After living in her small Georgetown condo for 20 years, Eileen McCarthy, who admits she might procrastinate a bit, decided it was finally time to remodel, so she started with her least favorite room, the bath. “Everything was wearing out. The faucet leaked. The sink itself — the cabinet and the laminate on it were starting to crack,” McCarthy said. “I had to remodel and it didn’t make any sense to do it piecemeal.”
| Resources |
| Designers Network: designersnetworkonline.com/ |
| Charles Almonte: charlesalmonte.com/ |
| Icestone counters: icestone.biz |
| Daltile tiles: daltile.com/ |
McCarthy enlisted the help of interior designer Charles C. Almonte, who transformed her 45-square-foot bath from decrepit to delightful.
McCarthy lives at McLean Gardens Condominiums. Built in 1942 to house World War II defense workers, the property was turned into rentals and then converted into condominiums in 1981.
A busy attorney, McCarthy ignored her deteriorating digs for years until the single bath in the house became nearly unusable. “The bathroom was the room I liked the least,” McCarthy said. “It was all white. I wanted something more peaceful, modern and functional.”
She selected Almonte through Designers Network, a service that matches homeowners to interior designers that best fit their needs and style.
“I always thought I needed a designer because I can’t visualize things. I watch the design shows on television and most of my trepidation was that I would be pushed into doing something I didn’t really like simply because it was trendy,” she said.
Instead Almonte guided McCarthy through the process, making sure the result reflected her personal style. After gutting the entire bath, they decided to go green; figuratively and literally.
They painted the walls with Benjamin Moore’s Brookside Moss green. A window in the bathroom looks out over a wooded area. They installed a new energy-efficient toilet.
The floor is 12-inch by 24-inch ceramic tile from Daltile in alternating rice paper and sprout colors that create a natural fabric-like texture.
“That’s my favorite thing about the bathroom,” McCarthy said. “[Almonte] picked it out and showed it to me. It’s just beautiful. It looks like a piece of cloth.”
Almonte said people commonly make the mistake of going with smaller tiles when selecting floors for a smaller bath. “I think the bigger tiles make the room look larger,” he said. “And you have fewer grout lines.”
The old vanity was large and obstructed the entrance. By mounting the sink faucet in the wall, Almonte was able to use a slim coffee/coriander-colored vanity with a top-mounted basin.
McCarthy’s counter is icestone, an engineered stone made from recycled glass. “It’s typically expensive but because we were working with a small space we were able to get a remnant and splurge,” Almonte said.
She also went with an Archer tub by Kohler, which is deeper than a standard model and has a garden tub look. Molding around the ceiling and polished brass hardware add a touch of luxury.
To finish off the look, McCarthy chose a satin-like shower curtain in sage and chocolate to hang from a curved shower curtain rod. Almonte said going with a curved shower curtain rod over a glass enclosure makes a smaller bath feel more open.
“When you are in the shower it gives you the illusion that there is more space around you,” he said.
McCarthy was so pleased with the result that she asked Almonte to start on the rest of her place.
“I wasn’t sure what to expect,” McCarthy said about using a designer. “It’s amazing how it all came together.”
