this condo is a fourth-floor walkup, which posed quite a challenge for the contractors carrying heavy tile boxes, drywall sheets and the tub. Klimala partnered with Arkwright Construction for the contracting. “In the suburbs, we do our own contracting, but renovating in the city is tough,” she says. “Parking is tricky too, and I never heard one complaint from anyone. They were fantastic.”
Paint: Seersucker Suit (walls) and Hale Navy (cabinets), both Benjamin Moore
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Klimala anchored the floor in a classic marble mosaic basketweave tile. Then she brought that same tile up beneath the chair rail as an accent. The colors in the natural stone inspired paint shades of gray for the walls and cabinetry.
By the way, this condo is a fourth-floor walkup, which posed quite a challenge for the contractors carrying heavy tile boxes, drywall sheets and the tub. Klimala partnered with Arkwright Construction for the contracting. “In the suburbs, we do our own contracting, but renovating in the city is tough,” she says. “Parking is tricky too, and I never heard one complaint from anyone. They were fantastic.”
Paint: Seersucker Suit (walls) and Hale Navy (cabinets), both Benjamin Moore
Hire a bathroom designer
The new freestanding tub has a simple shape that fits in with the bathroom’s traditional style while adding a more modern element. The wall-mounted tub faucet includes a handheld wand, which makes cleaning easy.
“We had a lot of gray and white in here, so my client and I wanted to add some color,” Klimala says. “We found these prints of coral and knew they were a great fit.” The frames are metal with a bamboo shape. These brightly colored watercolors are a big part of the room’s new pizzazz.
Browse white freestanding bathtubs
Browse white freestanding bathtubs
All the plumbing fixtures in the room have vintage silhouettes to fit the 1920s look. Also seen here is a quartz ledge that matches the quartz Klimala used on the vanity countertop and the window jambs. “I looked hard to find a quartz that truly had the same colors as natural stone,” she says. This material is more durable and easier to care for than natural stone would have been.
All plumbing fixtures: Rohl
Find a local tile professional
All plumbing fixtures: Rohl
Find a local tile professional
The designer anchored the room with a dark gray vanity that provides contrast to the light colors in the room. The revamped linen closet can be seen on the left, painted the same color as the vanity. One of the vanity drawers contains a hair appliance insert complete with outlet.
The curved beaded brass frame around the mirror adds vintage flavor. And classic sconces are in keeping with the room’s traditional style. Though Klimala used polished nickel on all the plumbing fixtures and cabinet hardware, she went with aged brass for the sconces and the mirror and print frames.
“I like to think of metals as a color, and when mixing metals they should be incorporated in a way that creates balance,” she says. “Even that little wood soap dish is important and I thought of it as adding a color.” All the aged brass finishes are above the chair rail, while almost all the polished nickel finishes are below it.
Mirror: Made Goods; sconces: Bryant, Visual Comfort
Find the right vanity for your bathroom
“I like to think of metals as a color, and when mixing metals they should be incorporated in a way that creates balance,” she says. “Even that little wood soap dish is important and I thought of it as adding a color.” All the aged brass finishes are above the chair rail, while almost all the polished nickel finishes are below it.
Mirror: Made Goods; sconces: Bryant, Visual Comfort
Find the right vanity for your bathroom
Before Photo
Before: A linen closet was located next to the toilet. The client was using the bottom of the closet for her cat’s litter box.
After: Klimala kept the shelving portion of the space for storage, but she moved access to it around the corner in the form of cabinet doors. This created a nice opportunity to repeat the same dark paint she’d used on the vanity.
The bottom doors here are faux. The space behind them still accommodates the litter box, which is accessed around the corner.
The bottom doors here are faux. The space behind them still accommodates the litter box, which is accessed around the corner.
Adding lighting to the interior of the linen cabinet makes it easy to find everything inside.
A heated towel bar keeps towels nice and toasty during Chicago’s cold winters.
City living with a litter box can be a challenge. And having a box out on the bathroom floor, or having to leave a closet door open all the time, is less than ideal. Klimala installed a large drawer with an opening in a cute cat head shape, bringing in some feline spirit. Then she had the front of it tiled to blend in with the wall.
New to home remodeling? Click here to learn the basics
City living with a litter box can be a challenge. And having a box out on the bathroom floor, or having to leave a closet door open all the time, is less than ideal. Klimala installed a large drawer with an opening in a cute cat head shape, bringing in some feline spirit. Then she had the front of it tiled to blend in with the wall.
New to home remodeling? Click here to learn the basics
The litter box sits at the bottom of the large drawer. It stays tucked away out of sight and is easy to pull out for cleaning. Accordingly, Klimala refers to this bathroom project as “The Cat’s Meow.”
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Love the litter drawer and as to smell that's not a problem unless you're using the wrong litter and not cleaning it regularly - my cat's littler box is in my condo's entry laundry closet so I switched to Pretty Litter and voila - no smell at all!
Very nice! The door swing opening toward the closet is key, though it was always that direction. Ours, as well as many plans, have the door swinging toward the vanity and blocks the closest (too inefficient to get to the closet). At first, from the view toward the door, I couldn’t figure out where you “moved” the light switches. Then I found it, still in the same spot in the built-in linen closet picture. Love the accessible yet disguised litter box and the open shower/tub area at the window end.
Well-designed and stylish in one—not easy to do…kudos for the cat box opening—
love humor in design and all it takes is imagination…