How These Organic Materials Beautify these Luxury Bath Remodels
Serene surfaces accentuate these blissful baths
Photo Emily Minton Redfield
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO this year’s favorite baths? Organic materials. Marble, quartzite and stone dress multiple surfaces in these luxurious bathroom remodels. Ceramic tile, composed of natural ingredients including clay and sand, adds lively pops of color. And metal and glass elements give these spa-like sanctuaries some bling.
Cabinetry, showers and tubs feature simple lines, a style that allows the stone to be the focus. In the baths shown here, C2Design and Design Matters, continued the stone used for flooring onto shower surfaces. Other interior designers, including Collins Design + Remodel and Aspen Design House, used gleaming tile to create unique looks—black- and-white vintage and dark red seduction.
Whether the baths have a lot of space or a small footprint, smart storage solutions, including deep drawers and generous shower niches, solve homeowners’ needs. As designer Denise Taylor puts it, “There’s plenty of room for all the magic lotions and potions.”
Calm and Sophisticated
Photo Emily Minton Redfield
WHEN HOMEOWNERS JOHN AND LINDSAY LUTH decided to remodel their dated bath, they collaborated with designer Helly Duncan. Everyone fell in love with the arabesque tile, which they featured on the vanity wall. “We loved the scale and the pearlescent finish,” Duncan says. “That was our big, beautiful, discerning, elegant differential!”
In order to create a relaxing space, Duncan chose the same stone for the floors, shower walls and shower pan, albeit in different sizes and finishes: “Sometimes using the same materials can make a room soothing. The bathroom feels sophisticated, elegant and very calming,” she says.
Fixtures and lighting add glamour to the space. The barn-door hardware is brushed bronze, and the lighting brings in gold tones. When it came to choosing fixtures, Duncan advised the Luths to pick what they loved: “The homeowner was loving the champagne bronze, so we just went for it. Please do this for yourself—stop thinking about resale.”
BATH DESIGN – DESIGN MATTERS, Helly Duncan
CONTRACTOR – VELOCITY BUILT, Jeremy Seibert
CABINETRY – DURASUPREME
COUNTERTOPS – NUSTONE QUARTZ
TILE – CROSSVILLETILE
BARN DOOR HARDWARE – RUSTICA
PLUMBING FIXTURES – NEWPORTBRASS
PENDANTS – BELLEVUELIGHTING
CHANDELIER – ELEGANTLIGHTING
A Classic Look
Photo Travis Woolford/Dynamic Range Photography
CORINNE EKLE OF C2DESIGN CREATED a tailored look for this bath remodel by layering luxurious materials. For the floors, she designed a basketweave pattern using rectangular marble tiles, which were laid individually. “We created this really graphic but classic look,” she says. In the shower, the same marble in different formats creates a cohesive look.
Quartzite for the vanity countertops complements the bathroom’s marble, lighting and hardware. “Quartzite is such a beautiful stone,” Ekle notes. “It picks up the floors and the cabinets and the gold tones—it ties it in a bow!”
In the corner, Ekle angled a freestanding tub to take advantage of the lovely windows. Overhead, a chandelier finishes the look. “The blown-glass pieces are reminiscent of little flowers,” she explains. “This chandelier is light and airy, but there’s a sophistication to it in a whimsical way.” The client was immediately drawn to it: “With lighting, when you see it, you know it,” she adds.
BATH DESIGN – C2DESIGN, Corinne Ekle
CONTRACTOR – SUMMIT CUSTOM BUILDERS, Rick Fleenor
CABINETRY – AVALON
TILE – BED ROSIANS TILE & STONE
COUNTERTOPS – THE STONE COLLECTION
VANITY LIGHTS – CAPITOL LIGHTING
CHANDELIER – HUDSON VALLEY LIGHTING GROUP
PLUMBING FIXTURES – BRIZO
CABINET HARDWARE – TOPKNOBS
CUSTOM MIRRORS – ACCESSORY WAREHOUSE
Artistry and Restraint
Photo Dallas & Harris Photography
DENISE TAYLOR AND GENEVA PODOLAK KNOX of Aspen Design House sum up the two inspirations for this bath: stone and color. “The wild colorful slab was the jumping off point for the bathroom,” Taylor says. The designers and homeowners knew they would need to balance the artistry of the vanity with restraint, while being careful to avoid anything boring.
Custom neutral cabinetry with a subtle metallic finish sets off the stone, while the faucets and hardware pick up on the surface’s gold veining. A bold shower complements the vanity. “One of the homeowners is colorblind,” Taylor explains. “Red is one of the colors he can see, so we knew we were going to incorporate red.”
To offset the linear shape of the room, the designers chose oval mirrors and custom oval lights. “They are artisan lights,” Taylor muses. “That would make me happy every day—having the lights be the jewelry of the room.”
BATH DESIGN – ASPEN DESIGN HOUSE, Denise Taylor and Geneva Podolak Knox
CONTRACTOR – RED HOUSE ARCHITECTURE, Bill Rose
CABINETRY – ASPEN WHITESTAR
FLOORING – WATERWORKS
COUNTERTOPS – GALLERIA OF STONE
VANITYLIGHTS – BOYDLIGHTING
SHOWER TILE – CROSSVILLE
FAUCETS – BRIZO
CABINET HARDWARE – EMTEK
MIRRORS – ARTERIORS
Light-Filled Bath
Photo Jess Blackwell
A MODERN VINTAGE DESIGN by Delilah Collins pays homage to a historic home in Denver’s Washington Park. The homeowners inherited a quirky attic bathroom without natural light, but Delilah and her contractor husband, Mike Collins, worked their magic to create a functional, light-filled room.
Space had to be planned meticulously. In order to install a bathtub, Delilah got creative: “We installed a fixed piece of glass, which gave us a pillar for a shower curtain.” Getting light into the bathroom was also tricky. Delilah designed a pair of custom pocket doors that lead to a nook with a window. “There is now a sound and visual barrier but you still have natural light,” she says.
Ultimately, it is the tile that makes this bath so charming. “I’m a tile nerd,” Delilah admits. She created a pattern, which Mike installed piece by piece. “The floor tile is irregular because they are laced in together,” she says. “What I love about it is that it’s not perfect.”
BATH DESIGN – COLLINS DESIGN + REMODEL, Delilah Collins
CONTRACTOR – COLLINS DESIGN + REMODEL, Mike Collins,
CABINETRY ULTRA CRAFTS
COUNTERTOPS – CAMBRIA
TILE – DALTILE
PLUMBING FIXTURES – DELTA
CABINETHARDWARE – AMEROCK
CUSTOM BI-PARTING DOORS – TRUSTILE
As seen in CH&L’s January/February 2024 Issue
