Bathroom of the Week: Bold Midcentury Style in 70 Square Feet
A designer updates a dated pink-and-floral bathroom with a walnut vanity, geometric tile and a frameless glass shower
This young Oregon couple wanted to make the only bathroom on the main floor of their 1950s ranch-style home welcoming and functional for them and their three kids. That meant replacing an abundance of floral wallpaper and pink tile with a fresh new look and opening up a cramped shower-tub combo enclosed by frosted glass.
For help transforming the dated space, they hired designer Natalie Pozzesi. They realized the shower-tub concept wasn’t working and decided to ditch the tub for a more spacious frameless glass shower with a handheld wand that gives the kids something easy to use. That decision allowed for a larger custom rift-sawn walnut double vanity that improves on storage and style. And speaking of style, bright blue tile in a geometric pattern spans an entire wall, punching up the design with a midcentury look that nods to the era of the home.
For help transforming the dated space, they hired designer Natalie Pozzesi. They realized the shower-tub concept wasn’t working and decided to ditch the tub for a more spacious frameless glass shower with a handheld wand that gives the kids something easy to use. That decision allowed for a larger custom rift-sawn walnut double vanity that improves on storage and style. And speaking of style, bright blue tile in a geometric pattern spans an entire wall, punching up the design with a midcentury look that nods to the era of the home.
After: Pozzesi took the bathroom down to the studs and replaced the shower-tub combo with a spacious low-curb shower with a frameless glass enclosure that gives the layout some breathing room. This move also freed up space for the new double vanity in rift-sawn walnut with slab fronts, a nod to midcentury modern style.
“Walnut was sticking with the midcentury theme and era-appropriate,” Pozzesi says. “We also wanted to bring in some contrast since the homeowners knew they wanted white countertops and other white elements.”
Pozzesi placed cabinets beneath each sink and, below those, a drawer. “Normally when you do a drawer under a sink, it’s usually just a false panel,” Pozzesi says. “By reconfiguring it this way, it gives them more storage and the drawers are also in reach for the kids.”
Spanning the entire vanity wall and into the shower is 8-inch blue hexagonal porcelain tile with a geometric pattern. “We originally knew we wanted to do some type of geometric tile,” Pozzesi says. “We started out with something pretty plain, but it felt sterile. This pattern stuck with the midcentury theme but also modernized it.”
Elsewhere, glossy white 3-by-12-inch ceramic tiles in a herringbone pattern add a subtle design and help enhance light from a new vanity light and recessed ceiling lights. “Those tiles specifically have some texture to them, so they’re not completely flat,” Pozzesi says. “The herringbone pattern adds interest and gives some direction to the wall.”
Cabinet pulls: Jute bar pull in Brushed, Kohler; vanity light: LED Bath Bar in brushed nickel, Kichler
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“Walnut was sticking with the midcentury theme and era-appropriate,” Pozzesi says. “We also wanted to bring in some contrast since the homeowners knew they wanted white countertops and other white elements.”
Pozzesi placed cabinets beneath each sink and, below those, a drawer. “Normally when you do a drawer under a sink, it’s usually just a false panel,” Pozzesi says. “By reconfiguring it this way, it gives them more storage and the drawers are also in reach for the kids.”
Spanning the entire vanity wall and into the shower is 8-inch blue hexagonal porcelain tile with a geometric pattern. “We originally knew we wanted to do some type of geometric tile,” Pozzesi says. “We started out with something pretty plain, but it felt sterile. This pattern stuck with the midcentury theme but also modernized it.”
Elsewhere, glossy white 3-by-12-inch ceramic tiles in a herringbone pattern add a subtle design and help enhance light from a new vanity light and recessed ceiling lights. “Those tiles specifically have some texture to them, so they’re not completely flat,” Pozzesi says. “The herringbone pattern adds interest and gives some direction to the wall.”
Cabinet pulls: Jute bar pull in Brushed, Kohler; vanity light: LED Bath Bar in brushed nickel, Kichler
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Brushed nickel faucets coordinate with other brushed nickel finishes in the room. Blue-gray wall paint (Passive by Sherwin-Williams) complements the blue wall tile.
