Name: Jennifer
Location: Portland, OR
Amount Spent: $10,000-$15,000
The Blogcast Interview:
Slideshow:
The Pitch:
I recently purchased a 1 bedroom 1 bath condo in a renovated 1924 apartment building near downtown Portland, Oregon. Most of the credit for my rockin’ bathroom goes to the condo developer (KSL) who renovated this 8-unit building and is now my neighbor across the hall from me.
KSL’s renovation plans placed a priority on retaining the original feel of this vintage apartment building but allowed me to have some input into the renovation of the entire unit.
As the ‘bones’ of my new home are very traditional and my ‘aesthetic soul’ runs towards the minimalist/modern/contemporary, the challenge has been to blend the two tastes. Bright, warm, and cheerful could characterize my approach to this challenge throughout the apartment. And honestly, it all started in the bathroom.
Taking a look at the basic layout (NOT drawn to scale), the original bathroom was gutted and KSL incorporated a ventilation shaft to increase the size of the bathroom. KSL preserved the arch that was originally in the bath and repeated the arch in expansion area.
The expansion allowed a stacked washer/dryer to be added. Other elements of KSL’s renovation plans included beadboard wainscoting with hex-tile flooring, and subway tiles to line the tub/shower which was reglazed.
KSL gave me the opportunity to choose light fixtures from School House Electric (a local Portland OR owned/operated business). I did not alter KSL’s selection of the remaining bathroom hardware that, I believe, was purchased from Rejuvenation Hardware (another Portland OR owned/operated business). KSL takes credit for the general lighting design which incorporates dimmers for all fixtures. This allows me to create the Darth Bathroom mood.
However, I can take credit for the Carribean or South Beach color scheme. Since I was moving to Portland and had heard of its rainy reputation, the aqua and orange color scheme was selected to create a crisp contrast to the white beadboard and to elicit the feel of a tropical clime. (Abstract Aqua and Orangeade from Miller Paints another Oregon business).
The medicine cabinet was custom-made and has some great detailing. An electrical outlet was installed inside the cabinet for my rechargeable shaver – if I should ever need to take up shaving. The cabinet by the sink was purchased from Pottery Barn to hide and hold larger items like laundry detergent and toilet paper.
I love my bathroom in so many ways.
First, the bathroom is the only room in my apartment where odds-and-ends from my previous apartment do not dominate. From the day I moved in, the bathroom was complete unto itself and yet completely personal.
That fact, along with the cheerfully bright color scheme makes me enjoy being in the bathroom. Soaking in a hot bath with a good book is one of my favorite ways to spend a night at home.
I also have no problem finding matching accessories for the bath as bright colors seem to dominate the mass-market bathroom décor sector at this point in time. I considered extending the beach theme to cabana striped towels but decided that it would be a little “too theme-y” and I thought the modern blocks of color on the IKEA’s really-big-towels suited the space in a contemporary way.
With the washer/dryer in the bathroom, the need for a hamper is virtually eliminated. Having lived in apartments without a washer/dryer (or in group houses where the washer/dryer is in a creepy basement), this set-up has transformed my former hate-hate relationship with laundry into a mere minor hassle.
The only future plans I have for the bathroom is to add a double-towel bar, a small glass shelf to the left of the sink, decorate with some ocean or beach-themed photos, and find the perfect cabinet to place opposite the tub for additional storage space. Jennifer
Very nice. The colors do a lot to enliven a windowless bathroom. I've been thinking about doing the same at my place in Atlanta, and I think there's a lot of inspiration in what you've done.
I've recently noticed a lot of stackable w/ds incorporated into kitchens which I've liked, but for some reason here, I think I'd prefer them to be closed in. A louver door to further the tropical look, maybe?
I'm a big fan of hex tiles and like how you've used them here, and the sink works well. I also love subway tiles, but the grout seems too wide to me.
Would have loved a better shot of the other end of the bathroom. Also can't wrap my mind around putting the outlet inside the medicine cabinet. If I were using an electric shaver, I'd want to look at myself in the mirror.
Portland is a one of my favorite West Coast cities. It's so nice and refreshing to see a renovated space like yours. (Most of the spaces I've seen have been industrial loft-conversions in the Pearl district, that were cool but left me cold.)
