Modern Bathrooms with Wow Factor

Step into a world of design innovation and personal expression as we explore two remarkable home bathrooms; each showcasing unique features that redefine the concept of a wash and go.

While most modern bathrooms today aim for ample square footage, in a city like Toronto, it’s not alwasy possible. This powder room is quite narrow, so, a trough sink was the perfect solution paired with the showstopping Gessi faucet. Wallpaper, Primavera; millwork, Bellini Custom Cabinetry.

Palmerston Design Consultants go glam on the West End

The owners of this home loved its locale, but not much else, so they enlisted David Small Architects and Palmerston Design Consultants for the interiors. “We worked very closely with the clients for many months prior to the shovel going into the ground to achieve a cohesive design for the interior,” says Kirsten Marshall, principal at Palmerston Design. A peek into both the powder room and basement guest bathroom reveals a very contemporary home with hits of black throughout that quietly unify while statement fixtures and finishes provide a definite wow-factor.

A mix of metals such as chrome fixtures and subtle hits of black in the basement bathroom punctuate the blue accent wall. Shower accent tile, Cercan Tile; floor and wall tile, Stone Tile.

In the mignon black and copper powder room, “We were originally going to do a wall-mounted faucet, but the clients saw this incredible ceiling-mounted faucet and the whole powder room took shape from there,” says Marshall. Palmerston Design wanted to ensure that the basement guest bathroom would not be an after-thought, integrating large-scale onyx-looking tile in the shower to great effect.

After raising their kids in South Kingsway, and living there for more than 20 years, the homeowners continue to relish the verdant views of the neighbourhood in a fully elevated modern home ensconced in the warmth of natural materials like wood and stone.

A mix of stone such as travertine, quartzite, Calacatta viola, Blue Roma, and Rosso Levanto were all hand-picked remnants by Pietropaolo alongside her fabricator, APEX Custom Stone.

Adriana Pietropaolo Design nods to a love of Europe

A nod to the homeowners’ love of Europe, as well as a tribute to their Italo-Canadian heritage, this unique powder room embodies passion, nostalgia and favourite faraway places, all in a 20-square-foot space.

A vintage piece of Calacatta was salvaged from the homeowners’ main bathroom and repurposed into the powder room vanity. Faucet, sink, Aquavato; mirror, Renwil.

Designer Adriana Pietropaolo loves meaningful design narratives. She and her husband moved into their detached two-storey home in the Cedarvale-Oakwood neighbourhood in 2020 with a new baby. “When I set out to design the powder room, I knew that this tiny space could be its own unique jewel-box experience. I also knew right away I wanted some kind of mosaic floor.” A deep dive into Palladian flooring proved to be one of those meaningful moments as it soon dawned on her that there was actual Palladian flooring in her cold cellar.

Contractor, Modera Homes; millwork, Total Cabinet; wall paint, Pure & Original Paint.

This kicked off the modern bathroom’s design from the ground up, creating an effortless flow for the powder room. “The entire floor is made up of pieces that were likely destined for a landfill,” says Pietropaolo. “What I love most is that it connects our love of European design and travel, with our up-cycled immigrant influence and pays homage to the original owner [a master tiler] all at the same time, but in a meaningful, contemporary way.”