The Art of the Small, Hardworking Space: An Alexandria Bath Remodel
There is a specific challenge in renovating a decades-old bathroom. The easy route is to gut it entirely and try to force a modern aesthetic into a footprint that wasnât designed for it. The better routeâthe more senseful routeâis to design into the homeâs architecture.
For this project in Alexandria, Virginia, the homeowner wanted a full update that respected the home's age. The original six-over-six windows and the cast iron radiator stayed.
To bring it into the modern era without losing that soul, we anchored the design with a high-gloss black herringbone floor. Because everything else in the palette is strictly black or white (including the matte black fixtures and the white subway tile with dark grout), we introduced a freestanding natural wood farmhouse vanity. The wood functions as the lone warm element, preventing the high-contrast space from feeling clinical or cold.
Itâs proof that small spaces donât need to be forced to look biggerâthey just need to work harder.