Berkeley Bathroom Goes Into the Light
December 16, 2018
Architect Marites Abueg’s customer was ready to part ways with her bathroom’s previous incarnation: a distance swathed in dark purple paint and heavy green tile. The homeowner needed a renovation to lighten up the space, one which would “use fair substances and simplify the plan,” states Abueg.
Bathroom at a Glance
Who uses this : A chef of California cuisine
Location: Berkeley, California
Design challenge: Turning a dark bath into a light-filled, Zen-like spa bathroom rooted in Shaker design philosophy
Abueg Morris Architect
“The bathroom includes a Shaker decorative, meaning most of the components in the tub have some type of function or are elemental in the plan,” states Abueg, that collaborated with builder Lyn Alhorn on the undertaking. A step within this bathroom visually cleanses the soul; its own different wood, pebble and stone components reflect an overall sense of calm.
Sink: concrete, VitraStone; tub: Wetstyle
Abueg Morris Architect
BEFORE: The bathroom’s previous incarnation is far from its existing state. Everything but the stained glass windows was edited out and updated.
Abueg Morris Architect
“The teak panels flanking the windows mimic the proportion of these windows, making it look like there are four windows in the tub,” states Abueg.
The floors are Douglas fir, first to the home. “My customer actually likes the wood surfaces to demonstrate their age, to have a more complex patina, so for her it’s not a problem to have the wood floors in the tub. She thinks it’s very good for things to age and bend and give the impression that time is passing,” states Abueg.
Abueg Morris Architect
The dressing table shelves were custom created by California cabinetmaker Randall Wilson. Every cubby has a goal and a toiletry game: components fit into particular shelves, along with a base cube houses a makeup mirror.
Abueg Morris Architect
Abueg’s customer, an activist for local and organically grown food, expands her service for all things local in regards to deciding on her furniture craftspeople. “She loves the light designs of Berkeley designer Michael McEwan; she actually had him scale down lighting fixtures from a prior commercial property so that she might have his light pendants in the tub and throughout her house,” states Abueg.
Abueg Morris Architect
A bed of river rocks surround the tub. The rocks add to the serene, spa-like feeling of the room and tickle bare toes.
Abueg Morris Architect
The modern tub is the quiet star of the room and is central to the client’s bathing ritual. “There is a shower in a few of those other rooms in the house for visitors to use, however she just takes baths,” states Abueg.
True to the Shaker philosophy of the full area, the tub caddy spreads itself across the tub’s width, with only enough room for a pumice scrub and a votive candle.
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