In Renovator’s Notebook, homeowners open up about the nitty-gritty of their remodels: How long it really took; how much it actually cost; what went horribly wrong; and what went wonderfully, serendipitously, it’s-all-worth-it-in-the-end right.  

The first time interior designer Shannon Tate-Giordano made over the powder room in her Massachusetts home, in 2017, she set out to spend the least amount of money that would make the biggest visual impact. She painted the builder-grade vanity black and tacked on some side cubbies for extra storage, painted the floor in a way that made it look tiled, and hung an extra-large round mirror. “I got supercrafty, and I was happy with it,” she says. But fast-forward six years and the inevitable (if you’re a designer, anyway) happened. It didn’t feel like her anymore: “I like things to be a little bit more refined now.”

This go-round, Tate-Giordano set out to spend a little more money on the project. She specifically had her heart set on hand-painted Moroccan floor tile. Her house, though, had other plans for her budget. As she began to prep the floors for reno 2.0, a valve burst, spewing water all over the bathroom floor and into the basement ceiling. As she and her plumber began pulling out the insulation downstairs to air it out, they discovered preexisting mold damage—a problem that came with a steep $30,000 price tag to fix. “It totally threw everything off,” recalls the designer. She moved forward with the powder room project, but with limited funds to dedicate to the space, she decided to go the DIY route once again.

The Receipts 

Tate-Giordano estimates that her original plan of installing Moroccan floor tile would have run her around $4,000 for materials and labor. By skipping that step and deciding to tackle the new vanity and Roman Clay walls herself, she suspects she shaved off nearly $9,500. The only jobs she hired out were to a plumber to do the sink hookup and to an electrician to install her pendant light in a new location. Her total cost came in just under $3,000, excluding a $680 pendant she received for free. 

Here’s a look at some of the materials she ended up purchasing along the way. 

• Anthropologie mirror: $398
• Rejuvenation drawer pulls x 4: $80
• Etsy faucet: $250
• Etsy sink drain: $70
• Portola Paints wall finish: from $28
• Bed Bath & Beyond sink: $148
• IKEA vanity: $350
• Hennepin Made light: gifted (usually $680)

Ahead, in her own words, she looks back at her budget-friendly revamp.

Fake the Look of Tile With Stencils

Because the existing floor is Marmoleum (a water-resistant and sustainable alternative to linoleum), I was able to dry it out enough so that I could glue it back down, sand it, and prime it for paint (it takes paint very well!). Then I cut a star-shaped stencil out of card stock with a razor blade. I used a Sharpie to outline the design and ended up eyeballing it because I have very little patience for a level—I think it looks pretty straight. I filled in the shapes with a mix of colors in Benjamin Moore’s Porch and Floor Paint Finish. It took a while…my back was killing me. 

Start With an IKEA Vanity Base

The old vanity was nothing to write home about, and the cabinet was impractical for storage. I definitely wanted to switch to having drawers. Not wanting to build something from scratch, I bought an IKEA Godmorgon vanity for the shell and custom-made the sides and the drawer fronts out of walnut-stained plywood with a solid wood trim. 

A local stone yard in western Massachusetts had three full slabs of this red travertine, and they told me they’d had it for nearly 15 years. Nobody wanted to buy it! The slabs were three-quarter-inch—the perfect thickness for my vanity. It was a total score.

Double-Check Your Drainage

I was looking on Pinterest and watching videos of how people turn bowls into sinks, and I was like, Yeah, I’ll do that. I went to HomeGoods and found a bowl that was the perfect color. (It was similar to a $500 concrete sink I was eyeing on Etsy.) I felt so smart and so accomplished; I even drilled it for the drain and had the plumber come in and hook everything up once the countertops were in. 

Then, an hour later, I tried it out. All the water was staying inside the bowl. I was so annoyed with myself. Of course, this wasn’t make any sense; why would it drain? The pitch wasn’t high enough. I thought maybe I’d just order the $500 sink, but then I found this hammered copper one at Bed Bath & Beyond and really liked the way it looked. I switched to that, and it was supereasy. I actually figured out how to change the plumbing and I didn’t have to hire someone twice to do it.

Amp Up the Wall Texture With Roman Clay

I had used this Portola Paints color, Rustic, on another project recently, and I thought it was a really nice combination with the warm red travertine counters. I prefer Roman Clay over limewash; it has this really smooth, buttery finish. I applied three coats with a metal trowel to make sure I couldn’t see any of the wall underneath, then added a sealer.

Find Balance by Going Off Symmetry

Hennepin Made reached out to me and offered its Lacuna globe pendant light. Because all of the plumbing is skewed to the left of the mirror, I thought it would be cool to hang the fixture to the right, to fill that void. It’s not a bathroom that I do my makeup in, so it didn’t have to be bright. I wanted it to feel more like a hotel.

I reused my existing art; I felt like it still fit. I started frequenting an antiques shop when we first moved here.  

In the end, I’m actually way happier with how these cost-saving measures look. I like them way more than my original plan, so it’s very satisfying.

Get the Look

Lacuna Globe Pendant, Hennepin Made ($680)

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Godmorgon Vanity, IKEA ($349)

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Ball Cabinet Knob, Rejuvenation ($20)

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Clara Mirror, Anthropologie ($398)

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The post An IKEA Vanity and Floor Stencil Kept My Powder Room Budget Under $4K appeared first on domino.

After a long day of traveling, there’s nothing quite like the serenity you feel after you finally check in to your room, line up all your toiletries on the gloriously expansive bathroom countertop, and take a hot shower (or bath, if you’re lucky). Hotel designers take extra care to ensure that their bathrooms create a calming experience for guests—which is why they’re a major source of inspiration for our own homes.

Whether you’re looking to tackle a small DIY project or a major bathroom renovation, there are tons of design tricks to steal from the most luxurious, unique accommodations around the world. Here are some of our favorite ideas.

Embrace an Open-Concept Layout

You don’t need to do more to achieve a spa bathhouse feel—you actually need to do less. Instead of throwing up glass walls and curbs around your shower, make the whole room a wet zone by leaving it open. While this will require digging into the floor a bit for proper drainage, you could end up with something as dreamy as this bathroom at Marrakech’s Farasha Farmhouse.

Bathe Yourself in Flattering Paint Colors

Part of the experience of enjoying your bathroom is, well, being naked. Beige-yellow walls reflecting off fluorescent overhead lighting is not exactly a recipe for feeling amazing about yourself, so we suggest going with a dusty pink hue on the walls and a sexy pop of glossy red, seen here in Alice in Wonderland–inspired hotel Cowley Manor, designed by Dorothée Meilichzon. 

Swap Your Quartz Counters for Colorful Lava Stone

In other bathrooms at Cowley Manor and at Montesol in Ibiza, Meilichzon introduced some shine with basin surrounds in enameled lava stone. Yes, we’re talking about the same lava rock that comes from a volcano. Except after it’s quarried, it’s cut into slabs and topped with a glaze and fired at a high heat. 

Companies like Made a Mano and Pyrolave offer tons of different colors of the superdurable material and will often let you customize your surface to whatever shade you want. 

Get Funky With Your Mirrors

Instead of installing an XL sheet of glass or two basic round mirrors, have some fun with your double vanity design. At the Ulysses hotel in Baltimore, Ash Hospitality got theatrical with burl-wood frames that look like vases holding flowers that are actually lights.

Disrupt the Check

Checkered shower tile is all the rage right now, but throwing off the scheme a smidge by putting a random black tile here, another over there, can ensure your space feels unique and timeless. Leave it to Kelly Wearstler, who designed the Downtown L.A. Proper, to remind us of this. 

Tidy Up With Mint Green

If you want your bathroom to feel neat at all times but don’t want to settle for white, lean into light shades of green. There’s something about a minty zellige or square tile and chrome plumbing fixtures—as seen in this space at Hôtel de la Boétie in Paris—that tricks the mind into thinking you can skip cleaning day. 

Go Monochromatic

In Mauritius’s Salt of Palmar hotel, the showers are done up completely in red square tile, making them a destination in and of themselves. A simple ribbed glass shower screen balances things out, so it’s not too much.

Pair Two Bold Colors

When it comes to color, why stop at just one? L.A.’s Firehouse Hotel is full of inspiring color combinations, including in this bathroom, where mustard yellow tile and tomato red cabinets are an unlikely power couple.

Put Your Tub in Your Shower

Try to name a feature more luxurious than a standing shower that also contains a bathtub. The Ace Hotel New Orleans makes a compelling case for this doubled-up bathing situation, which boasts glossy gray tile and a charcoal ceiling to keeps things cohesive.

Mix and Match

The über-cool Hotel Des Grands Boulevards in Paris made waves for its bold design—and the bathrooms are no exception. Why limit yourself to one tile pattern or color when you can have three? In this space, hexagon wall tiles ground the pale blue paint and pink checkered floor tile, making for one sophisticated room.

The post We’re Only Taking Reno Inspiration From Hotel Bathrooms From Now On appeared first on domino.

By now, we don’t have to explain to you what zellige tile is. You’ve seen it in bathroom renovations left and right over the past few years. And while we certainly love the reflective finish and earthy texture that the handmade Moroccan pieces lend to a shower or vanity, if you are tearing out vintage ceramic tile to make way for them, designers say don’t.

Yes, your bathroom walls might currently be a baby blue or pastel pink that you’d assume is nowhere near in style. But actually, more and more designers are saving this kind of vintage tile. Instead they’re swapping out paint colors, window treatments, lighting, and art—and it is totally changing the way we look at retro bathrooms. Here are a few spaces that make a case for leaving those quirky old tiles alone.

Color-Match Your Paint Choice

Allison Pierce wasn’t a fan of the 1930s tile in her primary bathroom at first. But after painting the walls a slightly darker shade of Farrow & Ball’s Inchyra Blue, she came around to it. “It makes the rest of the room feel intentional,” she says. 

Have Fun With Your Window Treatments

Pastel pink tile is begging you to live a little, so keep the sense of playfulness going with patterned roman shades like the ones in this space, designed by Katie Hodges. Our educated guess is that it’s a Peter Dunham fabric.

Bring in Greenery

A few statement plants and some thoughtful artwork can make even miniature bright orange tile circa the 1960s, as seen in this this floral designer’s Oahu home, feel spalike. 

Cover the Walls in a Groovy Wallpaper

When in doubt, embrace the throwback vibe with wallpaper that feels of the era. In this New Jersey home, designer Hollie Velten-Lattrell went full flower power with a floral Josef Frank print that matches the color of the trim tile. 

Tie the Palette Together With Large-Scale Art

Okay, the real reason designer Luke Havekes stuck with this vibrant tile combo was because his client’s home is a rental. But even if they owned the place, we like to think he would have made the same small tweaks, painting the walls Farrow & Ball’s complementary Lulworth Blue and hanging a vintage lacquered screen over the shallow tub to tie in all the yellow. The flecks of gold also happen to shimmer in the sunlight. “The gloss finish on it is a sharp and fun contrast to the original matte glazed tiles and matte paint finish,” says the designer.

The post The Dated Bathroom Detail Designers Are Saving (and We’re Here for It) appeared first on domino.

Do you know why almost every hotel has white bedding and towels? Because when you can see how crisp and spotless they are, you automatically believe the room is clean. Minimalist bathrooms have a similar effect. A tight color palette, a sleek round mirror, a curbless shower—these are the types of elements that give you that squeaky-clean feeling (well, that and a good sudsing). The 11 minimalist bathrooms we’ve rounded up below are by no means immune to bronzer powder dust gunking up the sink or wet towels being flung on the floor, but they do look orderly through it all. 

Create Clear Sight Lines 

In a bathroom as small as the one in this Manhattan apartment, designed by Silvana Vergara, a minimalist aesthetic can make the space feel much larger than it really is. It all starts with the right shower divider. While a patterned curtain would read as too busy, a clear glass partition looks sleek and lets light shine through. FYI: It’s not an expensive upgrade. You can find a similar-looking metal-framed panel on Wayfair for only $500.

Walk Into a Wet Room

The idea behind this L.A. bathroom was ease: You can hop underneath the showerhead without stepping over a curb or moving a sliding door. The only time you have to crouch down is when you want to get into the Madre Perla stone–clad tub. “You’re able to have that European spa bathhouse feel,” says Alison Wilson, one of the home’s designers. 

Swathe the Walls in SureCrete

Instead of retiling her old Pacific Palisades bathroom to achieve a brand-new look, Leanne Ford coated the walls in SureCrete, a decorative concrete resurfacing material. The treatment, which has the consistency of pancake batter and can be applied with a drywall knife, trowel, or spray gun, instantly transports the skylit shower to Santorini. 

Separate the Shower and Vanity 

The kids’ bathroom in designer Dana Lynch’s Georgia cabin works smarter, not harder. She put the vanity in the hallway and separated everything else with two doors; that way you can have someone using the toilet, someone showering, and someone brushing their teeth all at the same time. When actions are isolated, so is clutter. 

