An Aquamarine Bathroom

In last week's post, we explored bathroom colors--specifically, the link between popular bathroom colors and mood. One way to choose a bathroom color is to find a suitable match for your temperament; or a color that inspires the type of energy you wish to experience. A yellow bathroom wall, for example, can be lively--a perfect pick-me-up for a groggy morning.

By far, the most popular bathroom color is blue: the color most often associated with water--unless you're Homer, of course, describing the "wine-dark sea."

The Wine-dark sea? [Photo Source]

Despite its ubiquity, however, the color blue can be personalized. And of course, the palette is not limited to the time-tested bathroom staple: powder blue. Blue can be soft or dark; blue can surprise; blue can be astonishingly bright. As David Foster Wallace writes in his famous essay, "Shipping Out":

"I have learned that there are actually intensities of blue beyond very bright blue."

With the wonderful variety of blue in mind, we thought we'd share one of our recent favorite bathroom remodeling projects: an aquamarine bathroom!

Hard-to-Source Materials

At MKBD, we work hard to find the perfect materials for each product. We source much of our tile from Italy or Spain, but we're happy to source tiles elsewhere--if we can satisfy a customer's unique demands. This hallway bathroom project started as an inspiration: our client spotted a lovely aquamarine bathroom on a European vacation.

The client had no leads on the manufacturer of the bathroom's tiles, but they snapped a few shots of the elusive bathroom materials--and these shots helped us source a similar material: two different porcelain tiles from the popular tile company, Porcelenosa.

Two different tile materials, in aquamarine, add texture and visual intrigue to this bathroom.

Porcelanosa is a Spanish tile company specializing in bathroom fixtures. For the average customer sourcing tile, the name Porcelenosa is just one of many. For a professional remodeling company in the know, however, Porcelenosa presented itself as an obvious option for this remodeling project.

This is one of merely many benefits of using a professional: we know the best places to source the best materials for your unique needs.

Drop-in-Tub

In this project we installed a "drop-in" tub, which is simply a tub that is fitted in a framed enclosure. For this project, the drop-in was a perfect match for the tile enclosure. We worked so hard to find a perfect match for the client's European memories--why not use as much tile as possible?

We built the drop-in tub with a back shelf--all aquamarine tile, of course, for easy storage.

Toto Toilet

Since last summer, MKBD has offered a FREE TOTO Washlet with a full bathroom remodeling project! The TOTO Washlet, as described on TOTO's website is a masterpiece:

"The pursuit of cleanliness can be better in every way, from a clean perspective to a green perspective. The Washlet uses water to cleanse and refresh and can significantly reduce the consumption of toilet paper. It makes perfect sense. We bath and shower with water. We wash our faces and hands with water. Nothing cleanses like nature’s most soothing and essential element, which is why Washlets purify and clean in ways that you cannot experience with traditional bathroom rituals."

For more, read here.

We love Toto not simply for their bidets--we truly love the toilets themselves, some of the best in the industry!

A wall-mounted Toto toilet surrounded by a true bounty of aquamarine tiles.

Modern Vanity

The final element of this project was the wall-mounted vanity from Moderna. We love the simple, elegant look of the basic here--and, of course, the light blue vanity itself, a perfect match for the aquamarine tiles.

A lovely, modern vanity

***

Free In-Home Remodeling Estimate

If you have any questions about your next remodeling project, please feel free to call MKBD for an individualized consultation. Let's talk bathroom design and more! Call now! 215-355-4747. Better yet, check out our Free In-Home Remodeling Estimate on this very blog!

Bathroom Colors: Let Your Own Experience Guide You

Did you know color can influence mood? Green can be as invigorating as a nature walk. Blue is as calm as a placid lake. And red inspires the passion of a bullfighter.

Olé!

Indeed, for most people, color inspires the most intimate of associations. Perhaps this is why bathroom color is so intimate. As the most private room in the house, the bathroom is the best place to add a unique splash of color.

It's surprising, then, that many homeowners opt for "non-colors," like white and black. Of course, we love the cool, clean feel of white and black; yet we also love how color can reveal a homeowner's personality.

Are you fiery? Or energetic? Colors can help you enhance (or balance) these qualities.

Your choice of color might be influenced by your fixtures and flooring, yet most bathroom designs can be easily adapted to a variety of palettes--and moods.

We love the colors here, especially the unique hunter green, an original take on the French Country theme, which complemented the homeowner's love of the French countryside.

Color and Mood: Explore Your Own Experience

The Internet offers a variety of resources on the link between color and mood. As we noted above, certain colors are known for illiciting certain moods. There's a reason, for example, that so many homeowners prefer blue for the bathroom.

