bathroom

Across from the vanity, a toilet with a low back takes up minimal visual space. “Storage was key, so we gave them a little closet for cleaning supplies, a hamper and towels,” Wheelband says. The clients preferred to leave it open rather than closed off as a closet for easier access. If they should ever change their minds, the jamb around the frame would make installing a door easy. The designer also thought about every item the family would need to accommodate when she planned out the shelves, raising the bottom shelf high enough to allow for a hamper below and allowing enough room between shelves for piles of folded towels.Wall paint: Intense White, Benjamin Moore; artwork: Homesense; toilet: Tofino, American Standard; towel bar and toilet paper holder: Boardwalk, Moen; hamper: West Elm

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McCarthy painted an antique phonograph case with chalk paint, sanded it to add a distressed look, then waxed it for a durable finish. It’s now a bar station.Pure chalk paint: Annie Sloan; clear polish: Briwax

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AFTER: Bright, colorful wallpaper now covers the ceiling. “We had thought about putting the wallpaper on the walls,” Sotropa says. “But then we thought about how the room would function. When you work out, you spend a lot of time lying down and looking at the ceiling. We knew it made more sense up there.”The wallpaper was the inspiration for the rest of the room. They painted the walls white, created a blue window seat cushion, bought colorful yoga mats and covered the floor with a soft but firm rug. To ensure that the rug would work for yoga, the designers had the client test samples until they found one that provided the right support underfoot. They also worked with a local millworker to create open and closed shelving throughout the room. The client needed space to store equipment, such extra mats and free weights. The weights fit in the drawers under the window seat. The drawers were engineered to hold the additional weight.Wallpaper: Vertere, Trove; crate, yoga mat and pillows: HomeSense

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The second was maxing out the shower and using a clear glass surround. “A lot of developers will automatically put a tub-shower combo in both bathrooms in a house like this, but I tell them, ‘No! If you already have a bathtub in one bathroom, create a really great shower in the other bathroom!’” he says. 6 Bathrooms That Said Goodbye to the Tub

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Tile around window

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Shower niche. The niche and the sills around the wall that separates the shower from the vanity are lined in quartz that looks like Carrara marble. Nicole says it’s much easier to clean than tile and grout.You may be wondering where the couple stores their clothing now that their closet is gone. Nicole designed a custom closet system along another wall of their bedroom with drawers and spaces for shoes and hanging clothing. Contractor: RMR Services MoreRead other stories about bathroom designFind a bathroom designer

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“The subway tile is clean and classic, but I didn’t want our shower to get too boring,” Kelley says.

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After. The arched window lets in lots of natural light and now feels more connected to the rest of the space, Kelley says. They did that by installing a taller vanity that let them extend the Colonial White granite countertop to the wall. They also used the same granite material for the windowsill.

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Photos by Meghan Bob PhotographyKitchen at a GlanceWho lives here: A young couple originally from TexasLocation: Los AngelesSize: About 150 square feet (14 square meters)Designer: Kelly Martin InteriorsWhen their burgeoning careers in the film industry took them from Texas to Los Angeles, a young film editor and a movie-poster designer looked to buy their first home in up-and-coming Highland Park, a formerly gritty neighborhood that now attracts hip millennials looking for some of the last affordable gems in the city. The cozy Craftsman cottage they found had tons of charm but needed some polish to really shine. The kitchen, with the help of designer Kelly Martin, received new two-tone cabinets, a mosaic tile floor and all new appliances.

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