Your bathroom is really well-finished and has a vibrant feel to it. The wainscot, moulding and especially the small hexagonal floor tiles (which I'm loving more and more each time I see them in different bathrooms-despite the small challenge of keeping them clean) are all really great and a fun juxtaposition with your color choices. Good for you for making a bold color statement. I think it adds a lot of character to the space. And your personality seems to come through with all of your choices.
I'd stick with your initial impulse to steer clear of cabana stripes and overly-involved patterns because they might overwhelm the total look of the room. Let the architectural details and color scheme take center stage because they are so great. Here's my suggestion. Blocks of color is a good idea, but my gut is stick with primarily white for towels, rug and accessories like frames, shells, coral in order to keep with your beach-theme while adding more color continuity. You know, go with white but it in different textures? Just a thought.
It would be nice to hide the washer/dryer behind a louvred door (as Doug suggested) or curtain, but it looks like it juts out too much to do that, right? Regardless, it's great to have them in your unit. Can't beat the convenience of that.
beautiful work -- I love the fixtures, the washer/dryer, and the wainscoting.
I had to give this a "rolls" instead of "rocks" though. The bright 2-tone paint job is not to my taste, though (sorry) -- maybe its the pics but it seems almost garish to me. I'd stick with one paint color, and bring a second color w/towels and other accents.
Great job!
I think it has alot of character AND usefulness. The color scheme is working for you, and that suprises me with aqua and orange. Your choices really come together - and have handily avoided the sterile possibilities in new construction.
What a wonderful bathroom. So much personality - you should be proud.
I've loved all the entries, but THIS is my new favorite! Yay for oregon! I live in Salem, and my husband and I would like to eventually buy an apartment building and do this kind of renovation/community building. And Kudos for all the use of Oregon products!! We're headed to ReBuilding this weekend to scavange for neat finds. You might find a cool cabinet at their ReFurniture shop. Another cool place for different sorts of storage is City Liquidators. There is also an antique wholesaler near there which has some awesome stuff of the right period. I love the colors, the white walls, all the details.
I really like this room. I feel the colors. The tile and wainscoting Charleston. Keeping the early 20c. look while at the same time providing the kind of amenities that we sybarites have come to expect is totally. And having the washer/dryer in the bathroom, while not the most aesthetic solution (I just drop my clothes on the floor and let the housemaids deal with the problem;) is something I lust for but cant' accomodate in my living quarters.
Congratulations!
i think enrique's suggestion to use white for towels, rugs, accessories is right on. i hadn't thought of that, but as soon as i read that i thought: yes, exactly. you've already got all that color going on, plus the architectural details, so i think you've already got plenty of visual interest. i've always favored pure white for bath towels b/c it just feels "clean" to me, plus you never have to worry about fading or staining from benzoyl peroxide-containing anti-acne products.
to follow up on doug's comment: i think the outlet in the medicine cabinet is a great idea. most electric shavers are rechargeable (right?) so only the charger base stays plugged in, & there's nothing to prevent you from using the mirror. this would also be good for people who use electric toothbrushes.
I can see how it would make sense in those instances. As a razor man, it struck me as odd. But makes sense for rechargeables.
love, love this bathroom -- mainly because I think the paint scheme is great -- something I never would have thought to do! And dimmers! Yay! My only minor complaint would be that the stray cord running behind the sink would - personally - drive me crazy. But, overall - awesome.
( a little OT, but . . . bathroom areas are a great place for w/d. My w/d is in my closet, which due to the loft nature of my apt., is basically an extension of my bathroom. My mother designed a house that had a master bedroom closet with two doors: one opened into the master bath, the other door led to the laundry room. an excellent idea, I've always thought)
Arts & Crafts on acid. That was my first thought, and it's a compliment. And all it would take is a coat of paint, or several, to bring it back down to earth, so to speak.
Is that faucet by American Standard?
Love the orange with the aqua and the way you mixed your modern sensibility with the older style of the apartment.
My boyfriend thanks you for posting your bathroom. He loves orange and was debating whether or not it could work in a bathroom--and now we know! We're going to Home Despot tonight to look for swatches.
