How We Took this Dated Bathroom From Majorly Cramped to Large & Spacious

Today we're taking a look at the primary bathroom in our recent Alger Bungalow renovation project. If you missed it, we recently blogged both the kitchen and dinging room spaces, so once you're finished here, pop over to those posts and take a look at these playful spaces!

So let's dive in! This bathroom was probably the most lacking in function or design sense of all the spaces in the house. If you thought the kitchen was bad, just wait until you see the bathroom...

// BEFORE //

The space was incredibly cramped. When you walked through the door, you found yourself in a teeny tiny entry with another door to a small linen closet. While I appreciate the thought, the closet took up all the prime real estate in the bathroom. It had to go!

There was peeling laminate on the floors, an old pedestal sink, and of course, zero counter space. The tub and shower tile were dated and beginning to rust, so we decided this would be a complete gut job—woo hoo!

Our plan was to open up the entry to the bathroom by removing the linen closet in addition to the arched wall. We'd regain the necessary storage with a large, custom vanity and shelving, and this would open up the space to make it feel significantly larger. This would also prevent the awkwardness of the entry door and linen door knocking into each other.

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// AFTER //

This client LOVES color, so we went with a bold teal on the vanity with black, gold, and chrome accents throughout. We chose to do a furniture base on the vanity so that we could run the tile below it, which helps make a small room feel more spacious.

For our floor, we chose a black penny tile—a nod to the classic style of the house while choosing a more modern color palette.

The floating shelves above provided warmth to the space while being a perfect storage solution for our client's frequently used items, and they also allow her to keep the countertop clear and clean. Unlike the linen closet, the vanity also provides a ton of practical and easy-to-access storage.

// BEFORE //

// AFTER //

In the shower, we chose a tub with modern lines and as large as we could possibly go in the space. We went with a classic subway tile on the walls—which ties into the kitchen backsplash—and repeated the floor tile in the large, long shower niche for a playful contrast to the white walls. I love how the combination of tile textures, shapes, and tones plays with the bright chrome fixtures.

On the walls, we repeated the same warm off-white (Drift of Mist, Sherwin Williams) we used in the living, dining, and kitchen, and our client found a beautiful piece of organic inspired artwork that tied in the teal color of the vanity.

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// AFTER //

// BEFORE + AFTER //

// AFTER //

The Wrap Up

This bathroom is a perfect example of how to maximize the footprint of your room to make a space feel much, much larger. We didn't move any major walls or expand into another space—we simply reworked the footprint we already had to feel way bigger. That's what I call design magic!

Our builder for this project was one of our favorites: Katt Design and Carpentry. They did a wonderful job bringing our vision to life!

Stay tuned for our reveal of the living room space in this project as well, and if you missed the previous spaces, don't fret! Follow these links to the kitchen and dining room reveals and check out the rest of this playful home!

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Work with Lauren Figueroa Interior Design

LFID is a full-service interior design firm serving West and Southeast Michigan known especially for our Designed in a Day service.

We work with clients from Detroit to Novi to Clarkston, and Grand Rapids to Holland to Traverse City—and anywhere in between! We pride ourselves on creating bespoke, people-centered spaces—because after all, people are what this life is all about!

If you have a project on the horizon, get started by telling us about your vision here, and you can view past projects here. Thanks for stopping by!