Kitchen and Bath Design

To create a truly innovative kitchen or bath countertop project, it takes more than just a great looking material, an innovative edge treatment or unusual insets. The best countertop designs may be style conscious, but they also have to be solid as a rock to please today’s discerning consumers.

The desire for a personalized environment is still high on homeowner’s lists, having a countertop that is durable is just as vital.

As a result, notes Steve Serafen, general manager for Norwich, NY-based Precision Built Tops, LLC, countertop trends are constantly changing – and, in some cases, moving in unconventional ways.

Sometimes this means heading off the beaten track by looking at more durable, less commonly used materials. For instance, Serafen notes, “In our shop, we are seeing a trend toward more unique materials such as soapstone and teak wood. I don’t think these unique materials are for every fabricator out there. For the ones willing to go the extra mile, however, the end results are well worth it.”

Joel Miller, principal of Brockton, MA-based Sterling-Miller Designs, Inc., agrees: “Solid surfaces may have some competition from natural and engineered stone in the kitchen, but what was once considered unconventional for Corian and other solid surfaces is now becoming more mainstream.” As a result, getting a hipper, edgier look sometimes means considering something totally different.

Of course it’s possible to get a new look with familiar materials, as innovations in manufacturing create more creative options. For instance, “Fabricators and manufacturers are increasingly trying to give solid surface materials a uniqueness to separate them from other countertop materials,” says Gus Blum, president of Blum’s Solid Surface Products, Inc. As a result, today’s solid surface choices are a far cry from those of even a few years ago, with unusual designs, textures, inset materials and other variations that create new possibilities.

But, regardless of the types of materials homeowners choose, one thing is becoming abundantly clear: People want durable countertops they can rely on – whether it be for entertaining guests or for everyday use.

Home Sweet Home

When architect Graham Pohl of Lexington, KY-based POHL ROSA POHL architecture + design set out to install this striking kitchen counter, he knew that nothing but perfection would do – especially considering that the project was for him and his wife.

He explains: “The kitchen is like a laboratory, requiring simple surfaces that can withstand a lot of abuse, but still clean up with ease.” To do this, he designed “a counter that features crisp, orthogonal lines and hard surfaces.” Specifically, Pohl chose an amoeba-shaped Lumicor top with imbedded beach grass, which he notes, “offers a highly organic form to relieve otherwise angular lines.”

He explains: “The bar top is designed to contrast with this [angular] aesthetic. It is also the first thing you see as you enter the kitchen/ family room from the other parts of the house, so it really is the literal and figurative heart of the space, providing the place where people gather to talk and eat.”

Handling the countertop fabrication and casework was John Leininger, president of Lexington, KY-based Leininger Cabinets and Woodworking, who offers: “The biggest challenge for me was to fluidly tie the three different countertop materials that Graham selected together so that they looked like they belonged where they were. Figuring out the order in which the granite top, stainless steel backsplashes and tile walls were to be installed was interesting.”

He continues: “How dissimilar materials meet each other is tricky and almost always requires dead-on accuracy.”

“Great care was taken to control the appearance of the top as one views it from above,” says Pohl. “The Lumicor floats on minimal stainless steel brackets, which were painstakingly configured to suggest vertebrae.”

“The biggest challenge was being sure that the stainless steel bracket holes lined up between the Lumicor and the granite.

Each of the nine stainless steel brackets were fabricated at a different angle and length because of the way they aligned on the granite in regard to the Lumicor,” notes Leininger, who adds that the stainless steel brackets fastened to a wood top that butted the granite.

Pohl adds: “Lighting the piece from above and below accentuates the three-dimensional quality of the beach grass, as well, and the diffracting finish on the bottom provides mystery by causing the brackets to disappear from view.”

Leininger notes, “When you have these natural materials like sea grass inside and you cut it, the edge of the sea grass is exposed in some areas. It can wick up moisture and discolor. Therefore, you have to cut a thin spline around the top of the edge to relieve the sea grass from the edge and then fill the slot with epoxy and buff it out.”

Also noteworthy, according to Pohl, is that the aesthetics of the kitchen reflect a growing design trend in the industry. “Plastics are becoming ever more sophisticated, and the design professional will continue to explore the potential inherent in using transparent and translucent materials for surfaces that have traditionally been opaque.”

Regarding its striking appearance, Pohl is quick to add: “It is a glowing sculpture that is pleasing to the eye, but entirely in service to the functional need for casual dining around the edge of the working kitchen.”

