Bathroom of the Week: Terra-Cotta Tile Warms a Primary Bathroom
A warm neutral palette creates an inviting feel that suits a Spanish Colonial house
There’s nothing like hand-painted terra-cotta tile to inspire a beautiful earthy palette. Interior designer Emily Pueringer found a beautiful botanical pattern to suit her clients’ classic Spanish Colonial home in Coral Gables, Florida. Pueringer gave the couple’s new primary bathroom a calm and comfortable feel using natural materials and tones including sand, earth, taupe and a little hint of peach.
The room measures 11½ by 6¾ feet and has a simple layout: vanity on one side, shower on the other, with the toilet in between. The wall across from the door has two large windows.
Pueringer suggested raw terra cotta for the floor in a herringbone pattern. The classic pattern and earthy feel of these tiles suit the style of the room.
Pueringer suggested raw terra cotta for the floor in a herringbone pattern. The classic pattern and earthy feel of these tiles suit the style of the room.
“I pulled the shapes of the mirrors from the tile pattern, adding some black accents with their delicate frames,” Pueringer says. “Everything revolved around the tile.” The cross-handle faucets add a traditional touch, while their gold finish brings in warmth.
Browse bathroom tile in the Houzz Shop
Browse bathroom tile in the Houzz Shop
The light fixtures also add a small amount of black. Glass shades give the fixtures a subtle look that doesn’t take away from the tile.
“I wanted to do something a little different on the vanity, so I went with a reeded look,” Pueringer says. “Bathrooms can be a good place to experiment with different textures, whereas in a kitchen, reeded cabinetry would be too hard to keep clean.”
These cabinets are custom. The reeds are half-inch white oak dowels cut in half.
These cabinets are custom. The reeds are half-inch white oak dowels cut in half.
The counters are white quartz. Note the profile of the countertop — it’s 2½ inches thick, giving it a strong presence. A flat counter edge that’s thicker than usual can add a fresh, modern touch to a bathroom.
Pueringer added a niche over the toilet for display. It also repeats some of the white oak from the vanity on this side of the room.
The shower has two heads and the handheld wand seen here. There’s a bench below. “My clients are young and just had their first child, but they are planning on this being their forever home,” the designer says.
The shower has two heads and the handheld wand seen here. There’s a bench below. “My clients are young and just had their first child, but they are planning on this being their forever home,” the designer says.
Next to the toilet is a half wall that’s part of the shower enclosure. Pueringer chose a zellige tile for the shower enclosure and surround. Zellige tile is handmade in Morocco.
“Zellige tile is very thick, has lots of imperfections and is not easy to lay,” Pueringer says. “It’s honestly a pain to work with, so you need a really good tile installer. These guys did an amazing job — they even mitered the edges, which is really hard to do.” Look to the edge where the tile meets the drywall to see those edges.
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“Zellige tile is very thick, has lots of imperfections and is not easy to lay,” Pueringer says. “It’s honestly a pain to work with, so you need a really good tile installer. These guys did an amazing job — they even mitered the edges, which is really hard to do.” Look to the edge where the tile meets the drywall to see those edges.
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The effort was worth it. The tiles are a beautiful assortment of earthy hues. “These have a range of color — taupe, clay, sand and little moments of grays and peach,” Pueringer says.
She brought the terra-cotta backsplash tiles into the shower as an accent in the arched niche. “The house had a lot of arches throughout it, so I brought that into the bathroom,” she says. She used the same quartz she used on the vanity for the shelves. “A solid surface like quartz is very easy to clean,” Pueringer says.
Shower tile: Glazed Earth, Zia Tile
She brought the terra-cotta backsplash tiles into the shower as an accent in the arched niche. “The house had a lot of arches throughout it, so I brought that into the bathroom,” she says. She used the same quartz she used on the vanity for the shelves. “A solid surface like quartz is very easy to clean,” Pueringer says.
Shower tile: Glazed Earth, Zia Tile
Before: Look to the bottom of this floor plan. The primary bedroom is in the bottom left corner. The homeowners sacrificed the room marked “Bedroom 3” to create the bathroom and a hallway outside it. They also took some space from it to enlarge the closets.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
After: The area above the bathroom on this plan serves as a hall and also has a makeup vanity. The new bathroom’s location is also convenient to the study.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple who recently had their first child
Location: Coral Gables, Florida
Size: 66 square feet (6.1 square meters)
Designer: Emily Pueringer
Before the renovation, four bedrooms and a study shared the only bathroom on the second level of the home. Adam & Eve Architecture & Garden changed up the layout, replacing the bedroom next to the primary bedroom with this new bathroom and an adjacent hallway area with a makeup vanity. (See plans at the end of the story.)
Pueringer kicked off the interior design with a hand-painted terra-cotta tile from Architessa. “Because this is an older Spanish Colonial house, it had a lot of older hand-painted tiles. One of my goals was to stay true to the architectural style of their home,” she says. The tiles inspired the rest of the color palette and the shape of the bathroom mirrors.
Tile: Terra in Folk Bouqet, Lauren Liess Habitat collection, Architessa
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