Last September, a childhood friend who now lives in the US messaged to ask for help in the remodeling of her bathroom and toilet. She requested a design concept and guidance in the selection of materials.
Design Brief
It was a small space. They have been living in the house for many years and decided to treat themselves to a relaxing refuge after stressful days managing everything, working from home.
Client's Wish: A Spa-like Bathroom
Client's Profile: 40-something married couple, career-oriented, ambiverts, both are accountants with two children.
Preferred Style: Contemporary Modern with Wood Tones
Her non-negotiable requirements are:
- A free-standing bathtub,
- Enclosed shower,
- Wall-hung water closet,
- A storage space,
- Accent niche above the freestanding bathtub
- Towel warmer
They intend to sell their house eventually and move to a bigger one. The bathroom remodeling is aimed to increase the value of their current home.
Before
Design Process
As you might not know, I live on a tropical island in the Philippines. The design coordination was all done online. She has her construction team in place also doing maintenance work in other areas of her home.
We had a Skype chat where we had a walk-through of her space after I received the photographs and a quick measurement sketch of their existing bathroom.
She sent me links to the tile and sanitary-ware depot where she intends to purchase them. They were running a massive sale at that time so we took advantage of that.
I made some conceptual sketches and came up with this:
Proposed Design
I will allow the below drawings to illustrate and narrate the material, furniture, and sanitary fixtures selection.
For the general flooring, I selected wood tones to add some warmth to create the spa vibe while adding an accent floor that matches the horizontal accent wall tiles to elongate the narrow space.
In the ceiling, I wanted to incorporate indirect lighting to avoid glare while enjoying a bath in the freestanding tub.
Material Image Sources: Accent Marble Mosaic Wall Tile / Wall Sconce / Geberit Flush Plate / General Wall Tile / Suspended WC / Porcelain Floor Tile / Shower Floor Tile
We will remove all of the existing sanitary ware and replace the toilet with a wall-hung water closet and concealed cistern. The toilet paper roll holder will be a free-standing accessory. The upper portion will be a concealed overhead cabinet for toiletries.
Toiletries cabinet and niche frame will be in wood-toned laminate on HDF to match the selected Austel Brown wood tile
Material Image Sources:Accent Tile / IKEA plant pot / Wall Tile / Tub Filler with Handshower / Accent Tile Niche / Freestanding Bathtub
We incorporated a niche as the client wanted above the freestanding tub and adjacent to it will be a towel warmer as well as a horizontal mirror.
Image Source: Frameless Shower Enclosure
Others:
- Frameless Mirror -cut to size (ideally beveled )
- Light switches 3-gang dimmable light switch (1 circuit for led ceiling cove light, 1 circuit for wall sconce, 1 circuit for downlight at shower area)
- 1 no. IP 44 downlight (chrome frame or white) warm white 2700K
1 no. Shower Head with Handshower and shower mixer with diverter
Note: The vanity counter is situated along the hallway adjacent to their bedroom and the walk-in closet.
Material Image Sources: Accent Wall / Cabinet Paint Ref / Mushroom Knob / 3" Cup Satin Gold
My husband didn't like the marble mosaic accent tile I selected so to satisfy his request, I have re-rendered it using a different accent tile.
Conclusion
The client was clear on what she wants and that speeded up the process. She gave me a 2-day deadline to complete everything after our Skype chat. I am pleased that the married couple liked the first proposal, hence there were no revisions.
The sad part however is, I don't think they have proceeded with the design. When I asked her about it, they've changed their mind and decided to cut down costs on the renovation of their existing bathroom since they bought another house a few weeks later, which was sooner than planned.
Disappointing as it may have been to put all efforts into drawing and creating in such a short period of time, I just charged it to the learning experience and to practice rendering skills.
Thank you for reading and for reaching this far in my post. What about you? What are your non-negotiable needs for your own bathroom? Which style would you go for and how would you like them to be?
"I create spaces that tastefully marry function and aesthetics. I intend to immerse myself in beauty not only by tangible objects but also by the unseen." -
Curiosity and imagination lead to unexpected experiences. Interested in Nature, Places, anything French, International Cuisine, and Architecture + Interior Design. Co-founder of Architecture + Design Community. Feel free to follow her, re-blog, and upvote if you enjoy her content.
