There’s nothing like a luxury hotel experience: crisp sheets, gold hardware and mood lighting in the bathroom. Homeowners Gary and Megan Gabriel wanted that richness in their home bathroom, with a little touch of glitz.
“They are big Las Vegas aficionados,” says Aaron Whaley, a designer with Dave Fox Design company. “They have expressed some interest in not wanting cookie cutter finishes.”
The Gabriels love spending time in Las Vegas, getting married there in 2012, so its showy splendor was the perfect inspiration for their bathroom.
The Gabriels
Before
The Gabriels
The Gabriels
The Gabriels
From concept to reality
Before the renovation, the bathroom was modest with simple neutrals and outfitted with a standard bath and shower combo.
One of the Gabriels’ goals for the renovation was to create more shower space to fit Gary’s 6’8” frame. After living with a small shower for five years, they decided to expand their space and creativity.
“I just wanted something that I hadn’t seen before,” Megan says. “I’m over the white aesthetic. Everybody’s doing neutrals, and I just wanted to be bold with my choices.”
Whaley and his team removed the Jacuzzi tub and put the larger shower in its place while the old 42-inch shower stall became a storage cabinet.
To add to the luxury, the shower incorporates a steam unit that creates a sauna feel and chromotherapy lights to provide a healing ambiance.
“They wanted to feel upscale. They wanted it to feel like they were in a Las Vegas hotel,” Whaley says. “With darker finishes, you’re able to bring the light down in the room.”
Dave Fox Design
After
Dave Fox Design
Dave Fox Design
Dave Fox Design
Down to the details
Dave Fox Design
The wallpaper behind the toilet offers a more overt nod to Las Vegas, featuring showgirls with large fans, creating a statement wall.
“I knew as soon as we walked in the door and our designer had a swatch of the showgirls (wallpaper),” Megan says. “We haven’t even talked about anything else, but I knew in my brain…our bathroom has to have this now because (Gary’s) never going to unsee this wallpaper.”
Another design statement is the floating bench that wraps around into the shower. The false edge on the quartz creates a continuous L-shaped bench that provides seating in the shower. However, because the section in the shower needs a slight slope to stop water from pooling, the designers had to get creative in engineering.
Megan says she loves the outer part of the bench just as much as the sauna bench.
“I love that it has that little niche back there,” Megan says. “That’s where I put a black hamper for the towels. So I love that that’s out of sight. If somebody was to come into my bathroom, that’s not the first thing they’d see. We didn’t have that kind of storage, so that bench is everything.”
It’s not often that the statement room of a house is the bathroom.
“Because of this shower, we probably will never leave this home,” Megan says. “Because we will never find this shower anywhere else.”
Maggie Fipps is an editorial assistant at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