Summarizing the project, he points out: “While the honed black granite in the rest of the kitchen is visually quiet and strictly utilitarian, the Lumicor top greets the eye and stimulates the imagination.”

All Faux One

Asked to create an island and countertops that offered the authentic look of wood – while minimizing maintenance issues. Steve Serafen found that sometimes things truly are “better than the real thing.”

He explains: “The homeowners loved the idea of hand-rubbed wood on the island and honed marble for the main tops, but were concerned about the maintenance of both. Therefore, we selected Cocobolo [from Hudson Surfaces] for the island and white Carrera for the main tops. It afforded us the look of a hand-rubbed exotic wood as well as the look of honed marble without the maintenance issues normally associated with these products, such as end graining, warping or finish problems.”

But, there were other factors to consider, he recalls. “The sheer size of the main island was our first obstacle. The island is 8 feet wide, more than eight feet long and two-and-a-half inches thick – all made out of solid surface. It had large, sweeping arcs with corner cuts to accent the corner corbels.”

As a result, he decided the best way to complete the project was through old-fashioned, hand-craftsmanship. He explains, “This top was made without any CNC machining. Therefore, perfect templates had to be fabricated to allow the larger bottom arc to mirror image the top arc,” he says. “To achieve the desired thickness, we had to stack five layers and build the top in two sections. We stacked and glued two sheets together, then cut the arc and the edge profile for the top section. We used 170 sq. ft. of material to do the entire island.”

He continues: “It was a huge, monstrous thing – it had to be wet-sanded out because we wanted it to look like a hand-rubbed finish. Just reaching the center of the island was a chore. We had to strap ourselves up to reach it – I felt like I was mountain climbing!”

Weighty issues

Asked to create the focal point of a client’s new-construction kitchen, fabricator Bob Lewandowski and Gus Blum, president of Freeport, PA-based Blum’s Solid Surface, Inc. knew that they had to create something special.

“The customer wasn’t happy with the original laminate countertops, and he wanted a seamless look – something unique, rustic and original. He requested a table, wall panels, range hood and countertop pieces,” Blum explains.

He continues: “The clients also had some of their own ideas. For instance, they wanted the countertops to be the focal point of the kitchen, and everything needed to have a chiseled, rustic look.”

To that end, Blum notes that the client chose Keystone Black Sand solid surface. “Solid surface was used because of its design ability and its ability to be seamed, thermoformed and chiseled,” he says, adding, “and the darker color gave the chisel marks a lighter look. The countertops are the focal point. As soon as you walk into the dining room and the kitchen, you see them.”

But accommodating such a unique aesthetic also created unique fabrication challenges – especially for the custom-made peninsula top.

Blum explains: “[Since the peninsula comes up on two 45° angles], the concern was that if they were not plumb and were cut straight and we trimmed the panels, then the margin would not be equal.”

To correct this, Lewandowski dry-fit all of the panels and tacked them onto the piece with hot melt. Lewandowski then removed the panels, brought them back to the shop and did the layouts for the columns and chiseling.

“[By doing it this way], Bob could cut all his borders nice and straight and put the uneven parts into the part that was chiseled,” says Blum. “If you measured those panels, they might be off up to a 1/4" from top to bottom, but that is not noticeable with the border at all.”

However, there was an even weightier issue, Blum adds:

“We hard-seamed the base together, and the concern was with it hard-seamed – and with sharp inside corners on solid surface – there could be the possibility of cracking with any sort of stress put on it,” he explains.

To avoid the solid surface bearing the brunt of the weight, Lewandowski built a 1"-thick, plywood frame inside the solid surface frame. “The weight of the table is sitting on the plywood,” he concludes.

Found in Translation

While nuances of a project can sometimes be lost in the translation, when Joel Miller created this stunning high-end vanity project, he knew there was no room for interpretation.

He explains: “As with many high-end custom projects, the [goal] was to interpret a conceptual sketch and turn it into an accurate reality for the client.”

But some things are easier said than done, notes Miller, who worked with architect Paul Hajian of Watertown, MA-based Hajian Architects on the project.

“The location of this master bathroom vanity counter created a challenge because the home consisted of multiple levels, with the master bathroom on the top level. Therefore, aside from having a complex shape, this counter now had to be separated into multiple sections to get it to the desired location in the home,” he continues.

He adds: “When finally located, each piece needed to be accurate, taking into consideration that it would make contact with four walls, which are [very rarely ever] perfectly square.”

