Room of the Day: Shared Bathroom for a Busy Family of 4
A lovely custom design prioritizes storage, usability and sustainability
Measuring just under 60 square feet and shared by two busy parents and their young twins, this Portland, Oregon, bathroom needed to function at maximum capacity. And in its long-neglected state, it was doing quite the opposite. While the existing layout made sense, the storage situation did not, and the bathtub had seen shinier days. Thanks to a thoughtful renovation, it’s serving everyone well these days.
Storage and usability were the top priorities in the design. This meant providing space for everything the family would need without cluttering up the countertops, and creating room for more than one person to get ready at once.
“By taking advantage of the space from the wall to the edge of the door, we gained almost 2 feet of length for the vanity,” Ruber says. The new custom cherry piece is 64 inches long and accommodates two sinks with plenty of extra countertop room around them. The fact that it’s elevated above the floor on feet helps the room feel more expansive. She added two extra-wide recessed medicine cabinets over the sinks for additional storage.
“By taking advantage of the space from the wall to the edge of the door, we gained almost 2 feet of length for the vanity,” Ruber says. The new custom cherry piece is 64 inches long and accommodates two sinks with plenty of extra countertop room around them. The fact that it’s elevated above the floor on feet helps the room feel more expansive. She added two extra-wide recessed medicine cabinets over the sinks for additional storage.
“One thing we are doing in almost all of our bathroom renovations today is a drawer with an outlet built in,” Ruber says. “The hair dryer was always on the countertop, like you see in the before photo. And people have a bunch of things they need to charge or plug in in their bathrooms these days: electric toothbrushes, razors, hair appliances. You don’t want to leave that stuff out on the counter all the time.” Just remember to let hot hair appliances cool down before stashing them back in the drawers.
Her cabinetmakers fashioned the vanities, the medicine cabinets and an extra shelf unit she designed for over the toilet.
“As a designer, I like the placement of the toilet in this bathroom. We were lucky it was already here,” she says. “I never want to open a door and be looking right at the toilet, and the way it’s tucked to the side of the shower lends more privacy.”
“As a designer, I like the placement of the toilet in this bathroom. We were lucky it was already here,” she says. “I never want to open a door and be looking right at the toilet, and the way it’s tucked to the side of the shower lends more privacy.”
BEFORE: Sustainability is an important part of the firm’s practices. While this old porcelain bathtub was showing the wear and tear from decades of use, Ruber saw potential. “And these bathtubs can be so heavy and hard to move that, unfortunately, a lot of times contractors have to break them just to be able to get them down the stairs and out of the house,” she says.
By calling a refinisher to work on the tub on site, she was able to get it fresh and glossy again, saving her clients plenty of money in the process. “Bathtubs can be very expensive, and being able to reuse an existing one can save thousands of dollars,” she says. This left money in the budget for a show-stopping splurge: the aqua glass tile from Ann Sacks, which is made locally.
Ruber designed the plumbing layout with everyone in the family in mind. The kids and parents both love baths, so the handheld shower head can serve them well for hair washing. It’s also handy for cleaning. A clear glass door transforms the shower-tub combo into a stall yet keeps an open, airy feeling in the compact room. There are also two ample niches, one for the shower and one for the bath.
LED can lights and sconces, a low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) finish on the cabinets and no-VOC paints were other sustainable and healthy home moves. They painted the more traditional trim the same color as the walls to help it fit in with the contemporary style of the room.
“My client supplied the curtains and little masks,” Ruber says. “I didn’t have to style for this photo shoot at all, she has great taste.”
Sconces: Eglo Lighting
“My client supplied the curtains and little masks,” Ruber says. “I didn’t have to style for this photo shoot at all, she has great taste.”
Sconces: Eglo Lighting
For the flooring, Ruber went with a large-format porcelain tile that’s full body, which means that the color goes all the way through the entire tile. This meant she could continue the tile up the walls to serve as a baseboard, polishing the edges for a finished look.
“I am a big fan of large-format tile. There are so many gorgeous options out there that are reasonably priced,” she says. “This means you can budget about $5 per square foot on floor tile and put more money into something really special for the backsplash and shower tile. It’s a win-win.”
The floors also have radiant heat, which wasn’t solely a luxury choice, as the ductwork did not extend to the bathroom. “We had to get heat to the room somehow, and radiant heat served it better and more efficiently than extending that ductwork,” she says.
Hooks along the wall and on the back of the door give everyone their own spot for their towels. While the couple hope to add a master bath for themselves someday, this renovation made their house much more functional and livable for everyone.
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More
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Bathroom Workbook: How Much Does a Bathroom Remodel Cost?
“I am a big fan of large-format tile. There are so many gorgeous options out there that are reasonably priced,” she says. “This means you can budget about $5 per square foot on floor tile and put more money into something really special for the backsplash and shower tile. It’s a win-win.”
The floors also have radiant heat, which wasn’t solely a luxury choice, as the ductwork did not extend to the bathroom. “We had to get heat to the room somehow, and radiant heat served it better and more efficiently than extending that ductwork,” she says.
Hooks along the wall and on the back of the door give everyone their own spot for their towels. While the couple hope to add a master bath for themselves someday, this renovation made their house much more functional and livable for everyone.
Tell us: Are you working on or have you recently completed a bathroom project? Take our survey.
More
5 Ways With an 8-by-5-Foot Bathroom
Bathroom Workbook: How Much Does a Bathroom Remodel Cost?
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: Married couple Ursula Kienbaum and Jason Reynolds and their young twins, a son and a daughter
Location: Portland, Oregon
Size: Just under 60 square feet (5.6 square meters)
Designer: Michelle Ruber of Encircle Design and Build
BEFORE: The vanity was not all that it could be. The countertop was cluttered, and there was wasted space on either side.