See How This Designer Refreshed a Master Bath and Laundry Room Combination
This 1920s bungalow in Decatur, Georgia, languished for decades, thanks to a series of ill-conceived renovations that almost completely obscured its period charm. For the latest remodel, new owners decided to give the master bath a more classic style that better suited the historic house.
Formerly cavernous and choppy, the 150-square-foot space served as both master bath and laundry room, blending real travertine with faux-travertine porcelain tile. A window was boarded up and stuccoed over inside and out. “It was so bizarre,” says Terracotta Design Build principal Ili Hidalgo-Nilsson. Restoring the original window opening and adding a slender new one allowed the room to shine. “The space is pretty sizable, and by minimizing solid walls we kept it airy,” she says. See how Hidalgo-Nilsson gutted the slapdash construction, removing closets in order to refocus the interior using daylight, luxury surfaces, and exquisite bespoke details.
Photo: Jeff Herr1/4Gleaming new black-lacquer doors are fitted with modern crystal knobs that recall the home's original hardware. Where the room once blended travertine with porcelain tile glazed to mimic stone, the new decor uses white marble. Sparkling floors of herringbone polished marble match white marble slabs surrounding the tub.
2/4In a whole-house overhaul by Terracotta Design Build, the combination laundry room–master bath was demolished and the laundry relocated. “I’m sure it was beautiful to somebody, but corners had been cut,” Hidalgo-Nilsson says, and the construction was amateurish.
3/4An unusually deep alcove suggested the marble-top vanity be deep as well. A surface-mount mirrored medicine cabinet and an extra storage cabinet are above. Adding decorative lighting on the side walls would have cramped the alcove. Instead, miniature task lights are recessed in the upper cabinet, and sconces are drilled right through the flanking wall mirrors. “Taking the opportunity to do that requires coordination between trades but definitely feels more custom,” Hidalgo-Nilsson says.
4/4The designer picked English-style chrome faucets—not nickel, because she finds that nickel-finish coordinates and accessories can be expensive. Hidalgo-Nilsson extended the marble slab tub platform into the shower to serve as a seat. Pinned with chrome brackets, a clear vertical sheet of frameless tempered glass lands on the platform to divide the areas.