Miller notes: “The design of the countertop was for both aesthetic and functional reasons. The sweeping curves and overhangs gave the countertop its character, but this shape also served to provide more working space and allowed for two adults to use the sinks simultaneously without [repeatedly obstructing] each other’s routine.”

He believes “the most unique aspect of this application was the way that the sinks protruded beyond the cabinetry.”

Customized molds had to be constructed to thermoform the Corian, he notes, which resulted in the bathroom sinks taking on an eye-catching, finished appearance on the exterior.

“The idea was to make the front edge of the sink as thin as possible while keeping the profile tolerances consistent. The thinner the edge, the more noticeable any deviation would be,” he says. “This also meant that we had to relocate the overflows from their traditional location and make a custom overflow hole and connection in the desired location.”

Creating such an esoteric design did have its advantages, Miller believes, especially when it came to material selection. “I believe that the design chose the material for itself. Other materials would not have allowed for the client’s vision to be realized,” he suggests.

Miller has seen more use of solid surface in high-end applications, but adds, “There seems to be less use of the material for countertops in high-end kitchen applications, but in the same homes, we have used as many as 70 sheets of Corian for wall cladding, complemented by 3"- thick floating shelves.”

He concludes: “The finished product [offered] a monolithic appearance that, I believe, only a solid surface material would have accomplished.”

Mainstream Appeal

Good design should be accessible to everyone – and these days, it actually is. As consumers become more involved in their homes and more educated about products, they develop more discriminating tastes.

As manufacturers respond to this new market, design features that were formerly the province of the upscale become a broad-based standard, with a host of new designs, finishes and luxury touches becoming available at all price points.

This is especially the case with bathroom hardware and accessories, which have become more stylish, more imaginative and of better quality than ever before, even at lower price points. Jeff Robboy, president of Baci by Remcraft, in Miami, FL notes, “We’re starting to see a new trend: [middle income] people you normally don’t expect to buy luxury items are gearing themselves for it. They buy something expensive and show it off. They’re starting to realize their home is their castle.”

However, regardless of income level, today’s savvy consumers are investigating products before buying, willing to spend the money – but only for quality and real value, and items that genuinely reflect their individual taste.

“A lot of people are becoming braver and bolder in their choices,” says Tim Bitterman, senior product and brand manager for Creative Specialties International, a division of Moen, in North Olmsted, OH. “The more options and styles they see out there, the more excited they get. The market is getting more niche [oriented[, more fanciful and more playful.”

Designer Wonderland

The new cornucopia of products enables bathroom designers to create much more innovative and interesting rooms.

“Consumers want hardware and accessories that keep the architectural integrity of their house, be it modern, Mid-Century, Craftsman or Victorian,” says Adrienne Morea, president and designer at Atlas Homewares, in Glendale, CA. “But they’re buying [the components] new, not vintage, because they want to add all of the modern bells and whistles.”

“They’re becoming a lot more receptive to intricate detailing and themed rooms, especially in powder rooms. They want something that speaks to their own personality,” notes Bitterman.

Larry Jacobs, president of Ashley Harris Marketing Inc., representing Sign of the Crab, in Rancho Cordoba, CA, notes that homeowners who have multiple bathrooms might do each one differently, showcasing several eras of design styles, with perhaps a hardware finish used everywhere as a through-line.

Overall, there is no one overridingly popular style in today’s market. Jerry Abel, managing director for THG USA, LLC, in Coconut Creek, FL, sees “the higher-end market returning to higher-detailed, more ornate design.” Jacobs says his company’s mainstay is products for period bathrooms featuring claw foot tubs and the like, but “we have introduced a minimalist line that’s super clean, super simple.”

“There is a trend toward minimalism in design that’s gaining acceptance beyond the urban areas, which is interesting and good,” agrees Sharon Bickler, v.p./advertising and promotion for Ginger, in Charlotte, NC.

Another burgeoning trend could be termed “minimalist traditional,” wherein antique and vintage elements are used in a very modern way – in spare, unadorned, somewhat cold arrangements with a lot of breathing space, no clutter.

“We’re seeing a lot of that – mixing contemporary and traditional,” echoes Avi Abel, general manager for Watermark Designs, in Spring Creek, NY.

Kaijsa Kurstin, communications manager at Deco Lav, Inc., in Deerfield Beach, FL, sees vintage, early 20th century looks, for instance Art Deco, featuring pedestals and vintage furniture pieces, as a strong trend. Bitterman also sees a surge in 1950s retro.

