Vintage-Inspired Bathroom Feels Grand and Cozy
A designer expands and renovates a ranch home’s master bathroom to add classic yet contemporary style
After: An expanded space gives the family all the features they were looking for in the master bathroom. To give it a classic and cozy feel, designer Tama Bell used marble, crackled tile, hexagon shapes and large molding details.
“While the bathroom is not huge by today’s standards,” Bell says, “the feeling is grand and spacious.”
Style: The centered bathtub and large country smoke bell lantern above it make a style statement from the moment you set foot into the room. While designing this bathroom, Bell wanted its elements to feel both vintage and contemporary.
“My advice for adding vintage pieces is to stick to classic, traditional elements that don’t lean too trendy or overly fluffy, so that you are adding elegance to the overall look,” Bell says.
Wall paint: Moonlight White, Benjamin Moore; trim color: Simply White, Benjamin White; window coverings: A&J Drapery; overhead light fixture: Circa Lighting; bathtub: Victoria + Albert Baths; flooring: American Tile & Stone; area rug: Dash and Albert; find an area rug for your bathroom
“While the bathroom is not huge by today’s standards,” Bell says, “the feeling is grand and spacious.”
Style: The centered bathtub and large country smoke bell lantern above it make a style statement from the moment you set foot into the room. While designing this bathroom, Bell wanted its elements to feel both vintage and contemporary.
“My advice for adding vintage pieces is to stick to classic, traditional elements that don’t lean too trendy or overly fluffy, so that you are adding elegance to the overall look,” Bell says.
Wall paint: Moonlight White, Benjamin Moore; trim color: Simply White, Benjamin White; window coverings: A&J Drapery; overhead light fixture: Circa Lighting; bathtub: Victoria + Albert Baths; flooring: American Tile & Stone; area rug: Dash and Albert; find an area rug for your bathroom
Vanities: Two vintage-inspired vanities appear in this room: here you can see the one positioned near the shower. The other sits near the exterior window.
“I love mixing metals and often do that with fixtures, hardware and mirrors,” Bell says, adding “bathrooms are the ideal spot” for it. Here, she mixes gilded mirrors and polished nickel faucets.
Color: A color palette of warm whites, muslin and pale gray is a contemporary twist on vintage farmhouse. “It is soft and comforting but also clean, light and bright,” Bell says.
Vanity lighting: Hudson Valley; vanity: Rustic Chic in weathered oak, Fairmont Designs; browse bathroom vanities
“I love mixing metals and often do that with fixtures, hardware and mirrors,” Bell says, adding “bathrooms are the ideal spot” for it. Here, she mixes gilded mirrors and polished nickel faucets.
Color: A color palette of warm whites, muslin and pale gray is a contemporary twist on vintage farmhouse. “It is soft and comforting but also clean, light and bright,” Bell says.
Vanity lighting: Hudson Valley; vanity: Rustic Chic in weathered oak, Fairmont Designs; browse bathroom vanities
Shower: You may have noticed this bathroom has both a freestanding bathtub and a walk-in shower. It was important to the homeowners they had both options available.
For the shower, Bell chose an all-over tile look. She loves the look of floor-to-ceiling tile and does it often on projects, she says.
Bell used base and crown tiles at the top and bottom of the field tile design. “It adds a bit of a vintage feel and also adds height and importance,” she says. She chose this color in a crackle finish because it was not distracting but still added visual interest.
Shower tiles: Wedgewood Blue, Brick Field, Walker Zanger; shower head: Butler Mill, Sigma
For the shower, Bell chose an all-over tile look. She loves the look of floor-to-ceiling tile and does it often on projects, she says.
Bell used base and crown tiles at the top and bottom of the field tile design. “It adds a bit of a vintage feel and also adds height and importance,” she says. She chose this color in a crackle finish because it was not distracting but still added visual interest.
Shower tiles: Wedgewood Blue, Brick Field, Walker Zanger; shower head: Butler Mill, Sigma
Privacy: One design challenge was figuring out how to appropriately treat the exterior window. Frosting the window would block too much natural light. Additionally, frosted windows were unnecessary because the homeowners have no neighbors on their private land. Plain glass made the most sense.
Bell then chose a loose-weave, linen look-alike fabric with a small pleat that hangs from a dark metal French pole. It provided the appropriate amount of privacy while contributing to the vintage farmhouse feel of the entire space.
See more of this California farmhouse
More
6 Bathrooms Freshen Up With Farmhouse Style
All the Details on 3 Farmhouse-Style Vanities
Shop for farmhouse bathroom products
Bell then chose a loose-weave, linen look-alike fabric with a small pleat that hangs from a dark metal French pole. It provided the appropriate amount of privacy while contributing to the vintage farmhouse feel of the entire space.
See more of this California farmhouse
More
6 Bathrooms Freshen Up With Farmhouse Style
All the Details on 3 Farmhouse-Style Vanities
Shop for farmhouse bathroom products
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Santa Rosa, California
Size: 120 square feet (11.1 square meters)
Designer: Tama Bell, owner and principal designer of Tama Bell Design
Backstory: At the foot of Hood Mountain in California sits a cute ranch house on 20 acres. The original structure was about 1,800 square feet, but this family wanted to rework the existing floor plan to improve its layout and add square footage. Aesthetically, the clients hoped for a vintage-inspired farmhouse that could be as comfortable as it was elegant.