After renovating most of the other spaces in their home, an Oklahoma couple was ready to tackle their primary bath – perhaps the most extensive project to date. The wife knew she wanted her vision of a spa bath-like space – complete with a wet room concept – and was introduced to EKB Home LLC through a referral.
“The clients had seen our work and were impressed,” said Brenda Helms, co-owner of the Edmond, Okla.-based firm. “They had great ideas, were open to new ones and trusted us with the project – a great partnership.”
Previously Pigeonholed
The former primary bath was compartmentalized into several smaller spaces with awkward angles. The main project goals were to enlarge and open these spaces and create a spa-like look that exuded a warm, enveloping feeling.
“The wife was not interested in a hugely white and bright bathroom,” said Helms. “She wanted something straight out of a luxury hotel – an escape – and she gravitated toward darker organic stone and wood.”
The previous primary bath, primary closet and laundry room were repurposed for the new space, and an addition became the new closet and part of the shower. The new spa bath is an open, resort-like space with his and her vanities; full-height linen cabinets; a wet room with a generous shower and a gray transparent resin tub; a toilet room and an ensuite utility room.
Passionate Palette for the Spa Bath
“The clients knew they wanted a warm, enveloping look and had an original desire to find a brown and black marble on a white background,” said Helms, who explained that when the wife saw the onyx porcelain tile in person and in the CAD drawings, she fell in love. “We ended up making all our other color decisions based off how they worked with this beautiful brown tile.”
The large-format 24 by 48 book-matched tile encompasses just two patterns used to match up on all four sides and looks like a slab of marble.
The frameless, lime-washed vanities and cabinets in a medium stain with a cross-cut oak look was one design element that never changed. The storage towers feature pullouts for plenty of towels, toiletries and hair-styling tools, and both floating, underlit vanities have a furniture look with all drawers – all with some storage capability. The design team also created soffits around the vanity areas that are wrapped in tile for additional storage.
Secondary Surfaces in the Spa Bath
The porcelain tile that clads the wet room walls is one of the most eye-catching materials in the new primary bath, but the design team knew that successfully using this kind of large-scale pattern successfully depended on an accurate layout. They downloaded the image and worked with it in Chief Architect before giving it to the tile installer.
“The pattern needed to wrap several corners and columns continuously without odd grout lines or pattern breaks and remain centered on the focal point wall,” said designer Megan Greve. “We tried a few layout options in our rendering program to determine which one accomplished all those goals. In the end, it came out beautifully.”
The design team chose white porcelain tile with a subtle pattern for the shower floor. The ceiling features a marbled, onyx-look porcelain tile, and the tub platform is a dark charcoal marble-look porcelain tile.
Black pearl granite with a leathered, matte finish was chosen for the countertops to provide some contrast to the polished surfaces. The soffits over and surrounding the vanities were wrapped in porcelain tile in a darker shade, and the white tile above the sinks is the same porcelain tile used for the floors.
Va-Va-Voom Wet Room
In this space, the glass tub needed to be level, while the shower needed a slope to drain. According to Helms, this was a case of the age-old designer challenge of form over function or function over form.
“Placing the shower door to the side dictated a best placement for the linear drain to be on the opposite wall,” she explained. “This meant that the gold accent tile under the tub platform would have a visible slant to it, as the shower floor sloped to the drain. We would have preferred it to look consistent all the way across, but that would have meant moving the shower door. Ultimately, we chose function over form because the side door placement is what got us the large, uninterrupted panel of glass on the other wall of the shower.”
The wife had seen the resin tub, which was new on the scene, and fell in love. Because the tub wall was an exterior wall, the design had to get creative with the infinity storage niche. They decided to build another wall in front of it and use the extra depth to create what Helms calls “a layered focal point effect” with LED lighting and an infinity ledge accented by a wood tile that mimics the look of the vanities. The face of the ledge is clad in the same tile as the shower floor and ceiling.
The shower includes an overall rainhead and his and her showerheads and valves. A wall niche was incorporated, as well as a built-in, floating bench that is used as a dog-washing station and eliminates to the need to bend down while bathing the pup.
Fitting Fixtures
For the lighting plan, the design team included cans for focal points, LEDs layered in the tub niche and under the vanities and sconces on either side of the mirror that provide illumination above and below the fixtures.
The toilet room also has ceiling cans and LEDs in the open shelves, which can be used as a nightlight. A wall-hung toilet with a bidet seat is easy to clean around and features a wall-mount actuator. The toilet paper holder even has a ledge to hold a cell phone.
The Kohler plumbing fixtures are all gold finished to match the metallic tile of the tub platform and the Schluter gold-metallic trim in the niche behind the tub. The gold shade also blends well with the brown tones in the primary bath.
A Space for Aging in Place
Several accessible elements were incorporated into the new bathroom, including 36-inch doorways to accommodate a wheelchair and ample space in the shower and at the vanity for a homeowner and a caregiver. The curbless shower has no entry barrier, and handheld wands and a built-in bench support bathing while seated. The sinks are integrated into the countertop for easy reach, and the toilet offers a bidet feature.
Overcoming Challenges
According to Helms, one of the major hurdles was measuring all the various rooms that were to be refigured for the new primary bath. She and her team carefully did the calculations ahead of time since the job was almost two hours away, and they could not travel there often. They also double checked all plans with the contractor regarding all the distinctive materials.
As far as the budget conversation, Helms said because the project was a large space with a lot of materials, the design team was looking for some ways to save on costs for the homeowners.
“With the decision to use a statement tile in the shower and a strong-lined surround at the vanities, we decided to consider a more cost-effective granite called Black Pearl for the vanities,” she explained. “We had it leathered and saved thousands off some quartz materials we had been looking at.”
As far as lessons learned, Greve noted the original mirror selection that was cut for cost: large, organic-shaped units in black that echoed the onyx shape in the wall tile. But the LED-lighted mirrors they chose add to that luxury hotel feel the homeowners craved because they produce less shadows and are soft on the eyes.
This is the first transparent tub project for EKB Home, and Helms says the fixture really adds to the depth of the wet room. The clients are thrilled with their new space and say it is a treat to walk into every day. When the couple have further renovation needs down the road, they know who to call.
Sources for The Great Spa Bath Escape
Designers: Brenda Helms & Megan Greve, EKB Home LLC; Photographer: David Cobb Photographer; Cabinetry: Bentwood Luxury Kitchens; Countertops: Stratus Surfaces; Faucets: Kohler & Lefton; Hardware: Top Knobs; In/Undercabinet Lighting: WAC; Mirrors & Utility Room Pendant: All Modern; Sconces: Visual Comfort; Tile: Decovita, Eleganza Tile & Marble Systems; Toilet: TOTO; Towel Warmer: Amba; Shower Fittings, Toilet Paper Holder & Tub Filler: Kohler; Tub: SJ Star & Jane; Washer & Dryer: Samsung; Wood Slatting: The Wood Veneer Hub