(So much for thinking that my ex and I were the only ones who called it "Home Despot"...)
We used to call it Homo Depot, until I finally figured out what their "Contractor Pick-up" area was REALLY for. :(
One word for this bath redo-- CRISP.
LOL! too funny, p(too). so, are contractors really that hot? who knew?
Thanks all for the kind comments and the rockin' reviews. I was traveling all day (west to east coast) so didn't get to check in until now.
Let's see...
Grout on subway tiles - When I'm soaking in my tub I think it is a little too wide, too. Then I turn the page of the magazine I'm reading. Maybe I'll tear them out in 15 years for a redo.
White Towels - I agree. But I rarely sort my laundry and so I chose some colors. Otherwise those crisp white towels would become grey pretty fast.
Stray Cord behind sink - I agree it's annoying. It's for my clock radio. That's why I want to add a glass shelf to the left of the sink. My project for July. I thought about unplugging before I took the pictures but decided I didn't want to reset the clock. That's reality for ya.
Paint - I'm glad everyone likes the colors as much as I do. When I saw the arches in the bathroom, I KNEW I had to do something to highlight them. Hence a two-color scheme. I looked at paint in Home Depot. I remember all the colors coming off as too blue. The oranges weren't as yellowy bright and the greens (which I have in my kitchen) were a bit flat. But then those were the samples I chose in the store - and they may have some better.
I really do love my bathroom - it really does make me smile just to know it is there. As a newbie to apt therapy and I'm totally addicted and love the content as well as the comments!
Cheers - a jet-lagged Jennifer
You KNOW that I love things that look architecturally interesting in a retro kind of way, and this really looks warm, familiar, formal and yet that color scheme is a very fun, sunny, gorgeous choice. I like the fact that you could tone it down eventually if you wanted to, but I like the idea of always keeping it in colors that you find to be fun.
This bathroom is nice, although I don't LOVE it. I do like the washer/dryer, but the paint scheme didn't quite do it for me. Maybe if it was just orange...
I have to say though, it's great to see someone representing apartments in the northwest! I live in Seattle, in a 350 square foot twenties brick apartment, and it's nice to see someone in the city of roses!
Oh, one other thing, while white towels look nice, I would resist the impulse. Mine tend to get dingy quite quickly.
Love the bathroom, and oh, for the convenience of the washer/dryer right there. I think putting louvered doors there would rob it of some function: after all, what's better than just putting your laundry into the washer as you go?
I'm curious like a previous poster--what are the faucets? I've seen them before and like them so much!
It's Home Cheapo up in CT.
As an Oregon native (now living in manhattan) I recognize those familar arches from all the southeast Portland "bungalows" as they call them. Brilliant way of keeping the original architectural feel of the place.
Love the colors, and HELLO! An outlet in the medicine cab should be such a no-brainer. My electric toothbrush has to sit out on the back of the toilet to recharge.
You are all missing the point of no doors on the w/d. The toilet is artfully placed so that you can watch the clothes go round while seated:)
The truth is if your washer and dryer are all brand new and squeaky clean and purty AND compactly stacked like this, AND the room is as pretty as this, you are much less likely to want jump in the dryer and take your own life from the drudgery of doing laundry.
I like this VERY much! If you can't use two bright colors you love in the bathroom, where else can you use them. You don't spend so much time in there that they'd become overpowering, IMO.
The hardware and lighting, and sink style, etc all coordinate harmoniously, another huge plus.
On the plug question, aside from the charger setup inside the medicine cabinet, is that black cord under the sink going into an outlet? The thing about the medicine cabinet outlet being the only one is, you can't close the cabinet if something's plugged in, so how would you see to blow/dry/curl/straighten your hair?
They don't have outlets in bathrooms in the UK for safety reasons, so I've had to set up a dressing table in another room, which I really don't have the space for. Outlets in the bathroom are really important to a lot of people.
I love the "laundry day" freshness of this bath, love the compartmentalizing of the bath's functions, and applaud the annexing of the ventilation shaft for carving out space and function.
