apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

wow - this is what my bathroom would look like if I had money. gorgeous! clean, sexy, just lovely.

omg, are those real singaporean orchids? if they're fake...where did you get them? they're my favorite flowers and i'd love to decorate my place with them! (one of my wedding flowers)

luke, what specific color is that chocolate brown?

also, where did you get those natural woods - they look great?

I love the sink and cabinets. Where are they from?

Wow, just simply wow. Insta.

GORGEOUS!

Very Nice...Give me a thick rug on the floor. Insta!

Thanks for the comments.

MAR- those are real orchids...although i'm not sure if they are singaporean orchids. I'm not a orchid aficionado.

VIK and MAX- The color is Sherwin Williams 6083 Sable and I design and build furniture..so I built those cabinets myself. The sink just a standard sink from Kohler.

Not just a finalist, but getting clipped for my style file!! Awesome.

As a hater of bathroom design in general - you did a lovely job. I think the bathroom is the most difficult room of all. It's very romantic. Where did you get those cute vases?

The vases are from Crate and Barrel

Amazing! I want to live in this bathroom!!!! Sooo beautiful!

Luke,

would love to see your furniture work. would also consider hiring you to build some things if you would like...small shelving, etc...

send me an email if you're interested...

vik1109@yahoo.com

Simply AMAZING!!!

This looks great. Not particularly "colorful" in the same way some of the other entries are, but completely successful in it's use of browns. with splashes of more vivid color from the flowers, etc.

The layout is almost 100% the same as my bathroom. Same sink, toilet, tile, lighting mirror etc. Although yours is lovely and I can't decide what to do with mine. I wonder if you live in my building... Is this the guest bath?

TRICIA - I believe we do live in the same building. Yes this is the guest bath.

Well, this looks spectacular. You should definately be a finalist!

If you're interested in some work (fireplace mantle mostly, close to home, email me at klausvonmersault@yahoo.com. I'm sure you'll get tons of inquiries from this...

Tricia

Your bathroom makes my bathroom feel bad about itself.

Drop-dead gorgeous!! My first "insta-finalist" pick in this contest.

The cabinets under the pedestal sink is a clever idea; more storage and additional surface on the tops.

This room seems warm and pristine at the same time. Great job!

I just love this; the best part is it looks like it would be really quick and easy to clean. Gorgeous!

If your bathroom looks *this* good, the rest of your apartment must look amazing. when do we get a full tour?

luke...what kind of wood is that? where can you buy wood like that in chicago?

I'm really impressed with the under sink storage. Great.

JIM - The wood is hickory. Check out Owl Hardwood. They have 3 locations in the burbs.

It's a beautiful room, a fantastic use of space, and a sophisticated use of browns.

But, gosh, does that white outlet stick out! Have you thought about painting it brown - or even using a veneer finish? I'd do the vent above the lights brown, too...

Maybe that's just me. Overall, obviously, nice job.

This is beautiful and expertly executed, but too trendy and safe for me to get an insta-finalist vote.

this bathroom is gorgeous and elegant, and it certainly helps that you create custom furniture. but guys, while it looks luxurious and expensive to recreate (i'm not saying that it wasn't pricey, it certainly looks like a million bucks), it's simplicity also makes it easy to duplicate! paint - cheap. white bean vases from pottery barn - 2 bucks and change a peice. get a peice of veneer to recreate the wood wall "stripe" (not SUPER cheap, but doable), and some cabinets from ikea, and there you have it! woo, sorry for the long-windedness, i was getting excited at the prospect of doing this in my own bathroom. for cheap!

Luke, you may be the first person to get asked out on a date online based on the design of your bathroom. Absolutely lovely.

This is seriously sexy. Insta-finalist.

Only thing I would consider changing is the lighting.

I don't like brown, but it works well with the wood and the creaminess of the ceramics. The flowers are the perfect punctuation.

I love this bathroom, but I think it's more an architectural winner than an actual use of color winner.

It looks great and is very sharp in the design aspect, but I would have liked to have seen something bolder on the walls .. like perhaps the color red of the flowers. I don't know, it's a bit trendy ... there's nothing wrong with that, but we're looking for "daring" here.

ok, I am seriously in love. i think my entry (los angeles section) and your entry should get together and talk! ;-) lots to discuss...zebrano, cocobolo, wenge, curly maple...

This. is. gorgeous. Those were the words I said -- out loud -- when I saw the first pic. Wow. And I don't think it needs something "bolder" on the walls -- the brown is perfect with the wood. Color does not have to sock you in the eye to be beautiful and effective. Is there a choice above "insta-finalist"?

My comment was based upon the fact that this is a COLOR contest .. to find the "boldest and most daring use".

The fixtures in this bathroom are superb. What is superb or bold about the color use? This pairing of brown and wood has been done many times ... although great splash of color in the flowers!

Great update to a bath that was contractor basic. I saw this exact phote in the paper(chicgao tribune) around the first of the year. I liked it then and I like it now.

Great bathroom, instafinalist for sure. The thing that caught my attention first was the clever use of cabinetry underneath the sink. LOVE IT! What a great way to keep some storage with a pedestal sink. This is a very manly bathroom, very elegant, sexy. WOW.

Love this. Are the cabinets hung on the wall?

I think this is the best entry I have seen so far. I love it!

This place is really beautiful. Peaceful. The low-key color schemes are much more to my tastes than the wilder palettes... it's nice to have a range of entries, I think. Luke, do you have a website that shows your furniture designs? I'd love to see the rest of your place, too. Hey AT folks, how about it? (and why are these color things limited to two photos anyway?)

STACEY- the cabinets are hung on the wall

ROB- My website is still in the works..