Blue can be deeply relaxing--a notion most of us intuitively understand. 

Instead of relying on Internet resources, however, we suggest thinking about your own experience of color. Yes, we know that "blue is calming," but what does blue mean for you?

For many, obviously, the color blue evokes the tranquility of water. For some, blue might inspire the soaring feeling of the deep, blue sky.

The water association is a perfect (and obvious) match for the bathroom. For this purpose, the lighter shades of blue are the best choice. However, a darker blue can add some complexity. For some, dark blue can evoke feelings of authority and stability (dark blue is the color of the corporate environment; think of a dark blue or navy suit).

This bathroom was designed with different shades of blue, including a deep blue basin, to inspire feelings of tranquility and stability. 

When you choose your own color associations, your color choices become uniquely personal.

We recently wrote about grey, for example, a color that evokes authority, unity, and cooperation for many people. Yet a light griege (grey and beige) palette can also evoke the anticipation of a misty morning.

 A  walk-in shower with a rain showerhead complements this revitalizing grey palette.

The point is to let your own experience guide your choice of color.

Color Schemes

A monochromatic color scheme can be peaceful, yet most homeowners prefer varying shades and accents of color. Contrasting colors, especially, can infuse a space with a sense of vitality.
On the other hand, the use of two or three related colors—colors that rest next to each other on the color wheel—is a good way to offer a subtle contrast.

 Yellow, red, and orange are lively and warm. Blue, teal, and green are calm and cool. A warm color combined with a cool color creates an intriguing look. Any two colors will inevitably contain all three of the primary colors, so even a contrasting color scheme can be considered well-balanced.

In this MKBD project, the client desired the warm tones of brown and orange.

Again, however, your choice of color(s) should be guided by your experience. How do colors speak to you?

Free In-Home Remodeling Estimate

If you have any questions about your next remodeling project, please feel free to call MKBD for an individualized consultation. Let's talk bathroom design and more! Call now! 215-355-4747. Better yet, check out our Free In-Home Remodeling Estimate on this very blog!

Bathroom Colors: Grey

Grey is not often the first choice for a bathroom color. The color itself is often unfairly labeled as drab, too conservative, or depressing. Just think of a cloudy sky! Yet, grey can also stand for elegance and classicism.

A shade somewhere between black and white, grey is the color of unity and cooperation. When darkened slightly, it can evoke power and authority.

Dark greys suit 007 well

When lightened with hints of white or silver, grey can evoke lightness and simplicity.

Depending on your temperament, then, grey can be a perfect choice for a bathroom color. MKBD recently had the privilege of remodeling two Philly-area bathrooms in different shades of grey. 

If you're looking for some color inspiration for your next bathroom remodeling project, take a look at the two MKBD projects below. Perhaps grey is the color for you, too!

A Grey and White Bathroom (with a Hint of Chocolate)

In this MKBD project, the homeowner wanted a light and lively theme of grey and white, so we designed the bathroom with Shaker cabinets, painted a lovely white, a grey and white quartz vanity top, and a custom shower with big, 12 x 12 griege tiles.

This picture of the vanity, with white Shaker cabinets and a grey and white quartz countertop, evokes the elegant yet youthful attitude of the family.

Griege, an amalgam of grey and beige, is the hottest color in home remodeling right now. As Business Insider recently wrote:

"On Pinterest, Tumblr, and Instagram, home decor obsessives can't get enough of the color 'greige.' Searching hashtags like #greige or #greigedesign on Instagram, Pinterest, and Tumblr will lead you to hundreds of images of bedrooms and living spaces, all looking flawless with the help of the internet's favorite understated hue."

Check out how a lightly accented griege can look almost like a unique stone in this custom shower for two with recessed storage and a bench.

Note how the brushed nickel fixtures come alive against the subdued background.

As seen in the brushed nickel accessories above, grey can also be a great color to highlight other colors. In this MKBD project, we provided a bit of contrast with a chocolate brown tile floor.

Note the hints of grey in the chocolate, a complement and contrast to the griege shower wall.

A Grey on Grey Bathroom (with Accents of...Grey)

In this MKBD project the customer was quite explicit in their preferences: "Grey." So grey it was. We built beautiful cabinets painted grey, used a warm grey tile for the floor, and installed a custom shower with grey floor and wall tiles.

The light grey vanity cabinets complement the warm grey floor tiles: a subdued, yet intriguing palette. 

Note above how even the accent tiles are grey--both light and dark grey for contrast--and yet, contrary to expectations, in this MKBD project too much grey is not at all drab or depressing. It's positively revitalizing.

