Design ideas collected over time are the basis for a classic bath
The prototypical seafoam and white “spa” bathroom could be called a new classic. Variations are as numerous as shades of green and vary from old-fashioned hues on the tasty side of mint to the elusive color of water. The hallmarks include a white pedestal sink — Kohler Memoirs with its broad deck is often seen — and beadboard wainscot painted white. Floors generally lean towards small tile patterns such as hex, penny rounds, or herringbone but marble tile or even painted wood is used.
The first photograph is my own guest bathit . It has the Memoirs Stately pedestal and toilet suite plus a side wall of beadboard. The wainscot, however, is composed of white Adex Portuguese subway tile that downplays the country angle and pushes things a little more towards modern.
The idea began with several unrelated photographs collected over a long period of time.
The first was taken in a Cannes hotel room where I originally encountered a glass shower guard in lieu of a curtain. Fortunately, I stumbled over the photo nine years later at precisely the moment I needed to hand it to the contractor to show him what I wanted on the tub.
A second of a hospital-gown green country bathroom was clipped from a magazine (no source was noted). It didn’t resonate until I saw the green penny round Ann Sacks tiles, which happily were more muted.
A third, snapped in a friend’s guest house bathroom, helped set the style. When we slid a sample of my floor tile into the analyzer machine at the paint store, it spit out Benjamin Moore’s Hollingsworth Green as the most accurate color match. But when the swatches went up, the walls looked too yellow and dark. Ben Moore’s Seafoam was lighter and bluer than the tile but changes in the light. Once on the wall, it proved to be a wonderful match. Perhaps more than any other element, the wall color infuses the bathroom with the airy, luxurious sense of peacefulness I was trying to achieve.
Currently, I’m thinking about repainting. Metallic silver is the leading candidate for wall color, to tie into the chrome Dornbracht Jefferson faucets and Restoration Hardware towel bars. It will also play off the gold-leaf mirror. On second thought, silver may be too Ralph Lauren. Perhaps it’s better not to disturb the zen.