I can e-mail pics of my work if anyone is interestd. e-mail: info@studiowai.com

Thanks

Well done. I love the clean lines, the wood, and the brown. Very very nice.

I like the modern vision. However, I'm not a fan of dark brown in the bathroom, espcially when it's sucha a small space (doesn't feel fresh and clean to me :)).

Lovely lovely lovely. Beautiful, and reading that you built it yourself is even more so. You make it sound so easy. I think I love you.

I love love love this! I don't really see the 'bold use of color' but I do see the sheer amazing-ness. Maybe not right for this contest but incredible none the less.

I want this bathroom for me!

I agree with Missy. This is an exquisite bathroom and certainly one I would lust after. But I do think the look is more about architecural elements than color itself. The brown is wonderfully done, but I doubt other entrants can make cabinets like this and buy orchids they don't know much about.

Great room, but I'd have to vote for others I've seen because of their use of color and space.

This is the way to do a dark color + white in a bathroom! Beautiful. Smart. Bright. Fresh.

The bloody bathroom is the absolute opposite of this.

Gorgeous use of COLOR. Yes, people, brown is a color, as is the lovely pops of red and yellow. And it IS a bold use of color...how many people do you know would paint a small (windowless?)room a dark brown?

Take out the floral elements and imagine the walls white....the room would be bland. The architectural elements do not make the room, the color does. This is a fantastic entry that uses COLOR to evoke mood and serenity. And it uses elements that people often overlook--nature's most beautiful display of color--flowers. Against a contrasting background, they become works of art.

Bravo, Rich.

Actually there's a better contest for this; the "My Bathroom Rocks" contest would be better for this entry, but I didn't let that stop me from calling it an Instant Finalist, because although this bathroom doesn't really seem to be about color, the coloring of everything in it DOES work beautifully together.

I haven't seen that many pedestal sinks that were outfitted so beautifully with storage so handy.

Gorgeous Gorgeous Gorgeous! I can see why everyone wants to ask you out on a date straight away from your bathroom design! I think the sink storage is the most ingenious plan ever. How can the average (Nashvillian) gal get ahold of some of those cabinets? I get chills just looking at this picture...I'm having one of those "blind-guy-Kohler" moments.

This submission really hits home with me. I think that while some of the other entrants make use of many very bright colors, that's not really what the contest is about. It's about finding, "the boldest, coolest, most colorful room." As Mags mentioned above, it's pretty bold to paint a small room a dark color, but I think works extraordinarily well. Also, though it hasn't been mentioned, I think it's important not to loose sight of the fact that it's not just about the use of the wall colors, but how the finished room looks as a whole, thus, I think incorporating the white of the tile and fixtures (which is fairly common) with some elements which are unique, especially the custom woodwork and the use and placement of the flowers. To me, this room isn't one that people would come over, gasp, then exclaim "wow! what an...interesting room" but rather it's done very tastefully (not shockingly), yet maintains a sense of boldness and color. Very well done.

I agree with Adam-Luke thought out the color very deliberately; even with the wood...for example he chose this hickory to compliment the dark chocolate brown walls, as opposed to other woods with different colors: purpleheart (purplish),osage orange,(goldish-orange) or jarrah (reddish). Also that he chose brown to begin with; the wood accent would be far less effective in the scheme of things had he painted the room, say for example, a blue tone. It has a very boutique hotel/modern asian flare.

Imagine putting your lipstick on in this mirror, in this lighting...mmmmm.

oops, i mean "flair"

THIS IS THE PERFECT BALANCE OF COLOR!
THE LIGHT FLOATS IN HARMONY AND MAKES EVERYTHING JUST... PERFECT!!!

I haven't seen brown used like this. Fantastic

great. I have officially cheated on my bathroom now.

I recognize your bathroom! Wasn't it featured in a Chicago newspaper not long ago? Great before and after picture. Beautiful and inspiring! Where is the tub??

Once again, where is the color? I do like this concept and design, but I don't think this contest is for your room

I always knew how amazing your work is, great job! When I move into my new place some day i'll have to hire you :)

i think i fell in love with you because of this bathroom... not gonna lie but i'm a little obsessed with the singapore orchards!

Insta-Finalist all the way. This "styleophyle" is definitely putting this bathroom in his file o´ style! I only wish we could get our whites to POP in Madrid like Luke gets them to pop in Chicago.

ELEGANT... SIMPLE.... BEAUTIFUL.
You've got it!

Gasp! Simple and fantastic. The lines, the contrast, the minimalism. Spot on!

Early or late this is simply beautiful...I have looked for a storage solution to the sink in a small bath and you have answered this and several other design questions...going vertical with the mirror and the floating storage. This room works because the color is not blatant it is blended in way that color is seen in nature. Thank you for sharing this room.

LUKE! love your bathroom (passed the pic onto a friend who's remodeling) but am writing to say i think it's really cool that our websites use the same color scheme (just a few tones and font sizes apart)! view my profile to get to my site.. neat!

What an amazing bathroom you created, and you built the furniture too?! That is truly admirable. Definitely saved this one in the inspiration folder.

The colors and textures work so well together, each one flatters the other that I didn't even realize until after my initial awe that the palette of colors used was quite small. I love the way the white pops against the deep brown, and how the wood warms up what in many other circumstances would feel like a cold porcelain box. This goes to show it's not about how many colors you have, it's how you use them.

Love this look, especially the flooring, its so rich and clean against the dark chocolate color. Can you tell me what kind of flooring tiles you used?

Brown in the bathroom! How ironic. Oh, but I'm not knocking it. This entry is superb. I also second the comment somewhere above about 'color'. This entry isn't exactly colorful, but it sure looks like perfect use of color, period. LOVE it.

Instead of trying to hide the white ceramic, this bathroom really makes the white pop! And the room itself feels soothing.

Well done!