Room Tour: Crisp White and Sage Green Refresh a Tired Bathroom
After 30 years, a couple’s en suite bathroom is transformed with sage green vanity units and a light and airy design
In 1993, Doug and Patty Grogan built a traditional, Colonial-style home in Easton, Massachusetts, USA, then brought up five children there. After becoming an empty-nest couple, they decided it was time to freshen up their home. Top of their list was their en suite bathroom, where floral wallpaper, back-to-back oak vanity units and a large, built-in, step-up whirlpool bath didn’t feel as charming as they did almost 30 years ago.
While the layout worked for the Grogans, they wanted better storage and a more soothing, spa-like feel with an elegant traditional style. The couple turned to design-build pros Jason and Megan Hoffman for help. The Hoffmans added new vanity units in soothing sage green. A modern, freestanding bath, a walk-in shower and lots of fresh white paint give the updated space a light and airy atmosphere.
While the layout worked for the Grogans, they wanted better storage and a more soothing, spa-like feel with an elegant traditional style. The couple turned to design-build pros Jason and Megan Hoffman for help. The Hoffmans added new vanity units in soothing sage green. A modern, freestanding bath, a walk-in shower and lots of fresh white paint give the updated space a light and airy atmosphere.
The design-build team took the former space down to the studs. They chose a fresh, bright colour scheme to create a light and airy feel. The white shiplap and architraves were painted in a mildew-resistant semigloss paint (Regal Select White by Benjamin Moore).
The walls have a soft grey-green undertone (Sebring White by Benjamin Moore) that complements the vanity units, which are painted in sage green, a colour that’s repeated throughout the Grogans’ home. “Also, my backyard has a lot of trees,” Patty says. “I just love that colour, and wanted to break up all the white in the bathroom.”
For the floor, 10cm x 30cm marble-look porcelain tiles set in a herringbone pattern add elegance and interest. A matt finish gives them grip, while underfloor heating keeps them warm.
Tempted to refresh your space?Read reviews of local bathroom designers on Houzz.
The walls have a soft grey-green undertone (Sebring White by Benjamin Moore) that complements the vanity units, which are painted in sage green, a colour that’s repeated throughout the Grogans’ home. “Also, my backyard has a lot of trees,” Patty says. “I just love that colour, and wanted to break up all the white in the bathroom.”
For the floor, 10cm x 30cm marble-look porcelain tiles set in a herringbone pattern add elegance and interest. A matt finish gives them grip, while underfloor heating keeps them warm.
Tempted to refresh your space?Read reviews of local bathroom designers on Houzz.
Marble-look quartz countertops with blue-grey veining on a white background coordinate with the flooring. Brushed nickel taps add a traditional touch, while chrome sconces lend a bit of coastal flavour that complements the shiplap. Oval mirrors soften all the horizontal lines.
The back-to-back oak vanity units had a large wraparound counter that protruded into traffic flow. With only two small drawers and one cabinet on each side, the couple were using a portable trolley (not shown) to hold bathroom essentials. “It looked awful, it really did,” Patty says. “And the mirror part [of the old unit] didn’t go all the way to the ceiling, so it felt as if it was just hanging out in the middle of the space.”
The Hoffman team kept the back-to-back arrangement, but upgraded the area with a shiplap partition that runs to the ceiling and vanity units that offer more storage and a streamlined countertop. “We made sure we added furniture feet on the bottom to give the vanities a credenza look,” Jason says. “I custom-made the feet in my cabinet shop.”
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Apart from being imposing and out of date, the former grey bath was just plain dangerous. “It was too big for the space,” Jason says. “It was goodbye and good riddance.”
The couple wanted to keep the saloon-style swinging door, a nod to Doug’s roots in Texas. It leads to the toilet.
The couple wanted to keep the saloon-style swinging door, a nod to Doug’s roots in Texas. It leads to the toilet.
A new freestanding tub with a pedestal base gives the bathroom a more open feel. “We pulled the tub a little away from the wall so it allows access to the windows and cleaning back there,” Jason says.
Shiplap helps to tie the space back to the vanity area. (After these photos were taken, the homeowners added a glass-and-metal pendant-style chandelier over the tub and white café-style shutters to the windows.)
A fresh coat of white paint updated the window frame and saloon door.
Shiplap helps to tie the space back to the vanity area. (After these photos were taken, the homeowners added a glass-and-metal pendant-style chandelier over the tub and white café-style shutters to the windows.)
A fresh coat of white paint updated the window frame and saloon door.
The floor-mounted bath filler in brushed nickel has a traditional style that suits the tub, and it includes a hand-held shower for rinsing off, too.
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The new walk-in shower features a brushed nickel shower head and hand-held spray. “We installed a linear drain that goes completely from one end of the shower opening to the other to make sure it captures all the water,” Jason says.
“It’s good for us, as we’re getting older,” Patty says. “There’s no lip to trip over.”
The same 10cm x 30cm marble-look porcelain tiles used on the floor cover the shower walls and ceiling, but in a brick pattern. The floor has 10cm x 10cm marble-look porcelain hexagonal tiles in a matt finish for grip.
“It’s good for us, as we’re getting older,” Patty says. “There’s no lip to trip over.”
The same 10cm x 30cm marble-look porcelain tiles used on the floor cover the shower walls and ceiling, but in a brick pattern. The floor has 10cm x 10cm marble-look porcelain hexagonal tiles in a matt finish for grip.
A new shower niche stores bathing products and is backed with real Carrara marble hexagonal tiles. Two quartz shelves in the corner offer more storage.
This floorplan of the former bathroom shows how the overall layout was workable, but the large curved counter of the old back-to-back vanity units (bottom centre) stuck out, and the short shower door (upper left corner) swung open into the space.
Removing the bath and replacing it with a freestanding tub (top centre) and removing the shower door opened up the bathroom considerably. The upgraded back-to-back vanity units gave the couple the added storage they needed.
“Drawers are so much easier to use than cupboards,” Patty says. “We just love the bathroom now, it’s so pretty and relaxing.”
Tell us…
What’s your favourite part of this bathroom transformation? Let us know in the Comments.
“Drawers are so much easier to use than cupboards,” Patty says. “We just love the bathroom now, it’s so pretty and relaxing.”
Tell us…
What’s your favourite part of this bathroom transformation? Let us know in the Comments.
Who lives here? Empty-nest couple Doug and Patty Grogan
Location South Easton, Massachusetts
Size 16 sq m
Designers Jason and Megan Hoffman of JP Hoffman Design Build
‘After’ photos by Tamara Flanagan Photography
After almost three decades, the Grogans had grown tired of the finishes and other features in their en suite bathroom, seen here before the work. The floral wallpaper and ceramic tile flooring had to go. And the grey step-up bath was a hazard. “It was always dangerous to get in and out of,” Patty says.
The shower was spacious but also out of date, with frosted glass and ageing tiles. Back-to-back wood vanity units with a large double-sided mirror and a wraparound countertop seemed especially from another era. (See the ‘before’ photo below.) And each unit had only two small drawers and a cabinet.