Go Monochrome, Part 1

You can have zellige tile, tadelakt walls, and a mix of hardware finishes and still call your bathroom minimalist as long as they stick to a tight color palette. In this space, designer Elspeth Benoit landed on deep shades of blue. Even though there is a glass shower door dividing the space, it looks like one wall surface bleeds into the next. 

Go Monochrome, Part 2

In case you needed another reminder that not all minimalist bathrooms need to be white, peep film director and visual artist Loïc Maes’s space, designed by architecture firm Re-ad. The different tones of black lend a sense of depth to the room, and they continue down to the stained concrete floors and even up to the ceiling, which happens to be painted a medium gray hue. 

Make Bold Moves With Curves

Scratch that maximalist itch with exaggerated shapes. In this Park City, Utah, bathroom, an enormous round window and curved shower wall clad in chalky white Stone Source tile create the wow factor.

Hone in on the Medicine Cabinet

Maybe it’s because homeowner Cheryl Mainland describes her style as “industrial beach chic,” or maybe it’s because her son’s name is Cobalt—either way, her medicine cabinet ended up with a lick of blue around the base and on the handle. The detail introduces some much-needed personality to what otherwise could feel like a sterile space without being overwhelming.

Babyproof the Zenlike Shower

Minimalists by nature, Natalia Swarz and Armando Mesías make living in a 700-square-foot home (with a toddler) look easy thanks to a tranquil grouping of materials. In the bathroom, they combined olive green zellige tile and dim lighting to set a relaxing mood for nighttime baths with their little one. The way the shower is open without a glass door or curtain makes it easy to slide their daughter’s bathtub in there, too.

Become One With the Bedroom

Chef Nasim Alikhani did the most minimalist thing one can do: She didn’t put a wall up between her bedroom and bathroom. Even though her friends joke she’ll never be able to sell the New York City apartment due to the open sinks perched above her bed, she stands by the setup, as she loves to wash her face in fresh air and natural light. Plus being forced to look at your bathroom sink even when you’re not in there would make anyone a tidy person.

Warm Things Up Without Doing Too Much

This Brooklyn Heights bathroom, designed by Claire Hung, almost seems to glow thanks to its buttery yellow sink, custom limewash walls, and flowy linen shower curtain. “To really make this small bathroom feel minimal, we used a wall-mount sink that is completely open below,” says Hung. “We coupled it with a wall-mount faucet, and the look is supremely clean and free of bulk and clutter.”

The post 11 Minimalist Bathroom Ideas That Aren’t All White Everything appeared first on domino.

In the hundreds of homes Aaron Popowsky worked on during his 10-plus years running a design-build firm, one thing was always consistent: The bathrooms got the short end of the stick. “He’d tell me stories about how clients would spend a lot of time working on the primary suite, but when they get to the second bathroom or powder room, they were so fatigued from the process,” says Amy Wasserman, Popowsky’s wife and new business partner. At that point, his clients would usually just point to a photo of another bathroom Popowsky and his team had designed and ask, “Can I just have this?” 

Now Popowsky and Wasserman, who has a background in marketing, have joined forces to launch The Unoriginal Bathroom Company, which, in short, is the answer everyone has been looking for: Yes, you can have all of that. 

Basically, they’ve simplified the material-selection process by offering complete bathroom remodeling packages. Right now, the Unoriginal Bathroom Company has 10 unique designs available to choose from on its website, with 22 more in the backlog that are set to roll out over the coming months. So you only have to make one big decision: Which space do you like the most?

Unlike with other bathroom-in-a-box-style firms, the designs didn’t come from the company’s internal team. Instead, Popowsky and Wasserman asked interior designers to create them. The pros had few parameters. Most important, their plans needed to be applicable to both half-bathrooms and full bathrooms, and they also needed to stick to products from a lengthy list of preferred vendors including Fireclay Tile, Porcelanosa, Schumacher, Farrow & Ball, and more. With prices starting at $9,000 for a half-bath and $13,000 for a full, it’s a much more affordable way to get a designer bathroom without actually hiring a designer full time.

Once you’ve ID’d a package you like, you can book a consultation with a member of the Unoriginal Bathroom Company’s sales team and chat all things timeline, plus they’ll tell you what measurements, photos, and floor plans you’ll need to gather for them to place your order. At the same time, they’ll get a quote on the delivery and package receipt of a local warehouse near you. Once your materials have arrived at the warehouse (floor tile, medicine cabinet, showerhead, etc.), they’ll organize a delivery service and drop it all off at your home in one fell swoop. In other words, “You literally just sit and wait for everything to come one day,” says Wasserman. That’s where the company’s role ends. As for actual installation, that’ll still have to be handled by you or your contractor.

