We both have probably lost track of how many posts have been published around here leading up to this very moment where I FINALLY get to show you our primary bathroom. But hey, why else do you follow a design blog then to read about all the countless steps it takes to go from empty shell to finished showstopper?
This post is a dedication to this space I love so much. I love to look at it, I love to use it and I feel grateful for it every day. It’s airy and Scandinavian-inspired, with some traditional elements sprinkled throughout, all combined to create a visually calm and pretty bathroom that checks all our boxes (and more).
To be honest, the layout of this room is hard to shoot (bathrooms are always smaller and difficult to work around, plus the hallway leading into it presents even more challenges for a camera). If you look at the layout (above and below), it can help you imagine the whole thing. It’s far easier to wrap your head around in the full Webisode video (watch that HERE). I’m also including a cut-down version below. Just wait for the ad to play!
Basically, there are three separate spaces to this room: the toilet room (WC), the shower room and the vanity/tub area. Below, you’ll see construction shots we took early on with a wide-angle lens, looking far bigger than it is, but showing where everything might land.
Tile | Tub | Tub Caddy | Mug (similar) | Candle | Tub Faucet (similar) | Windows | Curtains | Wall Color | Marble Side Table | Rug (vintage)
From the bedroom and closet, you walk in and see the pretty tub in front of the huge window on the prettiest blue tile of the whole house. If you are just landing here, check out the post about deciding on the grout shade (it was a real thing) but it’s so beautifully executed and the color gives me life.
Shower Door (local and custom) | Robe | Slippers
The light reflecting off the floor tile has such movement and texture. As you can see above, the WC is the first doorway (with a pocket door) and next is the shower room (the glass door that I’m opening).
The Shower “Room”
Tile | Stone | Shower Set | Shower Head | Drain (no longer available) | Marble Tray (similar)
The shower room is the same blue Pratt & Larsen tile as the floor except I went with a brick pattern in subway shape. Instead of a monochrome grout, I opted for a lighter color in here. Except for the brass of the shower plumbing and stone top, it’s blue from floor to ceiling (in true EHD fashion). I LOVE it being a dark, intimate shower versus a big glass room. That’s a great look for the right house, just not for this one. As you might know, tile installers prefer smaller-scale tiles on the floor so they can more easily slope them down to the drain so we took the same color again but in a penny-sized hex mosaic.
It’s such a pretty color and a cozy space. The plumbing pops off against it so well and the round shapes of the faucets and handles are a nice juxtaposition to the linear brick tile. We had the glass door custom-made (by a normal company, nothing fancy) and they added that brass strip around the edging and the little knob which gives a vintage feel.
The Water Closet
Sconce | Art (vintage) | Toilet | Toliet Lever | Wooden Tray (similar) | Toliet Paper Holder | Switchplate Cover | Basket (similar)
In the world’s most obvious sentence, this is our toilet room. Yes, it’s pretty basic and private thanks to the pocket door I mentioned earlier. The toilet is such a pretty shape (you know, for a toilet) and the sconce adds softer light at night so no one is blinded with a midnight run to the loo. Look, I do still think about wallpapering this room but honestly, it’s hard to budget for it when it doesn’t need it. Would it be more fun? Sure! But until I find the right paper, we are pretty happy with it as-is.
Flushmount | Wall Art | Moon Ceramic | Sconce
Some of the details ARCIFORM created here that I love are harder to read in the photos, like the beautiful brass floor grate. Also, put in a peg rail along a piece of trim for our towels which is subtle utilitarian but also a moment for the organic look of a towel hung just so. If you want to join the whole ‘towel bar versus hook/peg’ debate we wrote a whole post about it HERE. Essentially, for more humid weather (Portland) you have to spread out the towel more (on two pegs), but we still much prefer the look over a bar (because bars are always messy unless perfectly folded).
Stool (vintage) | Pink Towel | White Waffle Hand Towel | Teal Blue Waffle Towel | Blue Mug
Oh boy, do I LOVE those cafe curtains with that sweet little pinch pleat. We worked with Decorview (yet, again, because we love them); they brought samples and helped us choose size/fabric and, of course, did the full install.
