Getting White Right
Architect and designer Shelley Myers of Grace Street Home Additions and her architect husband, Jack, loved their Bellevue neighborhood but were struggling with their cottage's modest 1,100 square feet. They weighed the pros and cons of moving versus adding on, and in the end, friends, neighbors and favorite nearby hangouts won out. A 900-square-foot addition now packs in a laundry, butler's pantry, family room, master suite, new closets, study and a magnificent bath.
The bath is a successful merger of cottage and classic elements with contemporary trimmings. The slate on the heated floors was cut to 8 by 16 inches to suit the scale of the room, and a large trough sink gives the couple space without the need for a long counter and two basins.
Natural light floods the new bathroom. Pocket doors of reeded glass allow privacy without blocking light, and the windows complement the home's exterior. Myers added shades that can be raised and lowered as needed.
With one thermostat control, one water-volume control, two showerheads and a raised window, the shower is both traditional and state-of-the-art. The river rock for the shower floor arrived on sheets in a grid, but the tile installer strategically removed pieces to eliminate any possibility of grid lines. The result is a free-flowing, natural pattern. The subway tiles for the wall, cut to 2 by 8 inches and accented with platinum-colored grout, create a modern contrast. —Beverly Rivers
Airy and Bright
Architect Sandford Bond, founder and senior principal of the firm 3north, saw an opportunity to expand a smaller bathroom in his home by pushing the shower into an adjacent closet.
Bond and his wife "kept bumping into each other, and only one [of us] could use [the sink] at a time," he says. With the shower reconfigured, there was now room for a dressing table, two sinks and two counters with storage to spare.
"We wanted a clean, quiet, minimal look with a lot of light," says Bond. Using honed Carrera marble in 18-inch squares with joints as small as 1/16 of an inch in the shower was in keeping with that clean look.
With maple vanities, chrome fixtures and stainless-steel sinks, and both sconces and recessed lighting, the bathroom was transformed into an airy, modern space that can easily accommodate a busy couple. Given the chance, Bond says, there's nothing he would have done differently. —Brandon Fox
Cool, Calm, Classic
Not far from Carytown, a mid-century home gained size and stature with a 2007 addition that included a first-floor music room and a sumptuous second-floor master bath and walk-in closet. To balance the new with the old, Forbes Design Group architecturally mimicked the opposite end of the house when building the add-on.
The master bedroom remains part of the original home, but now it opens seamlessly to the new closet and bath. Little luxuries, like an extra washer and dryer placed in the walk-in closet, make daily chores easier for this family.
The bath's masterful details, including furniture-inspired storage solutions; elegant, oversized sconces; and marble and limestone mosaic "carpets," boldly reflect designer David Crow's goal — to infuse texture and pattern into a fresh, spa-like retreat. For these clients, whose home is a backdrop for colorful artwork, the request was for luxury coupled with simplicity. The tile work allowed Crow to add interest without making the space busy.
Light pours in from a window high above the sink, almost at ceiling level. With the neighboring home too close for a standard-height window on that wall, the elevated glass invites sunshine, yet retains privacy. Additionally, a shuttered window over the dressing table brings in plenty of natural light for putting on makeup.
Crow used a mix of natural stone in the tile work. The limestone on the shower walls matches the large tiles on the floor. Fossil stone surrounding the jetted tub, as well as on the counter top and dressing table, picks up the gray in the limestone-and-marble floor mosaics.
Tankless hot-water heaters separate these systems from those in the rest of the house and increased water pressure is both functional and invigorating. Polished-nickel fixtures and faucets bring a sense of sleek into this classic space. —Beverly Rivers
Jay Paul photos