Only two things keep this from a "Rocks" for me... the exposed washer & dryer, and the color combo, and where the color was applied. Regarding the color, I love both the aqua and the orange (and salute your color-zest!!) but, being a Miami native, it is slightly too Miami Dolphins for me. And while I don't mind two colors in a space this small, I don't love how the colors flip-flop, especially on the inside of the arches (although I know you said you wanted to specifically highlight them, in that way).
But my personal taste aside, the bathroom remodel, and how well this was handled (I keep marveling at how razor-sharp the moldings a paint lines are, in the slide-show), makes this a space to be VERY proud of, and hopefully a space that makes you smile every time you use it.
Finally a bathroom with some personality! It looks clean and bright and classic, but you managed to totally escape the hotel-bathroom feel of a lot of the other submissions. I love the raised sink, the curved doorways, and the two-color paint job. Keep the colored towels and bath mats. The white wainscotting and tiles keep the color from getting too overwhelming.
I don't think "hotel-bathroom feel of a lot of the other submissions" is the fairest assessment of the other entries... but nor do I feel that "hotel bathroom" is automatically a point deduction, either.
Jennifer,
I think that nook to the right of the sink is crying out for a built-in.
To make it blend in, you could get a white extension cord for your clock, replace the black cord with a white one, or buy a white clock radio.
And I'm still wondering who made your faucet...
(ps-- I'm finding that when people post "finally, personality!" that seems to mean "in synch with the poster's personality". I just don't like that it implies other equally gutsy, clever, stylish, viable solutions have "no personality", 'cuz that definitely ain't so.
I do not like the exposed washer and dryer where they are. There may be a logical reason due to plumbing, but I think it detracts from the flow. While vibrant I don't think I could live with that color combination either. It's not relaxing or energizing to me, just jarring. The odd step-up below the sink looks awkward as well. This is not tops on my list.
Jennifer,
Would you mind sharing the name of the orange paint color? I would love to have the medicine chest and sink dup around here.
Very good work.
ORANGEADE and ABSTRACT AQUA are the two paint colors I used. Miller Paints is the manufacturer. I think it was mentioned somewhere in my verbose write-up.
I promise to provide info on faucets and other hardware items people have inquired about. Just returned home late last night.
In an ideal world, I would not even own a washer/dryer. I would send my laundry out to be done. And space currently occupied by the washer/dryer would be a steam shower. Ahhh.
But I do not live in that world. While it would be nice to have the W/D hidden - there is a very utilitarian aspect about setting up a 1bdrm 1bath apt. You try to make it as glam as possible (!) but incorporate the conveniences and appliances of modern living in limited spaces.
That's the long way of saying - I'm WAAAY happier to have the W/D as-is rather than going to the laundromat even if it did mean I could put in a steam-shower.
So how do the people who were squeamish about reading and/or growing herbs in a bathroom (on other threads) feel about doing laundry in it?! :)
(I actually love that you have a W&D in this space; just not sure, since the rest of the bath is so designed and nicely retro, that having them visbile at all times is the way to go. That was my only objection.)
If you want to cover your W/D, you could use a long roman shade so when it was down it would be streamlined, when its up you have no doors in your way, and you could choose whatever beautiful fabric you wish.
Just a thought.
Great job, and I like all the retro touches. However, while I love the paint colors separately, and like the idea of two colors, orange and blue in all permutations make me think of sports teams. I love the floor tile and the sink. However, I would have to second the calls to somehow cover the washer/dryer. I don't see why a shade of some kind couldn't work.
here are the faucet specs:
Delta
6530 PCLHP Lav Faucet
HK34C-PC Cold Porcelain Handle
HK34H-PC Hot Porcelain Handle
this is genius. are you a designer?
It just occurred to me that there's another reason I like these colors (besides the fact that they're really juicy, and unusual for walls)--they're Howard Johnson's come back to life.
Nice job overall ... but that black electrical cord across the wall behind the sink undoes all the other nice design elements. Get a white extension cord, and tack or tape it down somehow down where the wall meets the floor, and then up the corner to the outlet. It will make a world of difference!
i'm always fascinated by ultra efficient uses of space. in my apartment near UF you see similar features, where the hallway is also where you stand to transfer laundry from washer to dryer.
I'd imagine it's coincidental, but I like how your wainscotting lines up with the bottom edge of the dryer!
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