Such a wide variety of trends demands a huge selection of finishes – which, luckily, is readily available.

Finishes with a flourish

In the past few years, chrome has tended to mean “starter home,” while exotic finishes signified the upscale. However, this is no longer the case.

“Retro is really big,” says Jeff Pratt, V.P. of North American sales for Danze Bathroom Products, in Bolingbrook, IL. This is translating to high-end, elegant designs that use period-appropriate chrome, such as his company’s line featuring chrome and frosted glass that evokes the 1920s in New York City.

Minimalist contemporary looks also frequently utilize the clean, stark look of chrome against white fixtures.

Jacobs emphasizes that high-end chrome differs from the home center variety: “There’s a difference between a low-quality and high-quality plating job,” he notes. High end companies usually use triple plating, which produces a more brilliant, intense finish.

Watermark’s Abel cites a new adventure pick: “a lot of the minimalist [hardware] that is typically in chrome or nickel. People are starting to do those in oil-rubbed bronze and antique brass. When I first saw that order come thought, we actually called up the customer because we thought it was a mistake,” he laughs.

Stark contemporary styling with an antique finish plays into the “minimalist traditional” idea of design.

The re-emergence of chrome as an upscale material is the major story in finishes, those surveyed agree. Elsewhere, satin nickel still remains popular – a new classic that’s in it for the long haul. The same can be said of oil-rubbed bronze, a finish some once thought might be a fad. “Old World finishes have staying power,” notes Bitterman, who also cites antique brass and antique nickel as up-and-comers. Antique copper and weathered finishes were also mentioned as options for clients who want something different.

Jerry Abel cites THG’s rhodium and platinum tones as a richer, deeper finish analogous to chrome, while Avi Abel likes gunmetal, which is similar to pewter, but darker. Manufacturers point out, however, that the one down side of going with a very exotic finish is finding all of the desired hardware and accessories in a bath, in a matching shade, Including non-traditional materials in bathroom hardware and accessories is also an upscale, adventurous trend. Morea cites “the mixture of organics into bath hardware, which is a real throw-back to the late ’60s, when Modernism was taken back by the hippie generation and natural was ‘in.’ However, our generation of consumers is putting it all together organically, but with lots of sex appeal.”

Wrought iron remains an up-and-comer, though manufacturers disagree as to its staying power. “It’s called the bird cage, because it’s twisted to look like one of those finch cages,” says Pratt. “Matte black is in; that’s a finish that’s come aboard recently.”

Jacobs, on the other hand, thinks wrought iron’s turn in the bathroom limelight is a fad. “Things should shine,” he believes. “Hygienically, things should reflect cleanliness, and some of the darker finishes don’t.”

The perfect accessory

What’ does the one bathroom accessory consumers want these days? How about,  “all of the above.” The number and kinds of bath accessories available today increase seemingly by the hour, with more variety of products and styles than ever.

Overall, high quality is the important thing, even in the mainstream market, manufacturers agree. “Luxury products are really taking hold, and they’re moving down market,” says Bickler. “The trend [in the shower] is away from the plastic and the vinyl coated wire. People are expecting more, they see the options out there and they’re looking for something that’s closer to those options.”

The formerly lowly shower caddy is now a stylish, well-produced storage unit that can also be used outside of the shower, notes Watermark’s Abel. “People are putting them next to vanities, where you get a shaving mirror, a wire basket and a cup holder for your toothpaste [all in a] design matching the faucets, beading detail, rope ring.”

Ginger’s shower shelves are also designed to do double duty. “They’re flat shelves meant for wet areas of the shower, but you could also use them in the kitchen. They’re a very clean, minimalist look,” says Bickler.

Shelves outside of the shower are a growing category as well as especially decorative glass shelves that strengthen the matching “suite” look of a group of bath accessories. This is a particularly popular addition for the Art Deco “1920s NYC hotel room” look. Along those lines, THG’s opulent Art Deco line includes door accessories and an elegant bathtub with exposed drain assembly.

Other new accessory lines also take their cues from upscale hotels. Bickler cites her company’s hotel-style towel shelves, which provide elegant extra storage above a toilet. Similarly, Deco Lav’s Kurstin cites “multi-function valets, that [consumers] can put a newspaper or magazine on, or put their jacket on.”

Bitterman says decorative toilet tank levers are also a rapidly growing category.