I love that I can lay in the bath and still see the sky and trees but with full privacy. It also splits in the middle so when I know that no one is over, I’m able to open them and look directly out the window, as well. It’s very, very dreamy.
As you can see here, the bath is in front of the window but what you can’t tell is that it’s not EXACTLY centered and you can’t tell AT ALL. Phew. The whole wall feels balanced by the stool and the plant. Also, I want to give an official endorsement for this tub from Rejuvenation. It’s on the narrower side which I knew because I saw it before we ordered it. But I actually love that it’s not really wide because sometimes you feel like you are swimming in the tub and it takes forever to fill up. This size/scale is tighter for two people (but very doable…wink wink).
Tub Faucet (similar)
We went with this more old-world faucet from Rejuvenation with a hand shower and tub filler, which we love.
The teak bath tray is also from Rejuvenation and that’s my favorite smelling (and super long-lasting) tub candle from Target.
Vanity (custom by Unique Kitchens and Bath and base by Nate Dinihian) | Medicine Cabinets (custom) | Wall Tile | Vanity Stone | Sconce | Faucets | Switchplates
Let’s stop for a second and take this in. I love this vanity so much. It gives us plenty of storage in addition to the medicine cabinets and the cupboards to the right, and I’m crushing hard on the tile extending underneath it. It’s a good look, right? (Right…there’s no other response here I’ll accept.)
Another fun fact about the knobs…I thought I was ordering much smaller knobs but since I didn’t really measure the two inches noted in the description (it always sounds smaller to me) these came in and we actually love how playful they are. Happy accidents sometimes make for the best design “choices.”
We designed that leg joinery with local maker Nate Dinihinian and love how it turned out so much. Unique Kitchens & Baths did such a great job with the cabinetry and drawers, too.
If you are trying to squint to see the tilework, you aren’t alone. In person, it’s this really pretty reflective wall of tile, but again, the running theme here is how hard everything is to capture on camera! Quiet beauty doesn’t come across on screen.
That vase is a new acquisition from an artist I’ve been a fan of forever, BZippy. We bought it from local gallery/shop Spartan Shop.
Here, you can see the tile a bit better. It’s all handmade and has a shaky, imperfect feel. Obviously, it’s meant to just go fade away visually and I love that it feels so clean and fresh and not busy. I find that while I love other spaces on the internet that are fun and lively, I don’t love that for me every day. Does that mean I won’t wallpaper the bathroom at some point? Nope. I do have some fantasies of doing that, for sure.
That medicine cabinet is one of my favorite elements in the house (read the whole post about how ARCIFORM custom-made it here).
All the lighting and plumbing are by Rejuvenation and they feel so perfect in the space. You might notice that the finishes don’t match (unlacquered brass for the lights, aged brass for the faucets) which I was worried would bother me until the sconces age and get more patina, but it doesn’t bother me at all.
That’s a wrap on this for a while. MAYBE I’ll wallpaper at some point, but for now, it’s such a lovely and easy bathroom to be in and makes me so happy every day (and night, your girl loves a bath). The tile, the vanity, the tub and the plumbing—it’s just so airy and bright yet grounded. Thanks to ARCIFORM for the excellent execution, per usual. And all the resources are below!
Bathroom Resources:
Tile: Pratt + Larson
Tile Installer: Level Plane
Countertops: Bedrosians Tile & Stone
Stone Fabrication: Alpha StoneWorks
Custom Vanity: Unique Kitchens and Baths and Dinihanian Design Build
Wall Paint Color: Extra White by Sherwin-Williams
Plumbing: Rejuvenation
Tub: Rejuvenation
Toilet: Kohler
Light Fixtures: Rejuvenation
Windows: Sierra Pacific Windows
Window Treatments: Decorview
*Design by Emily Henderson and ARCIFORM
**Photos by Kaitlin Green