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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: South Minneapolis, Minnesota
Size: 225 square feet (21 square meters)
Design-build firm: Bluestem Remodeling
The kitchen features custom Shaker-style cabinets in a mix of black and wood units. Polished gold-tone knobs and pulls add refined accents. “The clients were really interested in not having a monolithic look with their cabinetry,” says Mark Ferraro-Hauck, director of design at Bluestem Remodeling. “I love the repeated black throughout the room, but it’s not a black kitchen.”
Wide-plank white oak flooring has a special sealer that preserves its natural, unfinished appearance. “It integrates really well with the rest of the house, giving it a consistent flow,” Ferraro-Hauck says. “We didn’t want the kitchen to feel completely separate from the rest of the house.”
A large sliding glass door opens the kitchen to the patio and backyard. “Their backyard is their summer living room,” Ferraro-Hauck says. A double-hung window on the same wall adds another source of daylight and fresh air.
Custom cabinetry: Sean’s Cabinetry
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The owners brought in trusted designer Laura O’Brien of O’Brien Harris, who had designed two other kitchens for them in the past. The first kitchen she designed for them was classic white, while the second featured dramatic black. “This time they were ready for something entirely different — a moody, colorful space that embraces color in a way that feels timeless and unexpected,” O’Brien says. The new kitchen nods to the building’s industrial history and its elegant facade.
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When it came time to refresh their dated primary bathroom, this retired Keller, Texas, couple turned to a familiar face. Three years earlier, they’d found design-build pro Chris Chumbley on Houzz and hired him to update the kitchen in their 2006 traditional-style home. Now they called him back to tackle the bathroom’s outdated finishes and cramped layout.
Seeking better function and a high-end look, the couple envisioned a more open, airy layout with ample storage and a spacious shower. Chumbley, who uses Houzz Pro software, delivered with a sleek, curbless shower free of glass or doors, a custom white oak double vanity with all-drawer storage and an elegant freestanding tub that enhances the sense of space. Soft neutral tiles and refined details complete the calm, luxurious retreat.
Before Photo
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A retired couple
Location: Keller, Texas
Size: 200 square feet (19 square meters)
Design-build pro: Chris Chumbley of USI Design & Remodeling
Before: The bathroom, with its tall cove ceiling, skylight, taupe walls and abundant light brown tile, felt dated and divided. Two separate single vanities with oval sinks — including the husband’s smaller one seen here — occupied opposite walls, while a corner shower beside the vanity felt squeezed in. “They wanted a walk-in shower with a wider entry,” Chumbley says. “They also didn’t want any glass in the shower, so we had to create a much larger footprint.”
An arched doorway by the shower led to the wife’s dressing room, home office and laundry area. Across from the shower, a tiled deck surrounded an oval tub, part of which is visible at right. The homeowners wanted to incorporate the water closet in the new design.
Durable marble-look porcelain tiles wrap the shower walls and enclosure, setting a luxe tone. The shower includes both a fixed head and a hand shower in satin brass. A long niche with matching satin brass Schluter trim keeps hair and body products organized, while a built-in bench offers a relaxing spot. Beige matte porcelain floor tiles slope gently toward a linear drain in front of the bench to keep water contained.
A new white oak double linen cabinet now stands where one of the old vanities sat, coordinating with the updated double vanity (see below). “It’s a 24-inch-deep cabinet that’s nice and spacious,” Chumbley says. “We put organizational racks on the inside of the doors too. It’s very functional in terms of zones for storing what you need.”
Wall tile: Golden Reverie, 12 by 24 inches, Daltile; floor tile: Reside USA in beige, Arizona Tile
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Before Photo
The white vanities, with white-framed mirrors and dated lights,
had limited storage. A double linen cabinet appears here to the right of the wife’s vanity. “Because the other vanity was going away, we wanted a larger scale for the double vanity on this wall,” Chumbley says. A door partially visible at right leads to the husband’s closet.
A Cristallo quartzite countertop and backsplash deliver durability and drama. The rare natural stone features a white base with bold gold veining, orange and gray flecks and subtle translucency. A mitered edge enhances the countertop’s hefty look.
Wall, ceiling and trim paint: Modern Gray, Sherwin-Williams
What to Consider When Choosing a Bathroom Vanity
Faucets: Skylar in satin brass, Newport Brass; sconces: Lanza in brushed bronze, Hinkley
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Medicine cabinets: Krugg Reflections
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Before Photo
Before: The oval jetted tub sat in a tiled deck with sharp corners. “They just didn’t like the deck design and wanted a freestanding tub,” Chumbley says. A shallow arched niche above the tub was painted green.
Chumbley expanded and squared off the former niche to create an accent wall clad in 13-by-39-inch fluted ceramic tiles featuring a crisp white background with soft taupe and gray veining and touches of gold. “That particular tile is art to us,” Chumbley says. “We made the accent wall taller to separate it from the arched doorway next to it. Also, cutting those fluted tiles on a straight line is easier than a radius. It gives you a more successful and cleaner outcome.”
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Everything about the new shower makes life easier. It’s zero-threshold, with no curb to step over, and the barn-style glass door glides smoothly on a track. “It also has a large handle that’s easy for arthritic hands to pull,” Greenberg says. A towel bar on the door keeps things within easy reach.
The wife selected a botanical wallpaper that ties into the nature-inspired motifs of the Craftsman era. The tile design also stays true to the period. “My clients wanted traditional 3-by-5-inch subway tile, but we had to look quite hard for just the right cap. This one isn’t too clunky and has a profile that they liked,” Greenberg says.
The floor features matte white hexagonal tiles for maximum traction. “All the original bathroom floors in the house are white hex with black accents and we continued that pattern here,” Greenberg says. A slim black pencil tile around the room ties it all together. The many grout lines add slip resistance — another thoughtful aging-in-place feature.
Keeping the bathroom warm through Massachusetts winters was a key priority. The team refinished the original radiator, giving it a fresh look while retaining its powerful heat output. “That radiator pumps out a lot of heat and they love it,” Greenberg says.
The bath also includes a ceiling-light-fan-heater combo, a feature the homeowners appreciated in the original room. To make the space more energy-efficient, Greenberg’s team padded out the exterior wall for extra insulation and replaced the old window with a historically appropriate reproduction.
Wallpaper: April Blossom, York Wallcoverings
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These Bellevue, Washington, homeowners wanted a kitchen as fun and relaxed as they are — full of color, pattern and personality. For 18 years, they lived with a small, dark, U-shaped kitchen with aging honey oak cabinets and no island, hardly a source of joy in their 1979 transitional-style home. The eating area had great light but was cut off by a peninsula. With one son in college and another in high school, the couple were ready for something brighter, more open and designed for gathering, complete with a spacious island, ample storage and a few surprises.
To help bring their vision to life — and to rethink the unused formal dining room off the kitchen — they turned to designer Erin Etchemendy of 31E Designs and to Houzz photos for inspiration. Removing the peninsula and dining room wall expanded the footprint by 121 square feet, making room for a long, custom island detailed with colorful patterned porcelain tiles. A walnut-and-quartzite top adds a unique twist to the light blue island base, while engineered wood flooring and flat-panel white oak cabinetry warm the space. Horizontally stacked rectangular tiles lend texture and movement, completing the bright kitchen brimming with character.
Before Photo
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with a son in college and another in high school
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Size: 231 square feet (21 square meters)
Designer: Erin Etchemendy of 31E Designs
Before: This photo, taken from the doorway of the unused dining room, shows the dated 110-square-foot kitchen with its honey oak cabinets, no hardware, granite counters and cold tile floor. “They definitely wanted to get rid of that,” Etchemendy says. “They wanted to warm up the space for sure.”
Upper cabinets over the peninsula cut the kitchen off from the eating area and family room, making the already tight space feel even smaller and darker. The range wall separated the kitchen from the dining room, while the stainless steel refrigerator across from the sink jutted out awkwardly. “It felt cramped, and the organization — or lack thereof — was a problem,” Etchemendy says.
One bright spot: a large fixed window over the sink. The homeowners loved the natural light and wanted to make it a bigger feature in the new design.
The spacious island measures 3 feet, 2 inches wide by 14 feet, 6 inches long and features light blue flat-panel cabinets and drawers — including a charging drawer — plus open shelves for cookbooks. The top combines sealed walnut and Blue Lava quartzite, the latter a stunning stone with a cool blue background and dark blue and orange veining. “They wanted to incorporate the wood, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to make the entire island top walnut,” Etchemendy says. “This way they have somewhere to put hot pots or other items and not worry about it. It’s also just a cool feature. They just wanted to do something that was different and unique.”
The light blue of the island contrasts with the perimeter flat-panel white oak cabinetry in a honey pecan finish. Engineered oak flooring with 7½-inch brushed and smoked planks adds more warmth. “They didn’t want to go sterile and do white or be overwhelming with a bunch of color,” Etchemendy says. “Adding the wood gives a warm backdrop to the pops of color.”
The newly open kitchen flows into an updated dining area with a new built-in bar, as well as a refreshed family room with a new fireplace surround and built-ins. LED recessed ceiling lights provide flexible illumination. The homeowners skipped island pendant lights to keep the focus on the backsplash. “They were worried the pendants would get in the way of that,” Etchemendy says. “But it’s wired in case they want to add pendants in the future.”
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Tiles: Tangier Decos, Surface Art
Before and After: 4 Revamped Kitchens in 150 to 250 Square Feet
Paint colors: Egret White (walls and ceiling) and Pure White (trim), Sherwin-Williams
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The upgraded double-basin stainless steel sink is paired with a touchless pull-down faucet, flanked by a dishwasher to the right and a trash-and-recycling pullout to the left. The backsplash, made of 2-by-10-inch gray-tone horizontal field tiles with a glossy finish, adds subtle texture and visual height. “They really liked the idea of having a bit of physical texture to the tile but not have it be overwhelming,” Etchemendy says. “We found a suite of tile with a flat glossy finish and a stacked stair pattern that just adds more character to a long, continuous wall.”
An interior corner to the right of the sink has floating wood shelves for decorative items, with a toaster oven tucked away off the main counter. “It was going to be interesting trying to figure out how to put a cabinet there with the window so close by,” Etchemendy says. “This creates a unique feature with the open shelving.”
Backsplash tile: Lighthouse in Mist, United Tile
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Flat black hardware in various shapes and sizes adds flair to the pantry, refrigerator wall and the rest of the cabinetry. “These clients are all about the unique and different,” Etchemendy says. “A pantry wall can be very overwhelming, but bringing in different accents helped break it up.”
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Before Photo
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The enclosure is curbless and partially open, which makes it both modern and functional for aging in place, particularly if a walker is ever used. “The glass enclosure is long enough that not a drop of water ever escapes this area,” Allison says. “It all flows down to the linear drain beneath the shower controls.”
The shower includes two standard heads, a rain shower and a handheld wand. The control panel features a thermostatic dial for temperature and two large push buttons that direct water to the various heads.
The homeowners have to get into the shower to turn on the water, but thanks to a tankless hot water recirculation system, they never have to endure a cold shock. “It literally takes seconds for the water to get from a warm enough temperature up to the desired temperature,” Allison says.
Both the tub and shower niches are illuminated by LED light strips along the top, and more lighting runs beneath the floating vanity. These subtle lights provide a soft glow without needing to turn on bright overhead lights to navigate safely in the middle of the night.
Shower heads: Statement collection, Kohler; shower controls: Anthem collection, Kohler
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“The [owner] has a very good sense of style and knows what she wants, but we had to interpret that and work with the property and the space we were given,” he says.
The team crafted a beautiful modern-rustic kitchen with an elegant, elevated island and, hidden behind cabinet doors, a warm yellow pantry with masses of storage.
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With three kids and busy careers, this young Bedford, Massachusetts, couple needed a space to unwind. Their dated primary bathroom — cramped with a single vanity and an old shower-tub combo — wasn’t cutting it.
Enter design-build pro Jamaal Siddiqui, who uses Houzz Pro software. By borrowing 20 square feet from the bedroom, he carved out space for a spacious double vanity with a dark driftwood finish and a relaxing low-curb shower. Layers of honed marble tile in varying patterns bring subtle elegance, while a soothing neutral palette transforms the room into a calm retreat where the couple can finally exhale.
Before Photo
Bathroom at a Glance
Who lives here: A young couple with three kids
Location: Bedford, Massachusetts
Size: 78 square feet (7.3 square meters)
Design-build pro: Jamaal Siddiqui of Yusra Design + Build
Before: Here’s a peek into the original 58-square-foot primary bathroom from the bedroom. A single-sink vanity hugged the wall behind the bedroom’s desk and makeup station. (See before-and-after floor plans below.) “This wasn’t just a primary bathroom renovation, this was a reconfiguration of the primary suite,” Siddiqui says. “The bathroom was a dark and small space, and one of the solutions was expanding into the bedroom to utilize underused square footage.”
Before Photo
Across from the vanity, a shower-tub combo with a fabric curtain filled the space, while a toilet was tucked into a niche by the bathroom’s only window. “By keeping the toilet in the same location, we were not only able to save costs but keep the privacy for the toilet as you walk into the bathroom,” Siddiqui says.