Want to have a little more input in the design process? Browse the accent shop. Each bathroom plan has a corresponding collection of accessories, like hand towels and wall art, so you can pick out the fun stuff and leave the rest to the pros. 

Explore a Few of Our Favorite Bathroom Designs

Ossington, Curated by Marcy Garcia (full bathroom from $13,753) *

Terra Losa, Curated by Jill Romine (half-bathroom from $10,242)

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Willow, Curated by Emma Beryl Kemper (full bathroom from $13,730)

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Connelly, Curated by Michelle Provencal (half-bathroom from $15,516)

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The post Whoa, You Can Now Copy and Paste a Designer Bathroom Into Your House Starting at $9K appeared first on domino.

Do you beeline to your gym’s sauna or get a little too excited about the sweat-cold plunge cycle at a spa? Better yet: Is a bathroom remodel on your horizon? It’s time to consider a steam shower. We’re seeing the feature incorporated more and more in homes beyond luxury new builds—but don’t call it trendy. Steam has been used as a wellness practice for thousands of years, and perhaps we’re all just catching on now. Designers across the U.S. are bringing this perk into their practice more regularly, whether for their own houses or client projects. 

“As more and more people have the flexibility to work from home and work out at home, I do anticipate a rise in popularity,” says Jennelle Butera of Hudson + Bloum Design. Read on for all the details on what it takes to put in a steam shower at home.

What Is a Steam Shower? 

Simply put, a steam shower starts with a briefcase-size generator, which heats H2O from a water line until it vaporizes. The steam is then released via a steam line and steamhead in your shower wall—and voilà! Enthusiasts name-check all kinds of health benefits that steam can provide: stress relief, muscle recovery, skin hydration, and more.

When it comes to steam showers, one label reigns supreme: Mr. Steam. The 100-year-old brand is beloved by designers for its heritage, range of packages, and features like music streaming and aromatherapy. “We have used only Mr. Steam for the past 10 years,” Butera divulges. “It is great quality and our clients have never complained.”

How Much Does a Steam Shower Cost? 

Martha Orellanas, vice president of marketing at Mr. Steam and a 30-year industry vet, puts the main price range of a steam shower between $2,000 and $7,000, and notes that it can go up to $10,000 with more bells and whistles (like the aforementioned aromatherapy and music). But looking in the other direction, she adds that a basic setup can come in under $2,000. It might sound like a lot, but it’s important to weigh the cost against your alternative routine. “How much money do we spend going to spas, or how much money do we spend going to a gym?” asks Orellanas. 

There are more budget-friendly options out there, too. In designer Nick Poe’s experience, an expensive unit isn’t necessary to achieve steam in a small space. When he redesigned his downtown New York City apartment, he had to build the bathroom from scratch, so he installed a more affordable 6-kilowatt generator from Amazon to make his tiny tiled bathroom a respite. 

How Do You Install a Steam Shower? 

Short answer: It’s not a DIY. “We always ask if [clients] want a steam shower because this changes the design of the shower,” Butera says. “It needs to be planned out properly.” Orellanas echoes this sentiment, explaining that while you might be able to swap in an upgraded toilet later, you can’t do that with steam; it’s best to include it in your initial remodel plans if you think you might want it. Marissa Corvino of Corvino Designs adds that it’s smart to also mention your plan to your general contractor and electrician. In addition to the power line and the steam line, you’ll need a drain line leading away from the shower.

The generator power you choose should align with your shower sizing—Mr. Steam has a handy calculator for this. Think about it like the BTUs of an air conditioner, says Orellanas. What size space do you want to fill with steam, and how quickly do you want the process to start? The bigger the space, the more BTUs, the larger the unit. That said, there is such a thing as going too big (or high). “The ceiling height really should be 7 to 8 feet, no more,” Orellanas advises. That’s because steam rises, and if you want to enjoy the benefits, you need to contain it.

Speaking of the generator, you’ll want to install yours in an accessible nook with an electrical outlet near the shower: in a crawl space; hidden in a built-in shower bench; or concealed in millwork like a side cabinet, vanity, or closet. “We used a base cabinet in our home office, which is located adjacent to our primary shower,” Corvino says.

