She loves to soak and he enjoys to steam and one of these was getting what they really wanted out of the master bathroom with its drafty window, dated fixtures, whirlpool shower and bathtub too large to be functional. This husband and wife wanted a personal and private space that felt like a modern resort spa, but using traditional touches. The outcome is a luxe and comfortable room that functions both of these as a fantasy escape at the end of a long day.
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with two young daughters
Location: Beverly, Massachusetts
Size: Around 142 square feet
Megan Meyers Interiors
The 1990s structure was cold in temperature and style. Designer Megan Meyers took the room all the way down. “Unfortunately, in the 1990s a lot of building was not as concerned with tight envelopes such as we are today, so it was quite inefficient,” she says. Additionally, until she could get started on the fun things, the room had improved insulation, as it is situated above the garage.
The cold tile floors used to produce the homeowners dread going into the bathroom barefoot. Now the floors have radiant heat and also a new baseboard heating system. Meyers also substituted the drafty window using a new efficient one from Anderson Windows.
The floors look like marble but are ceramic tile. She chose quartz in Arabescato Verde to your shower brink to avoid tough-to-clean grout lines and because the green in the veining picks on the greens in the stained glass tiles.
Megan Meyers Interiors
A sizable vanity offers plenty of storage and also his-and-her sinks. The mirrors open to medicine cabinets and are mirrored on both sides. Crystal knobs add a little bling.
Vanity: Bertch; dressing table complete: Shale (the color is much lighter than it looks in this photograph); stained glass tiles: Vihara, Sonoma Tilemakers
Megan Meyers Interiors
Another large item on the spouse’s wish list was background, which is not a sensible idea in a room which has a steam shower (the newspaper starts to peel off from your stitches when exposed to too much steam). Meyers commissioned handsome artist Kasia Mirowska of Miro Art and Design to complete a unique stencil treatment which has a metallic background, glazing and a final coat of varnish. The owners may wipe condensation right from the beautifully stenciled walls.
Megan Meyers Interiors
Meyers additional picture-frame molding beneath the stenciled walls due to the 12-foot ceilings. “The molding attracts the room down to an individual level and is fitting with the toilet’s modernized traditional style,” she says.
Among the spouse’s leading wish list things was a chandelier with some bling. The James Moder Florale Chandelier adds traditional crystal in a whimsical floral style.
Megan Meyers Interiors
“The homeowners like to sail and also are attracted to decadent colors; I sourced this stained glass tile, and they fell in love with it,” Meyers says. She used 1- from 3-inch tiles on the backsplash and floor, then chose the 1/2- by-1-inch size in the exact same tile to the shower.
The counter is Italian Okite quartz, which looks like marble.
Faucets: Sigma; mirrors: Robern
Megan Meyers Interiors
BEFORE: The husband dreamed of a steam shower with lots of room instead of this standard shower.
Megan Meyers Interiors
BEFORE: The old tub was over 7 ft long and jetted. The couple used it in the 2 decades since they moved in. Well, that is not exactly true; they did fill it with balls to produce a ball pit to get both daughters — the bathtub was that large.
Megan Meyers Interiors
AFTER: Meyers borrowed space from the oversize tub surround to expand the shower stall, making it a 5- by 5-foot space.
Megan Meyers Interiors
Rather than a full wall between the bathtub and shower as seen in the earlier pictures, there are two large panes of glass. The center piece provides room for the plumbing and fittings. “Creating these two large ‘windows’ opened the shower to the light along with the views,” Meyers says.
The husband got the steam shower he’d needed so much.
Fixtures: Sigma
Megan Meyers Interiors
Meanwhile, the spouse’s fantasy of a large soaking tub, no jets required, came true on the other side. While initially she had pictured a cast iron claw-foot bathtub, Meyers steered her from Victoria and Albert’s Volcanic Limestone Collection because it holds heat better.
There’s also a European heated towel bar between the bathtub and the shower (not pictured). Window treatments in a quatrefoil pattern up the comfy factor and supply privacy.
Padding barefoot round the heated floors for a luxurious soak or a steam is a fantasy come true to the couple.
Baseboard heater (beneath window): Runtal; curtain fabric: Corralillo in Seaspray, Fabricut; side table: Worlds Away
More: Steam Showers Bring a Beloved Spa Feature Home