Talk about revitalizing: there's nothing better than a custom-made walk-in shower with a rain showerhead for making you feel alive in the morning--or after a long day of work.

This project required some moving parts to realize the customer's ultimate ambition. We had to move the toilet, for example, to make room for the custom shower above--a possibility the customer had not imagined.

An elongated toilet from Toto--our go-to toilet brand.

In the end, we enlarged the shower 3 X 2 feet--an impressive difference. This sort of change, of course, requires some ingenious planning. That's why we believe it is so important to include a remodeling company in your early planning stages. A talented bathroom designer can reveal possibilities you might not have imagined.

Some homeowners choose to call a remodeling company only after they have spent countless hours researching their project. We're all for research, but including a home remodeling company at the very beginning of the exploration process can increase your chances of success. A remodeling company can guide you in your exploration, saving you time. A home remodeling company can also help you set reasonable parameters for your project.

Why MKBD? 

We hope our website can provide you with all the information you might need about our company. If you're thinking about remodeling your bathroom, please do not hesitate to call us: 215-355-4747.

And if you have any questions about your next kitchen remodeling project, please feel free to call MKBD for an individualized consultation. Call now! 215-355-4747. Better yet, check out our Free In-Home Remodeling Estimate on this very blog!

How to Brighten Your Bathroom Design with Simple Colorful Accents

It's springtime in the Philadelphia-region! Well, almost. The official start of spring is two days away--Friday, March 20--but the first glimmers of our favorite season are here. This Sunday, the NCAA selected the brackets for the men's basketball tournament--an annual springtime rite. And yesterday, St. Patrick's Day, the city was awash in shades of hopeful green. Who knows, perhaps soon we'll see the first blossoms!

Spring is the beginning of our busy season at MKBD, a time of planning and demolition,--and, like spring, expectation. Inspired by the buoyancy of the season, homeowners often ask MKBD to shoot for the moon in terms of bathroom design.

Often, however, we find ourselves suggesting subtle, yet dramatic projects with a timeless appeal. This timelessness is seen in our muted color palette. Spring might be the time of pastels, but we believe most bathroom remodeling projects are best served with muted palettes.

But wait! That doesn't mean we don't enjoy a shot of color. Instead of bold palettes, however, we often prefer bold accents: the little details that make a timeless color scheme shine.

In the pictures below, we explore two favorite ways to add color to your bathroom design: with a single, colorful element or simple accent tiles. 

In this little gem of a bathroom, the bold accent is a blue vessel sink. 

A Colorful Element

A colorful element is a perfect way to add color to your bathroom design. Your colorful element might be a dramatic juxtaposition or seamless integration, but to be successful, the element should merely accent and not overwhelm.

Viewed from a different angle, the bold blue vessel sink above fits quite seamlessly into the bathroom's blue and off-white color palette. 

A different use of color: in this Montgomery County bathroom remodeling project, two decorative dolphins the same deep blue color from the project above juxtapose the white marble tiles. 

The decorative dolphins above reveal a crucial point about color and design--one that we find ourselves reminding clients about all the time: your palette is not simply limited to the base elements of your design.

You do not necessarily need to build a blue vessel sink to add color to your bathroom. Color can come from your own accessories, from decorative elements, like the dolphin, or even toiletries and towels. In this way, even a simple vase of flowers can become part of your bathroom design.

This white and grey palette of this marble powder room is brightened by a colorful potpourri.

Colorful Accent Tiles

Our favorite way to add color to a bathroom is accent tiles. The key to a successful accent tile is choosing a timeless pattern that will not look dated in a few years. Remember, a bathroom remodel is a semi-permanent installation, so you should anticipate enjoying your accent tiles today, tomorrow, and five or more years from now.

In this Southampton project, the simplest of accent tiles brightens the subdued palette.

Like colorful elements, your accent tiles can juxtapose or integrate. Yet here, too, the same principle applies: you want to accent, not overwhelm your color palette. 

In this Voorhees-area project, brown and black accent complement the bathroom's earthy palette. 

In this Cheltenham project, colorful accent tiles juxtapose the larger muted stone tiles lining the shower wall.

Accent tiles can also serve as a unifying element. In the Cheltenham project above, the accent tiles might juxtapose the shower, yet when viewed from a different angle, they become the element, like the Big Lebowski's rug, that ties the room together.

Accent tiles become more than mere accent in this Cheltenham-area project--they become a unifying theme.

FREE In-Home Remodeling Estimate

If you have any questions about your next remodeling project, please feel free to call MKBD for an individualized consultation. Let's talk bathroom design and more! Call now! 215-355-4747. Better yet, check out our Free In-Home Remodeling Estimate on this very blog!