Modern Black and White Bathroom Reveal

I’m excited to share my latest project with you guys- a modern black and white bathroom in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood. My client had a lovely, spacious 3 bedroom condo with an equally spacious master bath that needed some major help. I secretly love working on builder grade bathrooms because the after is so satisfying. There’s a special place in hell for those voluptuous jet bathtubs and that omnipresent 12”x12” manila tile.

The bathroom was bright and spacious, but it had a giant jet tub with a shower and then another tiny standing shower on the opposite side, making no sense visually and leaving no room for additional storage. The client had taken to using the bathtub as storage and just look at that listless shower head.

And here is the AFTER!

Photo by Margaret Rajic

The larger walk in shower is luxurious with a rain head shower, hand shower and body jets. The client wasn’t afraid of high contrast so opted for a black and white palette and added interest and variation with the tile layout.

If you’re going to do something more elaborate with your tile layout, make sure you’ve vetted whoever will be doing the labor. Not every tiler can pull off getting a herringbone pattern straight when walls are rarely level. I worked closely with my tiler to come up with solutions for framing the window and laying out the shower niche, which is a great pop.

shout out to Kristen Ess for her choice in product colors!

Since we limited our palette to black, white and marble, I had to make sure I had a good balance of each throughout the space. In addition to the black vanity, we brought in a black storage cabinet from Room and Board and filled it with textured storage baskets and towels, plants and art.

With a high contrast palette and graphic tile layout, I knew I needed to add in some curvy elements. I did this with the mirrors and vanity hardware. Adding oval or rounded rectangle mirrors over a large double vanity is a great way to soften a space that is lacking the plushness that comes with upholstered furniture and textiles.

Here’s a great straight on view of the new spacious shower.

No project of mine would be complete without pops of bold color and some fun accessories so I’ve got to share this detail shot.

During this extra time at home, I know we will all be looking at our spaces with a more critical eye. I’d love to hear from you and what you’d like to change. Schedule your complimentary discovery call with me and I’ll help you develop a plan for moving forward with your project and let you know how I can help!