Installation doesn’t end there. You need to consider the steam outlet, which Orellanas says you should place 6 inches to 1 foot from the floor (you want the steam coming out as low as possible).

Then it’s about where to put the controls. If you’ve built a shower bench into your design, you want the temperature and/or feature panel at shoulder length next to where you sit so it’s easy to reach. Mr. Steam has integrations for entertainment like Spotify and even Netflix. You can use its panels to preset a time for steam to heat up or to release essential oils for aromatherapy. Corvino adds that a wireless remote add-on allows you to toggle the steam on and off and control the temperature from your phone.

Finally, any ceiling lighting within the shower needs to be wet-rated, and, to that end, ventilation is key, too. That’s because the shower glass or watertight space has to seal in the steam, and you’ll need proper flow to remove moist warm air from the room to prevent mildew, says designer Tricia Portelli of Scribe Studio. 

What Should Your Steam Shower Look Like?  

One of the main design considerations for steam showers is materials. Naturally, nonporous stone is the ideal choice. “Porcelain tile is probably the best tile for a steam room, because it’s really sealed and you don’t have to take care of it,” Orellanas explains. “The grout line should be very thin as well.” Butera tends to opt for ceramic and porcelain, too, over natural stone, because they hold heat better. “Natural stone tends to dissipate the steam and cools the space faster,” she says. 

In its Deer Valley, Utah, project, for example, Hudson + Bloum used ceramic tile on the walls and shower lid, marble for the bench, and marble mosaic on the shower floor. “We like to use mosaics on shower floors for a nonslip surface, and more grout joints equals better grip when wet,” says Butera. Nobody recommends a fully wood interior; instead, consider teak for a bench or seat.

As for the doors, instead of one large glass partition, Corvino recommends two smaller doors that allow less steam to escape as you enter and exit. That’s the design she chose for her New Jersey brownstone bathroom. “Pivot hinges on double shower doors are a power move,” she states. They save on bathroom space, and when the doors are wet, she swings them inside the shower to dry off. Alternatively, designer Amber Lewis often favors multipane doors and glass, if that’s your thing, and she always fully encloses showers.

There are alternative ways to craft a steam shower if your preference is to not install a unit or you have space constraints. In one case, Portelli crafted a completely enclosed shower outfitted with a transom window to create the same effect.“ The choice to extend the enclosure all the way to the ceiling, coupled with the shower’s relatively compact size, facilitates the rapid generation of steam when taking a hot shower,” she explains. The operable window is key: It allows you to air out the shower as you move onto the rest of your self-care routine. 

The post This Zen Home Upgrade Is Picking Up Steam—We Asked Designers to Weigh In appeared first on domino.

Kohler has been playing with its archival colors in all kinds of ways lately, reissuing greens, pinks, yellows, and more for its bathtubs, sinks, and toilets. The eye-catching moves continue with the company’s latest collaboration with artist-designer Dr. Samuel Ross and his industrial design studio SR_A. Yes, you’re seeing straight: It’s bright orange.

Formation 02, a limited-edition silhouette for the Eir smart toilet, is the second entry in Ross’s Formation line with the brand, preceded by an architectural faucet made from a new composite material called Neolast. The electric hue draws inspiration from Tiger Lily, a color Kohler introduced in 1967 for various applications in the bathroom and a signature of the designer. 

Brutalist in style, the commode’s shape pays homage to the velocity and power of water. Unique molding and tooling techniques result in a base with dramatic angles and texture, not unlike cliffs or crags carved over time by water. Combined with the orange color, Formation 2 would make a serious statement in an all-white, windowless powder room, funky pool house, or a maximalist main bathroom. (This isn’t the first time we’ve been taken with an orange toilet—peep the tangerine surprise in this Paris apartment.) 

It still comes with all the features of the Eir: a heated seat, customizable cleansing, nightlight, hands-free opening/closing, automatic flush, and a touch-screen remote. “Formation 02 combines our industrial expertise and technological prowess with our strong belief in the power of creativity to challenge and drive forward progress,” says Scott Edmunds, vice president of Kohler Marketing. The piece will debut at Milan Design Week this year and be available at sra.kohler.com on April 16. Who said shower tile was the only way to go bold in the bathroom? 

The post Kohler Is Bringing Back This Vintage Toilet Color—And the Shade Is Shocking appeared first on domino.

