Get the Design Details on This Spa-Like Bathroom

One Room – main

James Furman

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Julie Dillon, owner of Ampersand Living, has mastered the art of injecting unique personality into tract homes. In this Carmel Valley home, she applies that skillful touch to the primary bath.

ON A PEDESTAL

“We needed to honor the bathtub,” Dillon explains, because “the owner loves to take her bath.”

One Room – tub

James Furman

So they sourced a vintage pedestal tub and painted it matte black. To create an even bigger statement, they “pulled everything out of the corner so the tub, alone, could live and breathe.”

CLEAN SLATE

Each piece of flooring and tile was purposefully picked in the interest of creating a sanctuary. The slate beneath the tub gave the homeowners a clean foundation to enjoy their space. A curved transition to stone- like flooring for the open shower creates a riverbed feel, and the white walls and tiling throughout the room provide a neutral backdrop.

ORGANIC DIVIDER

The primary bath was “dark and dated” before this redo, and the homeowners wanted the complete opposite of that. So they embraced an open layout, right down to a shower with no barrier between it and the tub. Instead, Dillon created a natural division between the two areas out of “water-loving plants” that could withstand the splash zone and eat up the natural light.

FINISHING TOUCHES

Dillon knows what you’re thinking, and no, that is not technically a bathroom rug. “But why are we restricted by a label?” In her experience, thinking outside the box can often deliver the best finishing touches.

The vanity is another example, as it’s meant to resemble a moveable table rather than a fixed cabinet. Dillon designed it and the homeowner, a contractor, built it.

Ampersand Living

@ampersand_living