BATHROOM REDO PICKS UP PINK
After redoing the kitchen of her circa 1920s home in pinks, designer Tiffany Pratt embarked on bringing a similar palette to a bathroom makeover. Too much pink, you wonder? Says Pratt: ‘A lot of women grow out of pink. Not me. I have not given it up. I lo
NOW: Pratt was unconcerned that combining detailed, hand-painted floor tiles and an “almost cartoonish” hand-screened wallpaper from Flavor Paper would lead to pattern overkill. “I went with the philosophy that if there is a lot to look at, people will not pay attention to how small the space is.” A custom-sized floating cabinet from KraftMaid added storage, and a glass shower enclosure used on a low-profile tub from Mirolin enhances a sense of open space. Playful pinks tint an ombre film for the window, and a custom-cut heart-shaped mirror from Classic Glass and Mirror adds a whimsical touch.
THEN: Obtrusive, light-limiting walls banking the tub made the five-by-seven-foot bathroom seem even smaller than it was. There was no storage, so the tiny sink was easily cluttered with grooming gear. On the bright side, while taking out the back wall to retile, Pratt discovered another panel to an exterior window, which doubled the available light.
WALL ART: Wall art comes from an unexpected source — a gift-shop bag from a long-ago visit to the Madonna Inn. (Located in California between San Francisco and Los Angeles, the hotel is famous for its colourful and flamboyant decor.) Pratt encased the souvenir in a shadow box with a wide white border, which she felt provided a visual counterweight to the pure white expanse of the shower wall. “It’s perfect, with the gold and shades of pink. It cost almost nothing and it proves that art doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to visually work.”
FAUCET: A jewelry-inspired faucet in a Champagne bronze from Delta’s Vero collection has sleek curves that reference art deco and Old Hollywood. Minimalist lines and a sophisticated matte finish offer a crisp contrast to the sweet pinks, and a single-lever design frees up space on a floating cabinet finished in glossy white. Matching fixtures have been used in the shower/tub enclosure, a similar brushed gold tone has been echoed in a lighting fixture above the sink, and is repeated again in the fasteners for the glass shower panel. FLOOR TILES: Hand-painted floor tiles from Mettro appealed to Pratt partly because, she says, they “look like someone did them with Sharpie markers. And since the wallpaper looks a bit like someone sketched the pattern on the wall, they are speaking the same type of language.” Bold black lines — both curved and straight — create graphic interest, while repeated diamond shapes are a dusty pink, similar to a tone found in the wallpaper, and further tie the two together.