Bathroom of the Week: More Is More in 40 Square Feet

Decades ago, iconic American interior designer Dorothy Draper said: “The Drab Age is over. Color is coming into its own again.” The declaration is as timely now as it was then, especially for this homeowner. She, her husband and their two kids share one full bathroom on the second floor of their 1920s Tudor-style home in Royal Oak, Michigan. In spite of its modest footprint of 40 square feet, she had a “more is more” attitude, which was fully embraced by her interior designer, Emily Elkins.

“This client came to me armed with a PowerPoint presentation,” Elkins says. “This is only the second time a client has done that, and I loved this one. It had a lot of references to Dorothy Draper, who designed the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island and The Greenbrier in West Virginia. I personally love traditional style and color too, and I’m kind of a ‘more is more’ person. The more layers, more colors, more details, the better the design is.”

Before Photo
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A family of four
Location: Royal Oak, Michigan
Size: 40 square feet (3.7 square meters)
Designer: Emily Elkins of Kendall Design BuildBefore: “I liked the original design of the bathroom,” Elkins says. “It was period-appropriate, and the flooring and wall tile were cute. This was more about function than aesthetics. There was very little storage for the family and the shower wasn’t operable. While there was another full bathroom in the home, it was on the first floor, not upstairs where their bedrooms are.”

Getting the look right for the home’s 1920s Tudor-style architecture was important to the homeowners as well as their designer. “We wanted to design it appropriately for the home’s period and make it seem as though it could have been here back then,” Elkins says.

After: Elkins added much-needed storage in the new bathroom. She replaced the pedestal sink with a 24-inch ready-made vanity, the largest size that could fit into the 5-by-8-foot room. She also added a mirrored medicine cabinet. The mirror’s reflection reveals hooks on the back of the bathroom door for towels and robes.
Elkins and her client started with this botanical Schumacher wallpaper. It’s full of deep pinks, greens and blues, and it served as the jumping-off point for the design. “We played with pink tiles and blue tiles, but green was the color that stuck,” Elkins says. “This tile is so pretty. It’s from The Tile Shop and the color is sage.”

“The tile is beveled, which added more dimension to the room,” Elkins says. She also added matching pencil trim around the top of the tile wainscoting and baseboard tiles at the floor.

“One of the big benefits of a small space is that you can choose quality over quantity,” Elkins says. “You can tile a lot of the walls without breaking the budget.”

The simple white quartz countertop doesn’t distract from the wallpaper and green tile. It also allows the brushed gold faucets to shine. Elkins helped her client find this faucet and handle set, which has period-appropriate Art Deco silhouettes and cross handles that were common in the 1920s.
Faucets: Moen

Elkins suggested hand-rubbed antique brass light fixtures with hurricane shades. “We hugged the wall, pushing the one on the left as far as we possibly could,” she says with a laugh. In addition to being the right physical fit, they were also the right stylistic fit for the home.

Sconces: Visual Comfort

Across from the vanity, the green tile makes a beautiful statement in the shower. The arch above is part of the original architecture.
Elkins suggested a Greek key pattern as a border for the floor tile. “It’s a nice nod to the original black-and-white floor that was in this room,” she says. “It’s also very period and very Dorothy Draper.”

The designer notes that choosing a vanity with feet makes a space feel larger and airier. Bringing the vanity off the ground a little also allowed her to extend the Greek key pattern.

“This is such a beautiful neighborhood,” Elkins says. “The houses are so sweet and have so much character. None of them are large. This house looks like it could have belonged to Snow White. The bathroom looks like it could have been here since the time the house was built. I love designing a room for the period of the house.”

Getting the look right for your home’s style architecture is important to the homeowners as well as their designer. (cited)