Bathrooms

One Room, Two People

Full renovation: deeper soaking tub, custom knotty-alder vanity and storage, two medicine cabinets, a divided shower niche, tile, fixtures, lighting and a new custom entry door.

The finished shared bath — a knotty-alder double vanity and cream quartzite, the custom knotty-alder doors installed, a black-framed glass tub-shower and a patterned terracotta floor

Location: Arizona
Project type: Full bath renovation — a shared bath serving two bedrooms
Scope: Full renovation: deeper soaking tub, custom knotty-alder vanity and storage, two medicine cabinets, a divided shower niche, tile, fixtures, lighting and a new custom entry door.

The challenge

This early-2000s shared bath had plenty of square footage, but much of it wasn't working hard. Tile covered nearly every surface, storage was limited, and an awkward tub-side bench consumed space without serving much purpose. The clients knew they wanted it updated, but didn't arrive with a specific vision beyond wanting it to feel — and function — better.

Functional requirements

Personal storage for a bath two bedrooms share
Better everyday function, and accessibility they hadn't asked for
Continuity with the home's existing Southwest character
A move away from the wall-to-wall tile

The approach

Because the bathroom serves two bedrooms, I approached it as a space that should accommodate two people individually — not simply provide two sinks. That became the organizing principle: personal storage, better function and accessibility, and a room connected to the rest of the home. A custom knotty-alder vanity gives each user dedicated under-sink storage, with a central pullout divided between them. Two individual medicine cabinets — each with an interior outlet at the clients' request — replaced an awkward corner cabinet, and removing the unused tub-side bench made room for a custom pull-out whose depth I calculated carefully, both to keep it from becoming too heavy and to preserve clearance for the shower niche behind it. A deeper soaking tub, a discreet grab bar and a divided corner niche added comfort and accessibility without becoming the visual focus. The floor was the call I pushed hardest for: rather than the practical gray, I chose a tile related to the home's other renovated bath in the opposite colorway, carried to the baseboards, so the two baths and the existing Saltillo beyond read as one intentional whole.

What it became

The clients were exceptionally pleased — including with several decisions they'd initially questioned. The soaking tub and grab bar were the clearest example: accessibility hadn't been part of the brief, but once they were using the room, they valued being able to enjoy a deeper soak while feeling secure getting in and out. The finished bath doesn't just look newer. It works harder, gives two people their own space, belongs to the rest of the house, and quietly anticipates needs they hadn't yet thought to ask for.

Before / After

The bath before renovation, from the same vantage — an oak vanity at left and a white-tile tub-shower with chrome sliding doors at right — Before: oak, chrome and gray-grouted grid tile.

One Room, Two People, completed — After: the completed room.

The knotty-alder double vanity with the custom knotty-alder door installed alongside — cream quartzite top, oil-rubbed bronze faucets and copper hardware — The custom knotty-alder vanity, with its matching door installed.

The full shared bath — a wood double vanity with stone counter at left, a white tub behind black-framed sliding glass at right, and a patterned terracotta floor — One room, designed to give two people their own space.

The finished wood double vanity with stone countertop, matte-black faucets, two framed mirrors and seeded-glass sconces — The rebuilt double vanity — alder, stone and seeded glass.

A large corner shower niche in warm stacked ceramic tile with the oil-rubbed bronze grab bar — The divided corner niche — one side for each person.

A narrow custom pull-out storage cabinet opened beside the new tub, with a tiled niche and black hardware — A custom slim pull-out tucks real storage in beside the new tub.

The toilet niche with a new white toilet beneath a knotty-alder wall cabinet with Southwest-style panel doors — The toilet niche, with a new custom wall cabinet.

Before — the original oak double vanity with a white grid-tile countertop, framed mirrors and tube sconces — Before — the original oak vanity and grid-tile counter.

Mid-demolition — walls stripped to studs and insulation, rough plumbing, and the new white tub set into the framed alcove — Mid-build — the new tub set into the framed alcove.

Attention to detail

Knotty-alder cabinetry with Southwest panel doors, plus a new custom entry door
A divided central vanity pull-out — a shelf for each user
Two individual medicine cabinets, each with an interior electrical outlet
A custom slim pull-out where the old tub-side bench had been
A divided corner shower niche — left and right, one for each user

Kim designed two full bathrooms for our Southwest-style home, meshing beautifully with our existing style when most stores carry overwhelmingly modern options. She listened and found what we like — and she knows all the best places to find just the right tile, from the floor to the shower to the tub surround, whether brick-and-mortar or online. Her installer and cabinet makers are true craftsmen, right down to the soft-close mechanisms and finishes. To round it out she chose complementary accents like a hammered copper sink and a highly styled mirror. We're thrilled with the final product and unreservedly recommend Kim and her team.

Margie· Two-bath renovation, Southwest-style home