Oak Park Avenue:
Creating a Work of Art on a Budget
When a leaky shower rendered an upstairs bathroom unusable, Eva and T. Powell knew whom to call.
Oak Design & Construction had already beautifully renovated their Mediterranean-style home’s kitchen and sunroom as well as finished the basement. The family has worked with Oak for years, they discovered the design-build firm after their original contractor was unable to complete demolition work that it had started.
The hallway bathroom used by the Powell children needed an update that would blend with the 80-year-old home’s overall style. "With Oak it’s a collaborative, creative process— a true partnership in designing the room," says Eva. "We had an idea of what we wanted but not a mental picture of exactly how it should look. Oak pulled it all together."
The family wanted lots of light and touches of color. Oak grew the room by replacing the combined shower and tub unit, which completely blocked one of two large arch-topped windows, with a separate soaking tub and shower. By building an open vanity and framing a mirrored medicine cabinet to mimic the window casing, Oak added spaciousness.
Strategically placed at the same elevation as the windowsills, a glass-tile backsplash runs along the bathroom’s perimeter. This element stablishes a common height in the small room and creates the illusion of more space. Before installing over 3,000 one-inch tiles, Oak Design mapped the placement of each individual tile.
To highlight the vessel sink, one of the bathroom’s most prominent features, Oak used complementary colored tiles near the vanity and increased the density of color as the tiles moved away. Made of fired, layered glass infused with copper, the vessel sink’s natural richness inspired the room’s color palette. Other natural materials such as porcelain tiles and Indian slate add to the luxurious feel. The slate serves as the vanity’s top, the tub deck and frames the backsplash.
"We’re surprised and delighted by what a wonderful space a bathroom can be. It feels like a piece of artwork – original artwork," says Eva. The soaking tub is so popular in the winter that Eva practically has to develop a usage schedule. And, her husband liked the bathroom so much he toyed with the idea of annexing it for the adults.
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