Northwestern Compact Bathroom
Bathrooms | Custom Cabinetry | Remodels
Marilyn loved her Northwest-style home and planned to stay for good, but her small hall bathroom was holding her back. A tub-and-shower unit and a narrow 30-inch door made it hard to use, and the room felt cramped and out of step with the rest of the house.
Working with our designer Elizabeth, Marilyn reimagined the bathroom without changing its footprint. The new design includes a curbless roll-in shower, a wider pocket door and plenty of built-in storage. It’s now fully wheelchair accessible, and it looks like it has always been part of her home.
The Challenge
The bathroom needed to become accessible within the same compact footprint and with minimal plumbing changes. It also had to reflect the character of a home with distinctive details throughout, including unique light switch covers, an elm tree etched into the glass of Marilyn’s primary bathroom, and custom wood lintels her husband had built over every door and window. Because the room sits next to the laundry and the main backyard door, it also had to handle linen storage and outdoor cleanup.
Our Approach
We replaced the tub with a doorless, curbless roll-in shower and finished the floor and baseboard in porcelain tile, so any water that escapes can’t damage the finishes. A 36-inch pocket door replaced the old hinged door, and a larger light-wood vanity, a built-in linen cabinet and a custom recessed medicine cabinet added storage without crowding the room.
To tie the bathroom to the rest of the house, our designer suggested a pine tree graphic for the shower glass, echoing the elm tree in Marilyn’s primary bath. Marilyn chose from three custom designs, and the final graphic was printed onto the glass by Davis Glass in Albany. A cedar tongue-and-groove ceiling carries the home’s wood-panel character into the room. Our finish carpenter, Gavin, identified the wood species and design of the husband’s lintels and recreated one for the new pocket door.
The Result
Marilyn now has a hall bathroom she can use with ease for years to come. It feels larger than before, even in the same footprint, and its details make it look original to the house.
Slide the green circle left and right to see before and after.
Accessible Floor Plan within a Compact Bathroom
The motivation behind this remodel was to make this bathroom more accessible for the homeowner to live-in-place in her forever home. With minimal plumbing changes, the designer kept the footprint the same but replaced the existing tub/shower unit with a curbless roll-in shower without a door for easy shower access. The flooring and baseboard are porcelain tile so the minimal amounts of water that escape from the shower will cause no damage to any of the bathroom finishes. Additionally, the existing 30-inch wide hinged door was replaced with a 36-inch wide pocket door. This bathroom is now completely wheelchair accessible!
“G. Christianson Construction has completed two remodel projects in my home, both with stellar results. They were very good at solving problems, explaining options, costs, and potential solutions, and I always felt comfortable asking questions. I always knew when and what was going to be happening, and everyone on the crew was easy to work with (and have around!). I highly recommend them because of the high quality of work, they are easy to work with, responsive to concerns, and always available for any follow-up.”
Marilyn Erway
Corvallis, OR
Custom Glass Panel
The homeowner loved the idea of a pine tree design imprinted on the single piece of glass for the shower as a statement piece for the bathroom. The designer proposed 3 different custom tree design graphic options, and the final selection was digitally ceramic printed onto the glass by Davis Glass in Albany, OR.
Unique Millwork
One of the unique characteristics that give this house its charming quality is the custom lintel design that was built and installed on every door and window throughout the home by the homeowner’s husband over the last 10 years. Gavin, one of our finish carpenters identified the wood species and design of the lintel to re-create it for the new pocket door casing that was installed in this bathroom.
Cedar Tongue & Groove Ceiling Paneling
The homeowner wanted to remove all the old wood paneling around the living room because it made the room feel dark despite the significant amounts of glass that is located in this room. As a result, we provided an updated version of the wood-panel characteristic of the home by installing a clear natural cedar tongue and groove ceiling in this bathroom. The tree graphic, custom door lintel piece, and ceiling paneling are the key elements to this bathroom design feeling like the perfect fit for this home!
Custom Recessed Medicine Cabinet
This hall bathroom is located right next to the main backyard access and therefore, we installed a deeper vanity sink and high-arc sink faucet in order to provide a multi-use space for cleaning any small outdoor tools. Between the vanity light and the lower-than-average ceiling height, a clever solution was needed to make the cabinet functional and proportional to the room. The designer and cabinet maker proposed a recessed medicine cabinet with construction a bit different from standard. The external wood frame for the mirror adheres to the wall and the glass mirror piece is the door that opens and closes in order to clear the high-arch sink faucet, with thin finger pull hardware installed to disappear visually.
Laundry Storage
The homeowner has always stored laundry in this room, as it is close to the washer and dryer. We proposed a built-in linen cabinet with adjustable shelves to provide maximum flexibility in storage options.
Low-Iron Glass Panel
Because the edge of this glass panel is never hidden with a door or a wall, we opted for the low-iron glass option, which changes the glass edge color from seafoam green to sky blue. The color change fits in better with the color palette of this bathroom design and thus does not draw attention to the glass edge.