Damp swimsuits flung on the edge of the tub, stacks of sandy beach towels, half-empty sunscreen bottles—a coastal bathroom sees it all. It arguably has to work harder than any ordinary bathroom, usually because there are a slew of guests sharing the space. At the same time, you want your bathroom to feel like an escape, a vacation from your vacation, if you will. While painting the vanity seafoam green and hanging a photograph of a sunset over the toilet might seem like your only options, we’re here to tell you that there are hundreds of other ways to design a coastal bathroom that don’t fall into the cheesy category. Ahead, we spotlight nine of our favorites.

The Coastal Bathroom That’s Like a Walk by the Beach

Kerrie-Ann Jones’s bathroom floor is reminiscent of a rocky landscape. The Australian stylist was so obsessed with Palladiana-patterned terrazzo that she decided to replicate the look on a much more impressive scale in her Sydney bathroom with large-format offcuts of marble. Some of the chunks are scraps from the fireplace; others were sourced from suppliers on Facebook Marketplace and Gumtree. 

The Surfer-Cool Coastal Bathroom

Raili Clasen is an expert in surf style (seriously, she has a whole book dedicated to it that’s set to release in April). In this teen’s bathroom, the designer shows us how it’s done with on-theme art and a two-tone canvas shower curtain.

The Mediterranean Coastal Bathroom

At his former home in Majorca, British designer Matthew Williamson leaned into sunny Mediterranean life by swathing the bathroom in locally sourced tile and painting the window frame, walls, and ceiling himself to match the lemon hue. 

The Coastal Bathroom Guests Can Enjoy

When Ashley Clark’s Newport Beach clients asked her to trick out their guesthouse, she went for a more industrial feel with a bucket sink from Kohler and a rope-lined mirror. The Skout designer took things a step further by extending the look to the surrounding wall, which is wrapped in cork so people can pin up their surfing pictures.  

The Sand-Disguising Coastal Bathroom

The first-floor bathroom in this Jersey Shore house had to be able to stand up to little ones running in and out, flinging wet swimsuits around, and coming in with sandy feet. That’s why Kevin Bennert of OAK Design Project viewed it as a wet room and clad all the walls in beige zellige tile.  

The Well-Lit Coastal Bathroom 

For this project, Clasen’s design plan boiled down to one piece: a Heath Ceramics light fixture crafted by ceramist Stan Bitters. Yes, we’re referring to that pendant in the corner that looks like it is an ancient artifact (or piece of coral) plucked from the bottom of the ocean.  

The Zen Coastal Bathroom

Coastal doesn’t have to equal the ocean. Any body of water will do for inspiration, including a koi pond. Temple Studio’s Koromo linen wallpaper fits right in at this New Jersey beach house. Making the most of the small space, Studio DB opted for a clear glass backsplash so not a single fish goes unnoticed.

The Warm Red Coastal Bathrooms

Cool tones aren’t the only way to go in a coastal bathroom. Alex McCabe, cofounder of Australian design brand Kip & Co., put deep red terracotta tile in one of her beach house bathrooms and soft pink zellige in the other. The latter is a nod to a restaurant she visited in Bali.  

The Graphic Blue Coastal Bathroom

If you are going to go with a classic blue subway tile, make it interesting with an unusual layout. In this Lido Island home, designer Erika Marini of Fixe Design House created a ticking pattern by extending the top band of blue tile into the white concrete tile that covers the rest of the wall. 

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Anyone who has ever renovated a property will insist you add an extra 30 percent of your total cost to your budget. The line item? The unexpected. Usually, an unforeseen leak, a finicky heat pump, or a foundation crack. But for photographer and director Harper Smith and her husband, Cameron Duddy, the bass guitarist for the band Midland, it amounted to an entire kitchen remodel. In the process of renovating the Dripping Springs, Texas, home they’ve owned for nearly a decade, they discovered that the exterior walls had been poorly constructed—all of them would need to be torn down, including the ones supporting the kitchen cabinets. “We ended up having to rip out the kitchen against our will,” says Smith. The silver lining: The drab, brown space was “zero percent cute,” so they were at least able to justify the reno from a style perspective.

Right away, the couple; their designer, Amy Pigliacampo; and their contractor, Strong Roots Development, started thinking of clever ways to make the surprise project less expensive. Giving up on having a “badass full slab” of Calacatta Viola marble for a backsplash was one such solution. “I could find some slabs that were affordable, but the pieces were all too small or there wasn’t a beautiful violet tone to them,” Smith recalls. Most quotes were in the $9,000 to $10,000 ballpark. “So it was like, I’m either going to spend a bunch of money on a slab that’s not the right color or we’re going to have to find a different way.” That different way was tile.