Another overlooked category? Matching brackets to hold up the mirror over the vanity, notes Avi Abel.

In other accessories, the standards – toilet paper holder, towel bars and rings in several sizes, robe hooks, cup holders – remain the biggest sellers. Bickler notes that “soap dispensers have become big and are probably supplanting the traditional soap dish.”

In general, “accessories are going thin and petite,” thinks Pratt. “[The trend is] definitely slight, fine lines.”

He concludes, “I think the biggest driving force is that the accessories have become affordable. Before, to get any sort of styling you had to go into very, very high-end kitchen and bath showrooms. Now, they’re really available in a mass market.”

Master Bath Combines Classic Style with Modern Function

What do you do with a small, skinny master bath that lacks heat and blocks the natural light from one of the few windows in a master suite? Gut it and start from scratch, of course.

That’s exactly what designer Jean McHale did for this master bath, located in the Homeland community here. “It was a small, old-fashioned, colonial-type house, originally with one bath. To gain an extra bath, the previous owners simply walled off one end of the master bedroom, cutting off the light from one of the windows. There was no room for the husband and wife to brush their teeth at the same time. It didn’t even have heat because of the location of the heating ducts,” explains   McHale, president and CEO of Gaines McHale Antiques, also based here. “It was one of the most challenging baths I’ve ever worked on.”

When the new owners – a couple with older children – came to McHale for a better design solution for their 4.25'x16' master bath, she felt the only thing to do was to completely tear it out and start anew. However, there was no way to expand the size of the bath.

Forced to stay within the existing footprint, McHale began reworking the layout, cleverly tweaking it to maximize its function and give the owners exactly what they wanted, which included a full shower and two sinks.

Masterful makeover

Upon assessing the bath, McHale found the door to the bath was off center. “It was offset enough so that it blocked the light from the window into the bedroom,” she explains. Her solution was replace it with a 30"-wide pocket door and move it so that it was on center with the window and could let the light in from the window in the bath.

As a result, McHale saw an opportunity to create a focal point that could be seen from the bedroom. “Since there was no other place in the bath to place the sink except under the window, I decided to make it a focal point and installed a cut-glass vessel sink under the window,” she relates.

In order to place the 21" sink and the above-deck, brass faucet in such a way so as not to block the window – on which she used the wife’s choice of window treatments – she lowered the height of the custom vanity, which she designed and her firm built from reconstructed wood.

“They didn’t want regular kitchen or bath cabinets, so I saw this Louis XVI cabinet and was inspired to design the vanity. I bowed out the front of the vanity a little bit to accommodate the vessel sink, then installed some 15"-deep cabinets on either side,” explains McHale. This made sense because there was no room for a bank of deep cabinetry that could accommodate a sink.

Designing the vanity and the rest of the cabinetry this way also gave the bath some visual interest. She had all of the cabinetry hand-painted in an off-white color, then glazed and distressed it to make it look aged.

To give the owners the extra room to brush their teeth at the same time, McHale devised a clever solution. “Because the space constraints were so challenging, there was no way to include a second sink inside the master bath,” recalls McHale. “So instead, I designed a bedside table, in the same style as the bath cabinetry, that conceals a second working sink in copper under a table top finished with coppery glass tile that opens up. It’s located next to the bath 3" from the wall, where it’s plumbed in through the wall. That’s how I got around the double sinks in the bath. It looks amazing, and I think it’s one of the most interesting things about the design.”

On the other side of that wall in the bath, McHale was able to conceal the Duravit wall-mounted toilet behind a short retaining wall, she notes.

On the opposite side of the bath, McHale gave the owners the full shower that they really wanted. She enlarged it, finished the floor with glass mosaic tile surrounded by a tile border, and hung a glass door to maintain a more open feel in the small space.

Inside, she installed 19"-wide, flip-down seat, an 18"Wx21" H shampoo/soap niche, a rainfall showerhead, a hand-held shower spray, several body sprays and a center drain. She also carried in the same tiles and border tiles she used on the bottom half of the bath walls, and tiled the top half of the shower in 12"x12" tiles on the diagonal.

McHale addressed the lack of heat by installing a Runtal Omnipanel flat-panel radiant heater/towel warmer.

Lastly, to tie the bedside table/extra sink and her whole master bath design to the bedroom, she designed an antique French headboard for the king-size bed.

Complementing the look as well is an Empire armoire and a wall with British closets containing grillwork. Finally, fabrics chosen by the wife completes the look, McHale concludes.