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The way this California couple’s townhouse came together in the Minneapolis area was a bit unusual, but it worked well. Since they lived out of state before returning to Minnesota for retirement, their daughter, who lived near the townhouse, did the remodeling for them. She hired interior designer Jami Ludens, who had completed work on another cousin’s home that she admired. This gave her confidence in Ludens’ skills, so she gave the designer free rein on the project. The result is a primary bathroom with a mix of soft blues, creams, whites and greys, tied together with beautiful floral wallpaper.
New paneled pocket doors lead to cloakroom. The door to the bedroom is at the other end of the toilet. It’s just a toilet next to the shower.
“The fun shower tiles were my inspiration for this bathroom,” Ludens says. “I just saw it in the showroom and knew I wanted to use it. The colors in these tiles are so beautiful that I wanted to base my design on them. They paired beautifully with the soft blue cabinetry I wanted to use.
Although the room has many soft blues, the designer considers them neutral. “Most people are afraid to use color,” Ludens says. “Softer tones can act as neutrals.”
The recessed ceiling light adds curved lines and matches the larger version of the fixture Ludens chose for the master bedroom.
Lighting fixture: Murray Face Patrice with three lights in Deep Abyss
Ludens worked with Revival House (then known as Studio M Kitchen & Bath) on all the cabinets in the house. In this room this includes a toilet and a large linen cupboard. She specified a double vanity with three columns of drawers that provide enough storage space for two people.
Cabinet profiles are Shaker style. Dark finishes on cabinet hardware and faucets add a modern touch to the mix of transitional style.
The finish on the cabinets is blue stained cherry wood. This is a special finish that requires a multi-step process. For Ludens, the result was worth it. “This finish is unique.” The stain gives such a depth of color and using the cherry wood added the texture of the wood grain,” she says.
The floors are porcelain tiles in various gray shades, laid in a herringbone pattern. “The larger scale of this pattern played nicely with the small scale of the scalloped shower tiles,” says Ludens.
Cabinet manufacturer: Decor Cabinets; cabinet hardware: melon handle, Emtek
Thibaut’s Indian Flower Ceylon wallpaper in Spa Blue ties everything together in the bathroom. “The client’s daughter was hesitant to use a background, but that element really brought the whole design together and added the personality that was needed,” Ludens says. “No other product makes a statement like wallpaper.”
The designer chose oval mirrors to maintain a sense of softness in the room. They provide large enough reflective surfaces without covering too much beautiful wallpaper. They also play off some of the oval shapes found in the petals in the wallpaper pattern.
The slabs are quartz in a marble look. “She came from Cambria it brought a timeless element and the maintenance-free look of marble,” Ludens says.
Single taps save space on the work surface and make cleaning easier. Their Venetian bronze finish adds a dark contrast to the room’s soft hues and coordinates beautifully with the cabinet’s oil-rubbed bronze hardware.
faucets: Cassidy bathroom with one handleDelta
This is the view of the bathroom from the bedroom. Ludens designed a beautiful linen closet for extra storage and placed it between the window and the entrance to the restroom. This built-in has a traditional freestanding furniture look.
Here’s a wider view of how the shower, toilet and linen cabinet come together. The toilet has a pocket door.
The shower cubicle measures 5 by 3½ feet. Ludens used an inspirational scalloped tile around the top as an accent. The main shower tile is a subway tile with subtle variations in tones that range from creamy white to light gray.
floor plan: The primary entrance to the bedroom is in the upper right corner and the entrance to the dressing room is at the bottom. The shower cabin is in the lower left corner. The linen closet is to the right of the toilet.
Throughout the process, the homeowner’s daughter would approve of the Ludens’ choices, changing very little. When the project was completed, the clients moved into their forever home. “These clients really let me put together what I thought would be a great design and they loved it,” Ludens says. “Sometimes designers just need to help clients find their style or show them a well-designed space that has been thoroughly thought out.”
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Bathroom at a glance
Who lives here: A retired couple
Location: Minneapolis area
Size: 124 square feet (12 square meters)
Designer: James Ludens of Studio M Interiors
Contractor: Ben Garvin from Garvin Homes
The existing bathroom hadn’t been touched since the 1980s, so this project was a renovation downstairs. “The clients wanted a transitional design that was easy to maintain and mostly neutral,” says Ludens. “That’s why my color palette in this room has muted shades.”
Trim color: White Dove, Benjamin Moore
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