A Kinder, Softer Master Bathroom
Writer Robin Amster | Photographer Kevin Fiori | Designer Terri Fiori, Allied ASID | Location Wyckoff, NJ-
A new lava-stone tub replaced an older tub. Designer Terri Fiori also traded the old shower for a larger steam shower clad in oversized faceted subway tile. Beyond the shower, a stained cherry vanity holds two sinks and, at its center, a tower providing ample storage.
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Winston, the homeowners’ wire-haired Jack Russell, surveys the new master bathroom. New marble flooring and countertops—balanced by stained cherry cabinetry—breathe life into the formerly outdated space. The cabinetry in the forefront provides storage and space for folding laundry. A mirrored door nearby (not shown) conceals a washer and dryer.
A designer takes a dated space from outdated and hard-edged to bright and fresh.
A Wyckoff, New Jersey master bathroom presented quite the challenge for interior designer Terri Fiori, who was charged with giving it a new lease on life.
Not only was the 20-year-old bathroom “cold and modern and falling apart,” the designer says, it also had many “strange” features, including dark diagonal wood paneling on one wall and some decidedly odd angles that created tension in a space that most people would want to be soothing and serene.
“It was modern, with sharp edges and hard angles that just didn’t feel right,” says Fiori, an allied member of the American Society of Interior Designers and owner of Fiori Interior Design LLC in Wyckoff. “It was not a comfortable space to be in.”
The designer’s clients had updated every room in their circa 1950s colonial-style home, and it was high time they also addressed the master bathroom. “The owners wanted a seamless look that would tie in with the adjacent master bedroom. They wanted it to feel fresh and transitional in style.”
Fiori eliminated a lot of angles by removing soffits, including a large one over the former vanity and one that had been next to the shower. She also removed angled wood paneling from the window wall and from a wall between the shower and where the tub had been.
Luxury & Convenience
The shower was built out farther into the room and now includes a steam feature and rainhead. It’s clad in white oversized and faceted subway tile that adds dimension to the space versus flat subway tile. A new free-standing tub made of lava stone retains water temperatures—whether hot or cold—and is lighter than cast iron.
“I love to use marble,” Fiori says, noting she chose it here for countertops and flooring. One large vanity in stained cherry has two sinks that flank a large tower that provides ample storage space. Medicine cabinets on both sides of the tower, above the sinks, are recessed into the wall.
Opposite the vanity is a stained cherry cabinet with a marble top. It provides yet more storage, and the top allows space for folding laundry. The washer and dryer are hidden behind a mirrored door nearby.
Fiori added pops of color with greenish gray walls and an embroidered window treatment fabric of fuchsia and lime.
Robin Amster, a regular contributor to Design NJ, is a Madison-based writer and editor.