Bathroom of the Week: Playful Style That Nods to Tradition
A designer honors a 100-year-old home’s history while creating a whimsical space for two young children
This young couple loves the historic feel of their 100-plus-year-old home outside Philadelphia. But they also love putting their own stamp on it. They first worked with interior designer Caroline Finnegan of Hernden House on their living room and family room, before moving on to the hall bath their two toddlers share. Finnegan walked into the bathroom project with a great idea of their style and with their trust.
“They have really cool taste that’s somewhat maximalist and eclectic, and they also wanted to honor the home’s history,” Finnegan says. “Because this is their kids’ bath, they wanted to add whimsy and fun.” The result is a playful room that is suitable for kids and adult guests, with a style and finishes that are cohesive with the rest of the home.
“They have really cool taste that’s somewhat maximalist and eclectic, and they also wanted to honor the home’s history,” Finnegan says. “Because this is their kids’ bath, they wanted to add whimsy and fun.” The result is a playful room that is suitable for kids and adult guests, with a style and finishes that are cohesive with the rest of the home.
The homeowners shared inspiration photos from Houzz at the beginning of the design process, and these showed their interest in blue tile. “I told them we should have some fun with it,” Finnegan says. She used three types of tile — blue zellige, white zellige and Carrara marble — to create a striped pattern on the wall. She ran marble bullnose chair rail tiles across the top, and used marble pencil tiles between the white and blue stripes. These pencil tiles add texture and depth to the composition.
Finnegan designed a custom vanity to look like a piece of traditional furniture. It is walnut with a Carrara marble top.
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These unlacquered brass faucets will patinate over time. Along with the Carrara marble countertops, they suit the century-old home.
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The mirror nods to traditional style and has eclectic flair. “It is fun and playful with its scallop-y look, which relates to the wall sconces,” Finnegan says. “The sconces add a little green pop that’s also really fun.”
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Before, the tub surround ran right up to the window trim. By borrowing a few square feet from the adjacent bedroom closet, Finnegan was able to move the tub and create enough room for its glass door to swing out into the room. The extra space also created enough room for the new linen closet, which she tucked behind the plumbing wall of the shower. (You can catch a glimpse of the linen closet door in the mirror’s reflection in the second and third photos.)
The designer continued the pattern of blue, marble and white tiles in the shower stall, adding a white stripe up high. The handle on the shower door also serves as a towel bar. The designer placed hooks on the back of the bathroom door and linen closet door for additional towels.
This photo also shows the new window treatment, a Roman shade with a sand leaf pattern and blue trim tape. The fabric brings the green through from the sconces, and the blue trim ties it to the tile.
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The designer continued the pattern of blue, marble and white tiles in the shower stall, adding a white stripe up high. The handle on the shower door also serves as a towel bar. The designer placed hooks on the back of the bathroom door and linen closet door for additional towels.
This photo also shows the new window treatment, a Roman shade with a sand leaf pattern and blue trim tape. The fabric brings the green through from the sconces, and the blue trim ties it to the tile.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
Finnegan lined the shower niche in Carrara marble, tying it to the vanity and wall tiles. “We all loved the idea of continuing the marble into the shower. It was a nice chance to create a special moment in here,” she says.
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple and their two toddlers
Location: Jenkintown, Pennsylvania
Size: 60 square feet (5.6 square meters)
Designer: Caroline Finnegan of Hendren House
Contractor: Mark Boff of Eagle Hill Builders
The bathroom measures 60 square feet. Finnegan borrowed about 20 inches of depth from an adjacent bedroom closet for the footprint. This allowed more room for the parents to bathe their kids and to add a full linen closet to the bathroom.
While she took the bathroom down to the studs, the designer added back in elements that were cohesive with the home’s original architectural elements. These include the crown molding, the trim around the window, the hardware and the doors. The floor was inspired by an original tile mosaic floor the homeowners preserved when they renovated a bathroom downstairs.
One existing element Finnegan replaced was a large radiator. The new one, seen along the floor beneath the window in this photo, takes up less space. Finnegan had contractor Mark Boff create a walnut radiator cover to match the vanity. “He is my all-time favorite contractor,” she says.
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