Steamy Retreat

BEFORE

Bathroom remodel by Splash Galleries, 5060 Trademark Drive, Raleigh, NC 27610, 
(919) 719-3333, www.splashgalleries.com

Gary Phillips, owner of Raleigh’s Splash Galleries, says most homeowners who redo their bathroom are tired of the space feeling worn and stale, and want to turn it into an in-home getaway. “Many people want a spa look,” he says. “They want to be able to relax in there.” The couple that owned this bathroom had two kids, and all together, the family was spending a lot of time in there; they wanted to make the space more relaxing and modern.

To start, the pros at Splash Galleries planned a steam shower with a rainwater showerhead extending from the ceiling. They also added a soffit above the shower, connecting the ceiling to the glass walls so steam could be held in. The porcelain tiling on the floor was replaced with natural stone, and they made the entryway level, so the homeowners could walk straight into the shower without hopping over a step (a popular aging-in-place/universal design feature). The shower’s interior was streamlined with ceramic and marble tiling laid in diagonal and listello patterns. A corner seat was added, along with a shampoo niche (so no bottles can be seen from outside the shower), a door that swings both ways and a transom window that can be opened for regular, non-steam showers.

The vanity counter’s previous cultured-marble surface was torn out and replaced with more chic-looking granite, and they even added some listello tiling around the tub for a decorative touch. The flooring was redone, too: “Larger tiles make the bathroom look bigger,” Phillips says, “so the smaller your bathroom, the larger you’ll want your tile to be.” Finally, the bathroom was repainted in a soft off-white to create a warmer atmosphere.