Marin bathroom gets fresh look
Allie Allen and Sasha White go way back. The lifelong friends grew up a block from each other in Mill Valley and now live just a few blocks away from one another in Stinson Beach. But, in 2021, the two became colleagues after starting Shiny Shed Collective, a Mill Valley design firm playfully named after their first collaboration. They focus primarily on residential projects.
White, the firm's lead designer, minored in interior design at the University of Rhode Island but after graduation, pursued a 10-yearlong film production career. It didn't quench her passion for design, though, and three years ago, she moved to Italy to study interior architecture.
Allen, who previously worked in the public relations and marketing end of the entertainment field in New York and Los Angeles, now handles the firm's business side.
“We felt like we could really come at this business with a fresh perspective and find a way to make beautiful design attainable for every budget,” Allen says.
One of their most recent projects was a 40-square-foot bathroom renovation in the Sycamore Park neighborhood of Mill Valley. It was completed in January and was built by Mill Valley's MW General Contracting.
There were “good bones” behind the dated details of the existing bathroom and because the vanity was “right justified against the wall,” they saw the potential for unexpected asymmetrical design choices, White says.
“The clients wanted to keep the same layout of the original bathroom while bringing a more timeless style to the space,” Allen says. “They also wanted to keep the current flooring because it continues into their hallway and kitchen.”
There were some other elements of the room the designers appreciated and wanted to preserve.
“We loved the little niche in the wall to the right of the vanity, so we changed the style but kept it in the new design,” Allen says.
“We also wanted to keep the French doors that connect the bathroom to the laundry room.”
“Anytime we can reuse something existing we try to. This can be a very wasteful industry, so we try to mitigate that any chance that we get,” she adds.
The doors were stripped and stained in a darker shade, giving them more of an aged look.
Initially, the clients wanted to keep the existing off-the-shelf shower stall, too.
However, “as we started presenting the designs, they realized it was time for that shower to go,” White says. “Since it's a corner shower with glass, it is a feature that impacts the whole room and changing out the plastic for this textured organic tile helped transform the space.”
The duo nicely integrated the existing terracotta floor of the room with the shower pan by choosing 2-inch square unglazed natural Zellige tiles, handmade in Morocco, and sourced from Zia Tile.
They chose 4-inch square Zellige tiles at Tile Fever in Sausalito for the shower walls and added a niche for soaps and shampoos.
One of their favorite features, however, is the exposed pipe shower fixture.
“Bringing in that live brass fixture really helps to warm up the space and adds to the organic and timeless feel,” White says. “Something can patina over time and it immediately feels like it belongs and has been there forever. The beautiful worn marble and the patinaed metals all over Italy prove these components won't go out of style.”
Since the existing vanity was too small to provide counter space and was too low for comfort, a taller and wider vanity was specified.
However, the vanity could only be 18 inches deep to accommodate the French doors. The clever
idea of a wall-mounted faucet solved the problem and created enough room for a larger sink.
“The larger vanity really helped to redefine the space,” White says. “Since the vanity is pushed to the right of the wall, we leaned into the asymmetrical space it created. If we had just put a light above the vanity and mirror it would have functioned just fine, but it felt like we would be missing out on a design opportunity.”
By hanging a slightly misshapen mirror and offsetting a single scalloped pendant light over the vanity, “we actually made the room feel more symmetrical,” White says.
They got a good deal on the remnant piece of marble for the countertop, and had enough left over to create shelves for the wall niche.
When it came to the walls, “the bathroom felt like it wanted something more than just a flat paint,” Allen says. “In Europe, you see a lot of plaster walls or textured finishes. By using this roman clay finish, we added more texture to the space without it feeling too busy. “
For a cleaner look, they removed the mouldings
around the wall niche and the cornice area.
“We wanted the paint to continue on the ceiling without a break, which actually makes the ceiling feel taller,” White says.
When it comes to estimating the cost of a similar renovation, she admits it can be difficult.
“HGTV makes things seem easier and much less expensive than they really are, however, if you're looking to do more than just a few cosmetic updates to a bathroom of this size, you should earmark $40,000 to $60,000.”
Besides the materials involved in a renovation, “you lean on many different professionals, from the people who lay the tile to the people who drywall the ceiling,” she says. “They are the ones that help create your dream spaces.”
Keep in mind, too, she adds, “that there will be hiccups and that's OK. Having the right team involved can help you get through the challenges that are hard to navigate without experience.”
Shiny Shed Collective can be found at shinyshedco.com or on Instagram @ShinyShedCo. The studio's number is 415-2330744.
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Don't-miss event
• Learn about the complicated story of family, art and abolition at “If These Walls Could Talk: Art and Abolition on the Walls of a Lowcountry Home,” a talk about a cycle of 1920s scenic wallpaper that was moved from Georgia to North Carolina in the 1970s. It be presented at 1 p.m. in the Dominican University's Creekside Room at 50 Acacia Ave. in San Rafael. RSVP at griffinwallpaper@icloud.com.