Expanded bathroom jump-starts renovation

Barnaby had a tough time purchasing his first home. He scoured the city for appropriate houses, and ultimately found himself in bidding war after bidding war. After losing out on several nice places, he decided to take a new approach: find a cheap house in poor shape and spend the extra money on renovations.

But after discovering one and having it gutted, he found himself in renovation limbo. Construction was dragging on, his contractors were ready to pack it in and Barnaby had run out of steam. While he would have liked me to step in and tackle the whole house, he settled for help in renovating his dingy, 3-by-5-foot bathroom. He hoped that finishing just one of his 10 rooms would give him the necessary energy to undertake the rest. So I gathered up my crew and got set to create a modern bathroom that will jump-start the rest of Barnaby's renovation.

Clients usually come to me when they want to update the look of an existing room. However, on this project I had to change the actual function and location of the space, because the existing bathroom was tiny. Luckily, there was a guest bedroom beside the bathroom, so I knocked down the adjoining wall and created one large space.

Then I got down to aesthetics. Barnaby was looking for a modern, boutique-hotel vibe, so I chose a palette of cool colors: grays and blues for the walls, tiles and accents, and pure snow white for the fixtures. I chose beautiful sheet flooring with a pewter metallic finish, and put up a stunning mural of an enlarged water droplet on the ceiling.

I then installed a variety of high-tech fixtures. On one side of the room I put in a glass shower enclosure with a rain shower and a hand-held shower. On the other side of the bathroom I installed a sculpted, freestanding white quartz tub and put gorgeous gray and white mosaic tile on the wall above. Beside the tub is a high-tech toilet with a heated seat and a self-closing lid. I also installed a beautiful new walnut vanity with an ultramodern vessel sink.

Lighting often gets overlooked when people renovate bathrooms, but not in this case. I created a small bulkhead that runs around the perimeter of the room and houses some recessed lights. I then installed a modern horizontal vanity fixture over the sink and a track behind the bulkhead that will illuminate the tile over the tub. To add a little drama to the tub area, I also put in some lighting in the floor. On the ceiling, I put up a fixture with a circular cover plate right in the middle of the graphic.

On the room's small window, I put up a stylish treatment: a sleek, stainless steel chain on a track system that provides privacy, but also lets light into the room.

After a few more details -- fluffy towels, nature-inspired accents and toiletries for the modern man -- this bathroom suite was ready.

By way of some redesign and reallocation, luxurious fixtures and finishes, and unique accents and accessories, this former bedroom was transformed into a luxury bathroom that will give Barnaby some renovation reprieve. Now it's one room down and nine to go. How divine!

Interior decorator Candice Olson is host of HGTV's "Divine Design." For more ideas or information visit www.divinedesign.tv. Her column is syndicated by Scripps Howard News Service.