Siddiqui uses Houzz Pro software to keep projects on track, from selections to scheduling. “We also create ideabooks for all our projects,” he says. “This allows our clients to upload their likes and dislikes. It’s a starting point.”
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A neutral palette sets a soothing tone with greige walls (Accessible Beige by Sherwin-Williams), a crisp white ceiling and white trim with a satin finish. Marble mosaic tiles in a fan pattern, honed and with soft white grout, cover the floor. “The homeowner was inspired by a friend’s bathroom we had done in the past,” Siddiqui says. “Marble can sometimes come off as cold. Introducing softer geometry with the fan pattern helped to balance the feel of the space.” The floor is framed in 12-by-24-inch marble tiles, cut to size, for a polished finish.
The existing window keeps the space bright and airy, while a new low-profile, energy-efficient exhaust fan improves ventilation. Four-inch LED recessed lights in the ceiling provide clean, even illumination throughout.
Floor tile: Dolomite Iceberg Blended Fan marble mosaic, Maravilla, Floor & Decor
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Before Photo
Before: A blank wall once sat to the right of the bathroom door. “The reconfiguration of the bathroom was really determined by the rest of the suite as well,” Siddiqui says. “We wanted to have the bathroom door and closet door in the bedroom opposite each other. Relocating the sink from that wall allowed us to move the bathroom door.”
Above, a pair of 18-by-30-inch mirrors have handcrafted beveled frames with champagne-colored beading, adding visual interest and depth. A towel ring between the mirrors keeps hand towels off the counter. Two ceiling-mounted dome pendant lights with opal etched glass and a brushed nickel finish illuminate the vanity. “One of the things we really gave a lot of thought about was how much space would be on the wall itself,” Siddiqui says. “The size of the mirrors didn’t allow us for a lot of wall space. By changing it up and installing ceiling-mounted pendant lights, it made it unique and also gave the homeowners the artificial light they need at the vanity.”
Pendant lights: Maybery in brushed nickel and opal etched glass, Birch Lane
Before and After: 4 Brilliant Bathrooms Under 60 Square Feet
The shower itself is designed for luxury, with a 12-inch ceiling-mounted shower head, wall-mounted shower head, three body sprays and a pressure-balanced valve, all in brushed nickel.
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Originally, a single-sink vanity hugged the wall by the bathroom door, with a shower-tub combo across from it, next to the toilet.
In the updated plan, the bathroom footprint was pushed into the primary bedroom, making room for a low-curb shower and a spacious double vanity relocated to a new wall. “By reconfiguring the space, we were able to optimize storage,” Siddiqui says. “It doesn’t always have to be an addition or something extreme. Rethinking the space can allow you to come up with a solution.”
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Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Duanesburg, New York
Size: 275 square feet (26 square meters)
Design-build pro: Marianne A. Clifford of Marianne Ashley Designs
Clifford removed the old appliances, cabinets, counters and floor, along with the two-level island, making way for a more than 12-foot-wide, one-level island with seating and storage. “It offers a lot more options on how the island can be used,” she says. The new layout improves sightlines and makes the kitchen feel open and inviting.
The island base and perimeter cabinets are semicustom cherry flat-panels with a natural finish and matte black ledge pulls. “A lot of the woodwork in their home was already cherry, so we wanted to create a unified look,” Clifford says.
The upgraded stainless steel refrigerator stayed in place, while an added open upper cabinet and tall pantry on the side expand storage. “There are hooks inside that pantry cabinet for hanging a step stool and broom,” Clifford says.
Modern counter stools with cognac leather upholstery and curved low backs sit at the island, while contemporary pendant lights with etched opal glass shades and matte black frames hang overhead. The ceiling has new LED recessed lights on dimmers. “This gives them full control,” Clifford says.
Pendant lights: Somerset, Hinkley Lighting; stools: Zion, Ballard Designs
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The vine growing up the corner of the house and along the entry overhang was another priority within the design. “This is a hop vine [Humulus lupulus, zones 4 to 8] that the homeowner has been growing for many years. He had trained it across the overhang, and it was important to him that we protect it,” Galante says.
Galante reports that the homeowners love their pots and planters. She filled the built-in brick planters around the patio with ‘EverColor Everest’ Japanese sedge (Carex oshimensis EverColor Everest ’Carfit01’, zones 5 to 9), which adds soft color and texture against the fence. The pot on the right has autumn fern (Dryopteris erythrosora, zones 5 to 8) and creeping jenny (Lysimachia nummularia, zones 3 to 9).