A little research led them to Artistic Tile’s 18-by-18-inch honed marble tile. Compared to other Calacatta Viola tiles Smith sampled, these were the only ones within her budget that didn’t have a glossy printed appearance. Between the materials and labor, Smith guesses their backsplash cost them a mere $1,800. “Plus the company was great to work with; a couple broke and they sent new ones right away,” she says. (Editor’s note: Right now the brand is only carrying 24-by-24 and 12-by-24 options.)

Viola Reale 24-by-24-Inch Marble Tile , Artistic Tile

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The only real instruction Smith and Pigliacampo gave the tile installer was to group the pieces that had the most dramatic veining over the stovetop. Their logic: Those six tiles are the first thing you see when you’re walking down the stairs in the morning.

This clever fake-out wasn’t just applicable to the kitchen. The couple’s shower is swathed in large 12-by-24-inch black terrazzo tile from Direct Stone Source, but the hack is even less noticeable because the pattern is so busy and the dark grout blends right in. “It seems seamless,” says Smith.

As for the floor tiles, those were all made by Smith and Duddy in her mom’s ceramic studio after they decided they couldn’t afford Cle Tile’s Fornace Brioni collection. “I had a kiln and a husband who was totally down to help,” shares Smith. The only thing better than saving $8,000 on material costs is making the stuff yourself.

Terrazzo Nero Matte 12-by-24-Inch Porcelain Tile, Direct Stone Source

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The post This Kitchen Backsplash Looks Like a Stone Slab, But Costs $8K Less appeared first on domino.

When we recently saw the founder of a tile company cover his own kitchen walls in zellige tile, it proved to us that this trend really isn’t going anywhere. Personally, I get why so many people are drawn to the raw texture, the slight imperfections, and the color variations of Moroccan tiles, but as a design editor who sees a lot of the same materials play out in homes (zellige backsplashes being one of them!), I’d be nervous to commit to it myself. But a temporary, affordable, DIY-friendly version? That I can get behind. 

While scrolling TikTok the other day, I was served an ad for Smart Tiles (the brand also has an Amazon store). I’m familiar with the products, thanks in part to Alexandra Gater, the serial rental renovator who has used the company’s peel-and-stick tile in a number of her projects. (She once broke down for me how she installed the brand’s pink Metro Ava option in her tiny kitchen.) But what I saw on my screen wasn’t the typical white subway or patterned antique tile I’m used to seeing from adhesive-geared brands. The Morocco Sefrou tile in green looked a whole lot like actual zellige. 

Smart Tiles Morocco Sefrou Green Peel-and-Stick Backsplash

Sefrou Green Peel and Stick Backsplash (5 Sheets), Smart Tiles ($38)

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For starters, Smart Tiles has the tonal range you’d expect to see in Moroccan tile (because the real things are made individually by hand, no two are ever exactly the same). The sheets also have a slight gloss to them, which appears to help them shine when the light hits just right—not unlike zellige. So what do they look like in situ? Designer Shelby Eanes covered (most) of her bathroom walls in them and they look pretty legitimate, especially with the walls painted in Benjamin Moore’s Peale Green. 

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A post shared by Shelby Eanes (@eanesinteriors)

On the company’s website, the tile has a 4.8-star rating and around 1,600 reviews. A customer in Australia raved about how quickly it arrived and another said their only learning curve was cutting the tile to fit around switch plates and outlets (a sharp X-Acto knife will do the trick). The imagery on the website mostly shows the tile applied in a vertical stack, but you can orient the 12-by-9-inch sheets in a horizontal fashion, too. 

There are fewer reviews on Amazon, but we did happen to find them in design blogger Kiva Brent’s “storefront,” aka the place where she saves her top-recommended products. If green isn’t your color, here are a few more faux zellige tiles we’re eyeing.

More Smart Tiles Peel-and Stick-Backsplashes

Rabat Pink Peel and Stick Backsplash (5 Sheets), Smart Tiles ($38)

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Morocco Tangier Peel and Stick Backsplash (5 Sheets), Smart Tiles ($55)

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Orange Safi Peel and Stick Backsplash (5 Sheets), Smart Tiles ($38)

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Beige Oia Peel and Stick Backsplash (5 Sheets), Smart Tiles ($38)

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