Case Study: New Jersey Bathroom Remodels add Value and Style
By Diana Mosher
Transforming Two Bathrooms for a Family, Guests and the Owners of the Future
Our Montclair, NJ clients have made many improvements since moving into their four-bedroom house in 1999. Now that their two sons are grown, they seized the opportunity to reimagine the second-floor primary bathroom and the third-floor guest suite bathroom, that also serves the family when everyone is at home.
Primary/Second Floor Bathroom Square Footage: 80
Guest/Third Floor Bathroom Square Footage: 60
Completed: June 2023
Both husband and wife have extensive interior design knowledge. They publish content for commercial architects and others in the facility design and management industry and frequently attend trade shows where new bathroom products are exhibited. They were eager to embark on their DIY bathroom remodel project and initially planned on handling all the conceptual aspects and sourcing for both bathrooms themselves. The general contractor—whom they had already selected—would take it from there.
But researching finishes and fixtures became a larger job than they had anticipated. It was difficult to finalize selections, specify tile quantities and convey to the contractor the design ideas and track the many tile design patterns between shower walls, general walls, trim and floors. They needed professional help to get their DIY project on the right track.
Initially, they brought in Diana Mosher Associates for a design consultation to narrow the porcelain tile options, research applications and determine the design patterns and quantities. The consultation grew into a larger project including the creation of concept boards, CAD plans and elevations to communicate final design concepts to the GC, sourcing product samples and providing an interior designer’s feedback on product selections.
Both bathrooms required gut renovations that would take two seasons to complete. The 60-sq.ft. third-floor bathroom still had all the original 1920s fixtures including a claw-foot bathtub which was swapped for a shower built around a new double-hung vinyl frosted window. Opening the top while showering in the morning provides a view of the treetops with the sun rising in the east while ensuring privacy from neighbors and illuminating the room.
Moving the toilet from the far end of the room under the sloped ceiling into the center of the room and locating the wash basin/vanity cabinet opposite the new smart toilet-bidet with heated seat and auto-flush, reconfigured a poorly used rectangle of space into a smart square of luxury. The GC transformed the sloped ceiling into an asset by adding deep built-in shelving outside the shower wall.
For this 1926 home, a classic palette of white subway tile, crisp blue glass mosaics, gray-veined porcelain shower panels and plank porcelain floor tiles that are warmed by a thermostat-controlled underfloor heating system, complements the architecture of the house. The modernized bathroom is now fully functional for family use and guests. Delighted with the new luxury bathroom, the homeowner also refurbished the guest bedroom. And a small wood-paneled room with a window, often found in these 1920s houses, is entered from the guest bedroom, now serving as an office space for visitors, (and seasonal storage), creating a complete third-floor suite.
The primary bathroom on the second floor is the only bathroom on that level with three bedrooms. Generously sized at 80 square feet, its mid-1970s previous owner-refurbishment was executed without regard for the pre-war character of the house and needed a total aesthetic and functional overhaul.
Diana Mosher Associates selected finishes and fixtures that express the couple’s clean, modern aesthetic of grays and whites, but will also remain timeless into the future and appeal to a younger generation of owners should they decide to sell. A range of sophisticated gray tones with glass tile accents, classic subway tile, and porcelain shower wall Laminam sheets that were also fabricated for the vanity top, are on the same design wavelength as the upper floor’s guest bath.
Breaking through an exterior wall to add a set of square thermal casement windows above the new bathtub has upgraded the room with an infusion of daylight and inviting season-changing views of the backyard treetops. No other home on the block has this feature. A duplicate set of these energy-efficient casement windows was installed in the stairwell landing, replacing the single-pane originals. A 40×32-in. backlit LED anti-fog and dimmable mirror above the vanity reflects the light and backyard views into the room and the user’s view at the basin.
The large, porcelain-walled shower, created where the toilet was formerly positioned, has a pony wall topped in glass creating an alcove for the luxurious 36-in. x 72-in. soaking tub that is a focal point of the room with its custom surround subway-and-glass-tiles pattern designed by the client. Again, the thermostat-controlled heating system was installed below the plank flooring tile configuration that was designed by the client with her contractor and is repeated along the tub’s exterior side.
The original window on the east wall was halved, affording greater privacy next to the toilet, and replaced by a matching casement window to the ones above the tub, allowing daylight to shine through the shower glass and fill the room. Below the window, a smart combination toilet-bidet with heated seat is wall-hung with a recessed tank, providing alignment with the vanity cabinet and an ideal user-friendly spot for the bidet remote.
Once the GC arrived with his crew, the client handled all the construction management for both bathrooms. Diana Mosher Associates were available via video conference call to troubleshoot as needed. The client also sourced lighting, plumbing fixtures and accessories, mirrors and vanity cabinets, and worked with the stone fabricator on shower Laminam wall panels and a custom vanity top.
The clients’ unique design vision and their energetic DIY efforts plus Diana Mosher Associates’ design consulting services have resulted in two bespoke bathrooms that delight the family and their guests, while also raising the value of their real estate investment.
Sources:
Designer: Diana Mosher Associates
Photographer: Kitty Dadi Photography
General Contractor: Matthew Maher
Primary Bathroom Wall Laminam Panels & Vanity Top Fabricator: Faithful Countertops, Paterson, NJ
Fabricator: Windows: Vanderbilt fabricated by Jaeger Lumber Supply Co. Inc., Verona, NJ
Third Floor/Guest Bathroom
Shower Fixtures: Hansgrohe Relaxa 100 showerhead and Hansgrohe Handheld Croma Select E Set 3-Jet 2.0 GPM
Accessories: Jaclo handheld bracket
Sink Faucet: Hansgrohe Seabury 8-in. widespread
Shower Wall Panels, Tiles and Floor Tiles: Crossville
Wall Tiles and Flooring Tiles: Crossville
Heated Flooring System: DITRA-HEAT by Schluter
Shower Enclosure: City Glass Works, Montclair, NJ (custom)
Lighting: Ceiling recessed fixtures-generic per contractor
Wall Sconces: Kira Home Phoebe Sconce/Vanity Light
Mirror: Tahoe via Houzz
Vanity/Countertop/Sink/Mirror: Tahoe via Houzz
Toilet-Bidet: TOTO
Paint: Benjamin Moore
Windows: Vanderbilt fabricated by Jaeger Lumber Supply Co. Inc., Verona, NJ
Second Floor/Primary Bathroom
Accessories, Faucet & Shower Fixtures: TOTO
Bathtub Faucet & Handheld Fixtures: TOTO
Handheld bracket: Jaclo
Bathtub: ZUMA Collection
Bathtub Surround/Shower Accent Tile: Crossville
Shower Wall Tile Panels: Crossville
Shower Floor Tile: Crossville
Shower Enclosure: City Glass Works, Montclair, NJ (custom)
Flooring: Crossville
Heated Flooring System: DITRA-HEAT by Schluter
Lighting: recessed ceiling lighting—generic per contractor
Mirror: ISKM LED Bathroom front & backlit anti-fog, dimmable
Toilet-Bidet: TOTO
Sink: TOTO
Vanity Cabinet: Virtu Caroline Avenue via Houzz
Vanity Countertop: Crossville Porcelain
Paint: Benjamin Moore
Windows: Vanderbilt fabricated by Jaeger Lumber Supply Co. Inc., Verona, NJ