When designer Kelley Motschenbacher and her husband moved from their shore house in Corona del Mar for this’50s ranch in Ojai, Calif., they knew they had their work cut out for them. Inspired by the surrounding citrus farms, they decided to go for a modern country look, which she describes as”modern details with country thrown ”
First about the project list: gutting and renovating two baths. “In renovating older toilets, we had to go down to the studs and put in new plumbing, new wiring and new insulating material,” Motschenbacher states. The job was worth it. Now that they are done with this phase and are continuing to the kitchen, we could have a thorough look at the guest bathroom, an area where the tiniest of details count more than in any other place.
You may remember the shore home; to refresh your memory, their Tour is here.
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One of the first moves Mostchenbacher made was shifting the bathroom door. “A lot of’50s ranches have narrow hallways, and no windows in the baths” she explained. The doorway was centered to get a view from the living room, and the vanity was placed so that it would be in the middle of this view.
Although you can’t see it, she’d the top panel of this door eliminated and replaced with opaque glass to allow light from other rooms.
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Instead of spending $3,000 on a vanity from a catalog, Motschenbacher repurposed a 300 antique farm table filled with peeling-paint character. She also found a relatively inexpensive rectangular boat sink and tap combo out of Kraus for about $200.
Sconces: Schoolhouse Electric
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“I really like this faucet since its shape reminds me of an old water pump,” Mostchenbacher states. She also placed the faucet at the corner of the sink ito leave room behind it for blossoms.
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Additionally, it left room for this French baguette basket to maintain additives. “All these artisanal soaps are made by Maak, and they’re vegan and beautiful,” she states.
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This is one of many examples of the interesting little details that Motschenbacher paid careful attention to. The original button-like knob on this drawer…
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… is emulated from the huge button drain detail from the sink.
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With just a little TLC, this medication cupboard’s peeling gray-green paint made a perfect match for your Carrara tiles used around the bathroom.
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Antique glass accessories like these jars also match the colors in the tile.
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Ahead of the corner cupboard: As for bathroom items that don’t fit into glass jars, Motschenbacher states,”I knew I’d need more storage for those kinds of things I didn’t want to exit in the open, like additional toilet paper, Band-aids and additional bottles of shampoo. I thought I’d discover an apothecary-style cupboard sooner or later.”
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However, when she came across this odd-shaped doorway, she knew she’d her cupboard. It is 7.5 feet tall and just 26 inches wide. By the way, this is Dave, a part of the team who helped build the bathroom.
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After:“Since we were able to make a corner cupboard, it doesn’t occupy much space,” Motschenbacher explains.
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The interior of the corner cupboard is a simple pickled pine, and provides plenty of room for bathroom items that should be kept out of the site.
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Since the doorway was a 60 salvage score, there was money in the budget to get some interesting details. Motschenbacher added that this darling woodpecker doorknocker into the cupboard. When you twist the knob, then it gets him .
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In this picture you can see how playing with tile scale generated consistency. The single pane of apparent static glass lets continuity from the shower stall into the remainder of the bathroom.
There is a rectangular detail in the tiniest Carrara tiles on the floor, and also the exact same size tiles have been used to pay the shower floor. The chair-rail height detail in a bigger size of the exact same tile continues from the shower around the remainder of the bathroom.
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The cap of the shower uses exactly the exact same Carrara in an even bigger tile. “The whole thing is a play on scale,” Motschenbacher states. “A fantastic trick is to make use of repetitive details in various scales so that items do not seem too busy”
The white subway tiles are Daltile, available at Home Depot; the Carrara tiles are a mixture of tiles from Home Depot and out of DEKO Tile.
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Another repetitive element in various scales: the square shower fittings. For about $50, she found a shower drain that coordinated with the other fixtures (you’ll have to click on this picture to find the drain).
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Additionally included in the essay are two shower niches. “I always place them near the showerhead and I include two,” Motschenbacher states. “Occasionally I line them up side by side, sometimes one on top of the other, based upon the plan.”
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Motschenbacher scooped this up jadite handle on eBay for $12; since it was from the’50s, it was a perfect choice. The lavender towels are foutas,”the earliest towels on the planet,” hand-loomed in Tunisia and used historically in Turkish baths.
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Were you wondering about that stunning lavender plant’s success at a windowless bathroom? Motschenbacher kept it in a favourite classic market basket to incorporate its superb scent into your bathroom. Once it seemed like it was evaporating for absence of natural light, she planted it in the lawn.
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Motschenbacher loves to accumulate and exhibit vintage signs; this one accentuates the country character of this bathroom.
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This hint was another fun classic find, as was the shelf she unearthed at a regional antique store for $75.
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This bathroom’s contemporary bones, for example, fixtures, tile and clear glass shower panel, also make it a versatile area that can take on plenty of personalities.
“It would be simple to modify the feel of this bathroom, possibly going more nautical by substituting the antique baskets using L.L. Bean canvas totes,” Motschenbacher states. Here is how she changed up a few tiny accessories onto the shelf.
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Here you can see how she changed things up by substituting a basket with a folding seat (a $9 garage-sale score). Galvanized tin buckets for towels and minimal accessories could lend a more industrial look. The possibilities are endless.
More:
Warm Country Biking
A Sweet Southern Makeover
Get the Look: Sophisticated Country Mode