Wow, you organized a great design in such a short time @discoveringarni. It is much easier when the client clearly knows what he wants. I have a different situation. We are currently actively renovating our house and hiring a designer. And it's a little difficult for me as a client to decide what I want, because there are so many interesting options. I hope my designer will be patient.😂
Really very cozy bath came out. It was very cool to place everything. A Enclosed shower is great. It is a pity that they decided to renovate the old bath instead of installing a new free-standing bath. In fact, I also wanted a free-standing bathtub bath, but there are quite expensive options so I do not know yet.
Hello @bugavi, how have you been? I'm thrilled and excited for you, for your house renovation! Just collect images of interiors or furniture that you like and present them to your designer. This would already be a big help. All the best to your project and hopefully you could share them here one day? 😁
Thanks for the advice, so I'm on the right track.
Of course, as soon as I have something to show, I'll share immediately.✨ :)
We look forward to that 😊
Amazing master!
Hello @feiderman, awesome thanks!
Thats an amazing proposal you created. It looks beautiful. Thats a lot of work you did for them, hopefully they appreciate it.
Hello @leaky20, thank you, it means a lot to hear that. I truly hope so, it seems like they did.
Great work😃
Hi @fruityfruitz, it's so nice to hear that, thank you 😀
You’re welcome. 😃🎶
Taking care of client's personal choices to their non- negotiable needs, you did it all well.
The details are worth noticing from the cabinet nob to shower head, everything is detailed. as disappointed as it feels to not get executed, anyways it might have bring some good knowledge.
That's appreciable content, keep posting 😄
Hi Praditya, it was fun working on it going through various websites to find the missing pieces of the puzzle 😄. Thank you for your meaningful comment and for appreciating the content.
Well deserved appreciation. 😄
It's just a bathroom, and look at how it entails so many details, factors, and considerations! But the result? - a remarkable masterpiece indeed! Aside from the online coordination with the client (which I think was also not easy), what was your most challenging aspect when designing/building this space?
Firstly, thank you, you made me happy with your comment. I was uneasy showing my work but at the last minute decided to go for it.
One of the challenging aspects of doing work remotely is not being involved in the actual construction process. There's very little control from the designer's point of view. Another challenge is the FF&E sourcing. Even though all of the information is almost available online. Not being able to touch the materials and rely on the colors selected on
screen undeniably affects the end result of the build.
Very well said, thank you Arni!
I don't mind having a small bathroom but it needs to be well oriented. I like the texture and tiles pattern you have used to incorporate with the design. Sometimes I feel clients demand too much and my boss used to say clients are always right lol... I like the entire plan layout and how the entire plan turned out :)
Hello Priyan, thank you for your kind words, it's validating to hear that. Small bathrooms are a challenge but there was an even smaller bathroom that I detailed for an architect friend's home in Europe which fit everything. Haha, bosses always say clients are always right. 😄
That made me curious, can you tell me the SFT if you don't mind, I mean the total area of the small bathroom that you have designed for your friend...
Hi Priyan, let me dig through my files... the bathroom is 24.3 Square Ft. It has a shower enclosure, a wall-hung WC, and a lavatory with a towel warmer.
24.3 SFT!! AH very small, 25 SFT always seems small to me so obviously 24.3 is small but shower enclosure is the best solution I think...
It's the smallest shower enclosure I've ever encountered. Haha, similar to some I've experienced showering in a few low-cost hotels during road trips in France. The corner shower has 2 sliding doors instead of a swing door to save on space.
Sliding doors - Hmm That's a great idea because swing doors take a lot of space but I am sure it was so challenging to arrange everything in 24 SFT. Reminds me of shopping complex wash room ideas :P
I can't believe all that detailed hardwork wasn't implemented, SAD.
I really loved the combination of accent tile and wood on floor. Renders turned out great which software did you used for it?
Thanks, Sahiba it's great to hear you like the combination. I'll show your comment to my husband lol. I modeled in Sketchup and tried Twinmotion to compare it with V-ray. So far, I'm enjoying it. It's really quick to render.
Twinmotion turned out surprisingly good. That combination is great, let him know lol!
Great work, have a lovely week:)
Thank you haha, I just showed him the screen and he smiled. Have a great week to you too
Congratulations @discoveringarni! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Your next target is to reach 2500 replies.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOPCheck out the last post from @hivebuzz: