In This Space-Savvy Primary Suite Remodel, the Bathroom Had to Get Smaller to Feel Bigger
There are obvious charms to living in a real-life dollhouse, as designer Hollie Velten-Lattrell describes her clients’ 1910 New Jersey Colonial. For starters, a storybook exterior (this one’s got jade green shingles, red window trim, and a spacious porch) and, inside, built-ins galore. But there’s one con that’s impossible to ignore: Just like in the toy version, the rooms are tiny. So when homeowners Angela and Nick asked Velten-Lattrell to reimagine their en suite, she started with some serious space-planning…
Sleuthing Out Storage
Both in the music industry, the young couple are always out and about at meetings and events, yet Angela hated doing her makeup in the cramped bathroom and the closet was no match for her wardrobe. “The primary bedroom should be a refuge,” Velten-Lattrell points out. “Angela talked about wanting breakfast in bed on special occasions, reading her book there at night—creating new rituals in a space that can hold that.”
Big structural changes would’ve done the job but blown the budget, so Velten-Lattrell zeroed in on existing spots where she could squeeze in more storage. In the bedroom, the designer landed on the window seat (the bench opens up) and the bed frame (it’s a platform style with drawers), while the bathroom now has two recessed wall niches, one in the shower and one across from the vanity.
Luxe materials soften all the newfound functionality: The window seat is clad in a whimsical floral print, the shelves in slatted wood and glossy zellige tile, respectively. “We looked to desert sunsets and of-the-earth pigments found in terracotta, spices, clay, and agave,” says Velten-Lattrell of the color scheme, a nod to the couple’s Palm Desert wedding.
Doing More With Less
Another way to keep costs down was to simply buy less. “We try to do that a lot—use visual weight and the rhythms of pattern and print to fill a space, rather than just shop for a bunch of things,” Velten-Lattrell explains. The corduroy headboard she dreamed up is twice as high as Angela and Nick’s old one, with dramatic swooping curves. Bookended by oversized frosted glass sconces—the 1940s fixtures are an impressive 14-inches tall—there’s no need for artwork overhead.
You won’t see a mountain of throw pillows either. “I approach a bed the same way as a sofa, where I’m trying to un-decorate it and pull back on all the easy tricks that a decorator does thinking we’re adding personality, but we’re just adding stuff,” explains Velten-Lattrell. The result? A floor-sweeping coverlet pulled all the way up to the headboard, 1950s style. “It feels like a big dresscoat instead of a crazy over-accessorized outfit,’ says the designer. And when Angela and Nick do want to switch it up, they can toss the window seat bolster onto the bed instead—Velten-Lattrell designed it to be the right proportions for either scenario.
In the bathroom, the paring back was more literal. Velten-Lattrell walled-off the sink nook, which technically made the room smaller, but gave it the symmetry needed to move the shower-tub under the window. The goal was to free up that corner, making room for a custom vanity twice the size of the original.
Being the Right Kind of Repetitive
Terrazzo tile and Calacatta Viola marble in the bathroom? Four different patterns in one small bedroom? It’s all very doable, promises Hollie Velten-Lattrell, as long as you stick to a general palette, mix up the scale, and purposefully repeat a detail somewhere to create commonality. In this case, the showstopping marble countertop makes a second appearance in the shower niche and a third on the baseboards.
Back in the bedroom, both the window shade and headboard fabrics show up on a pair of custom ottomans. Like many of their fellow accents, the seats do double-duty by visually anchoring the end of the bed and providing a boost to reach the top of the closet. Even the couple’s beloved pup, Truffles, makes use of them: at night, they serve as (wildly chic) canine stepstools.
