Elegant, European Bath Retreat

Interior designer Laura Green embarked on a full master bathroom remodel aimed at incorporating design elements from Italy and France. Keeping with her signature design sensibility, the designer focused more on the art of tone-on-tone layering by pairing white with cream to keep the overall mood calm and airy. The original space was too small for a standing shower, a soaking tub, and a dressing room-style place dedicated to getting ready. The master bathroom was expanded from 121 to 168 square feet to accommodate these important design elements.

For custom bathroom floors without the custom price tag, Green purchased standard 12X12 Calcutta Gold marble tiles and had them cut down to 4X5. The initial plan called for using the Italian marble, chair-rail style, on the walls. For a similar effect at a much affordable price, she stuck with Calcutta Gold bullnose trim at the top with a band of 4X5 Calcutta tile below, and used basic ceramic subway tile all the way down to the base trim. "Since your eye starts at the bullnose trim and ends at the Calcutta base trim, all you really notice is the white marble," says Green. "The subway tiles sort of just fade away."

A glass-enclosed shower was added in the space where a toilet once sat. To keep the feeling open and connected to the rest of the bath area, Green stuck with the same wall tiles used throughout the bathroom. A rain shower-style shower head made from 24 karats Venetian gold sprays triple the amount of water from the existing one. Instead of polishing the gold, she lets it age to develop a natural patina.

In its original state, the bathroom had a contractor-grade, fiberglass 1980's corner tub which seemed like an afterthought. In the new space the French cast iron tub is the star of the show centered in the room.