The marble-look quartz countertop is an easy-to-maintain surface that works with the design approach. “We wanted something in keeping with the midcentury look,” Pozzesi says. “It’s very common in midcentury to have a white top. We didn’t want anything to overshadow the geometric tile, and wanted just a bit of movement there.”
A custom medicine cabinet features interior wood shelves and two electrical outlets.
Countertop: El Statuario, Silestone by Cosentino; sinks: Ladena in white, Kohler; faucets: Genta in brushed nickel, Moen
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity: Your Step-by-Step Guide
The marble-look quartz countertop is an easy-to-maintain surface that works with the design approach. “We wanted something in keeping with the midcentury look,” Pozzesi says. “It’s very common in midcentury to have a white top. We didn’t want anything to overshadow the geometric tile, and wanted just a bit of movement there.”
A custom medicine cabinet features interior wood shelves and two electrical outlets.
Countertop: El Statuario, Silestone by Cosentino; sinks: Ladena in white, Kohler; faucets: Genta in brushed nickel, Moen
How to Choose a Bathroom Vanity: Your Step-by-Step Guide
The quartz countertop extends in a waterfall design along the glass enclosure and joins the shower curb, made of the same quartz.
The shower features a rain head mounted in the ceiling and a hand-held shower head on the wall, both in a brushed nickel finish. “The hand shower you see on the wall is adjustable,” Pozzesi says. “I think they realized they were giving up a tub and wanted something that was adjustable for the kids. The overhead shower gives them that luxury feel.”
The shower also includes a portable teak bench and a niche for products, backed in the same glossy white tile in a herringbone pattern. “On the top part of the niche we routed in an LED strip light that highlights the movement in that herringbone tile nicely,” Pozzesi says.
Shower fixtures: Cia, Moen
The shower features a rain head mounted in the ceiling and a hand-held shower head on the wall, both in a brushed nickel finish. “The hand shower you see on the wall is adjustable,” Pozzesi says. “I think they realized they were giving up a tub and wanted something that was adjustable for the kids. The overhead shower gives them that luxury feel.”
The shower also includes a portable teak bench and a niche for products, backed in the same glossy white tile in a herringbone pattern. “On the top part of the niche we routed in an LED strip light that highlights the movement in that herringbone tile nicely,” Pozzesi says.
Shower fixtures: Cia, Moen
An LED light strip under the vanity gives the cabinet a floating effect. “We wanted that luxury bathroom feel, and it also doubles as a nightlight for the kids,” Pozzesi says.
The heated bathroom floor is 12-by-24-inch gray wood-look porcelain tile. “We wanted to play off the other colors and have the floor be neutral and not distract from the other details,” Pozzesi says.
The device you see on the wall by the window is the electronic control for the floor heat.
The heated bathroom floor is 12-by-24-inch gray wood-look porcelain tile. “We wanted to play off the other colors and have the floor be neutral and not distract from the other details,” Pozzesi says.
The device you see on the wall by the window is the electronic control for the floor heat.
Before: This photo taken from inside the former shower-tub combo shows the toilet area across from the vanity. While the toilet was in good shape, the cabinet above it had water damage. “It was too high for them also,” Pozzesi says.
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
New to home remodeling? Learn the basics
After: The family kept the toilet but added a new custom cabinet and open shelf that coordinate with the vanity. “There’s an outlet inside for the speaker you see on the shelf there,” Pozzesi says. “There’s also adjustable shelves inside where they can store towels and an overflow supply of toilet paper.”
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Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple with three kids
Location: Corvallis, Oregon
Size: 70 square feet (6.5 square meters)
Designer: Natalie Pozzesi of Thayer Design Build
Before: Although the family has a full bathroom in a finished basement, this bathroom is the only one on the main floor. In the former space, shown here, shabby pink tile, floral wallpaper and inadequate lighting made for a busy and drab look. The wallpaper was peeling in some spots, and the doors and drawers on the worn wood vanity didn’t work properly.
Plus, for this family of five, a single sink wasn’t cutting it. And the enclosed shower-tub combo was a pain to use. “Bathing kids in that tub made it really difficult,” Pozzesi says. “It was hard to reach in and get in and out of the tub.”