As part of the design of the first floor in this luxury townhome, we are tackling a small but impactful space: the powder room.

I love designing powder rooms because the possibilities are endless and clients are more willing to take risks in a small space that nobody has to live in for extended periods of time :)

Powder rooms are an opportunity to hide a little WOW factor in your home for your guests to discover, and they often turn out to be real favorites of guests and homeowners alike.

Existing Conditions

As with most builder homes, even luxury ones, this powder room is bland at best. This home has abundant windows and 10’ ceilings, but in the 5’ x 5’ windowless half bath, those amenities are completely lost.

With chalk white walls, ceilings twice the height of the width of the room and generic fixtures, this room was giving more ‘depressing elevator shaft’ than an elegant powder room befitting the family.

Design Solutions

Our clients wanted to add some hidden storage for things like extra toilet paper and soap. They also wanted to elevate the look.

I suggested colors drawn from the palette we are using for the rest of the public rooms - blues and greens - to tie this room into a cohesive look for the main floor public spaces.

We offered 3 wall covering options with similar color palettes but distinctly different personalities.

Correction the proportions of a room that is taller than it is wide can be accomplished with the addition of some millwork to break the room into horizontal strata.

Painting the millwork, a custom vanity for storage, wall panels, and ceiling all in a dramatic green plucked from the patterned wall covering adds elegance.

Wall covering in blues and greens fills the upper panels. The panel over the vanity is fitted with mirror instead of wall covering and mounting the light fixture on the mirror effectively doubles the light.

Classic marble or marble-look quartz forms the vanity top and a shaped backsplash. Gold metal accents complement the blue and green tones.