Photography by Yuki Sugiura | Words by Lydia Geisel
I initially envisioned all-red Tres bathroom fixtures, but when I went to my local supplier to order the pieces, the only hue in stock for the shower was mango. And purple was the last option left for the sink faucet. Funny enough, it’s part of the kids’ line, and the next time I saw it was at my daughter’s dentist’s office.
Rather than wait months for the ones I wanted to become available again, I bought the end-of-the-line colors and made them work. I even got a discount for taking the stuff they were trying to get rid of. One detail we did have a say in was the fire-engine red powder-coated towel warmer ($366), which we customized to match the tub handle.
If you’ve ever followed the Tour de France, you’ve probably seen a few cyclists donning bright jerseys with Mapei on the front. It turns out that company makes grout colors. We bounced ideas back and forth with our contractor, Paul, from Lakewood Build (he went to art school, so he has an amazing eye) and ultimately selected shades that we thought would create balance and contrast nicely with the different colored fixtures on the walls. We used lilac along the shower wall to complement the mango, light blue around the tub, and red by the sink.
It was never about having
the most expensive tiles;
it was about having them recede into the background.”
My husband and I were laughing when we got a call saying our new matte white wall tiles from Tile Shack Direct were delivered to our house on a pallet at 9:30 p.m.—while we were on vacation. Naturally that’s what happens when you buy the cheapest tiles you can get (they were $3 per square foot). Some of them even cracked during the install. But it was never about having the most expensive tiles; it was about having them recede into the background. We went with the 4-by-4-inch size. I thought anything smaller looked too industrial.
SAVE
From the outside, Bay Area–born artist Leslie Kulesh’s house looks like all the other grayish, semidetached homes in North London’s Highams Park neighborhood. And she likes it that way. “It’s one of those special things where you come in and realize, actually, this place is really cool,” says Kulesh. “You never know what you’re going to get behind every door.” The main bathroom is in the running for biggest surprise, starting with the fact that Kulesh; her husband, Charlie; and their two daughters (ages 5 and 3) all share it.
The space was on the couple’s “renovate immediately” list when they bought the place last July. It wasn’t lacking square footage and the finishes weren’t all that dated, aside from the wacky striped floors. The problem was much simpler than that: “We didn’t fit underneath the showerhead!” explains Kulesh. She is 5 feet 10 and her husband is 6 feet 2, and it quickly became apparent that the previous owners were much shorter. Even the kitchen sink and countertops are on the low side. “You inherit the idiosyncrasies of other people’s lives when you move into a house,” she notes. Other measurements were way off as well, like the toilet, which was too high and boxy for their then-2-year-old. On top of that, if they weren’t careful about how they turned the tub faucet on, water would pour down the side. “Nothing was easy,” she admits.
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Create a functional—and fun—
bathroom fit for a family of four.
Three months
London
60
Top Priority
Timeline
Location
Square Feet
A performance and sculpture artist
embraced a host of new mediums—colorful grout, faucets, and toilet flushes—to enliven
her family’s tiny shared bathroom.
Line
Dance
While we moved one of the walls inward a bit to carve out a flush medicine cabinet, the bathroom feels bigger now because the Duravit toilet and sink are floating, freeing up floor space underneath. That made such a difference, plus it makes it easier to mop.
We Have Liftoff
A Blank Canvas
Click to see the WIP
SPLURGE
It Can Be a Sprint, Not a Marathon
Getting Griddy
Because their daughters are very much still in “bath mode” (they only just started getting curious about taking showers), Kulesh redesigned the room with the girls top of mind. “And they’re very proud of this,” she says. The new $250 tub is built in, offering Kulesh a ledge to perch on while she helps them wash up, and there’s even a birch-lined cubby underneath for rubber duckies and other water toys. “They feel a sense of ownership over that bath, which is a funny thing to feel ownership over,” she says with a laugh. The dream is that one day the space will be just theirs, while Mom and Dad will have their own zone upstairs.
Drawing on her childhood love of Memphis design, Kulesh amped up the walls’ simple white tiles with colored grout and fixtures. “We wanted it to last for years,” she says of trying to steer clear of anything too kidlike. In her own words, Kulesh reveals where they saved and where they splurged to make the spot functional for her family of four.
Rather than wait months
for the fixtures I wanted to become available again, I bought the end-of-the-line colors and made them work.”
SAVE
CLICK TO
SEE BEFORE
We selected grout shades that we thought would create balance and contrast nicely with the different colored fixtures on the walls.”
SAVE
We let our daughters pick the two hues for the $115 wall-hung toilet flush.
Of course, they chose
bright yellow and green.”
A Family Affair
The palette was feeling pretty muted and tasteful up to this point—then we let our daughters pick the two hues for the $115 wall-hung toilet flush. Of course, they chose bright yellow and green. It really takes everything up a notch. So much so that I got a call from the company, Geberit, the day after I put in my order, asking if I meant to select those colors. I reassured them and they said they’d have to have the factory make it special just for us—no one had ordered the combination before.
SPLURGE
One of the most genius things Paul did was stagger the shelving inside the recessed medicine cabinet because he noticed we have really big things (like a giant Dr. Bronner’s soap bottle and Epsom salts bag). Now we can all be in the bathroom at the same time and get what we need.
No More Storage Wars
SPLURGE
The varied textured floor finish helps disguise dust bunnies and grime.”
The Forbo marmoleum (a sustainable linoleum flooring made with coconut husks) is perfect for a bathroom that’s never all that tidy—the varied textured finish helps disguise dust bunnies and grime. Throughout this process, we ended up working with many commercial-facing companies that we wouldn’t have normally considered because we met with local suppliers in person, like Hintons Bathrooms (where we sourced the Tres fixtures). It allowed us to discover products that we were really excited about and made us happy.
A Clean Start
SAVE
CLICK TO
SEE BEFORE
SAVE
My husband and I were laughing when we got a call saying our new matte white wall tiles from Tile Shack Direct were delivered to our house on a pallet at 9:30 p.m.—while we were on vacation. Naturally that’s what happens when you buy the cheapest tiles you can get (they were $3 per square foot). Some of them even cracked during the install. But it was never about having the most expensive tiles; it was about having them recede into the background. We went with the 4-by-4-inch size. I thought anything smaller looked too industrial.
I initially envisioned all-red Tres bathroom fix-tures, but when I went to my local supplier
to order the pieces, the only hue in stock for the shower was mango. And purple was the last option left for the sink faucet. Funny enough,
it’s part of the kids’ line, and the next time I saw
it was at my daughter’s dentist’s office.
Rather than wait months for the ones I wanted to become available again, I bought the end-of-the-line colors and made them work. I even got a discount for taking the stuff they were trying to get rid of. One detail we did have a say in was
the fire-engine red powder-coated towel warmer ($366), which we customized to match the tub handle.
A Clean Start
SAVE
Click to see the WIP
“
“
“
“
“
The varied textured finish helps disguise dust bunnies
and grime.”
We let our daughters pick the two hues for the $115 wall-hung toilet flush. Of course, they chose bright yellow and green.”
[We] selected shades that we thought would create balance and contrast nicely with the different colored fixtures on the walls.”
Rather than wait months for the ones
I wanted to become available again,
I bought the end-of-the-line colors and made them work.”
It was never about having the most expensive tiles,
it was about having them recede into the background.”
In her L.A. home office, Studio Kō founder Ibi Yoo brings traditional Korean artists’ work to the U.S.
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