Photograph by Jeff Herr
The 1990s brought us “Seinfeld,” the World Wide Web, and triumph for the Atlanta Braves, but it wasn’t a stellar decade for builder-designed bathrooms. Flimsy cabinets and cheap brass fixtures, with nary a natural material, defined bathrooms in new houses spreading all over the metro area.
To update their late-1990s master bath in Sandy Springs, Mark and Maria Lazzaro brought in residential designer Brian Patterson and requested textures more complementary to the rich woods they had in the adjacent master bedroom. “The original bathroom was just a sea of white, and since their bedroom has several mahogany case pieces, the overall palette of the two rooms was disjointed,” says Patterson. To warm up the bathroom, he designed two mahogany vanities, which look like his-and-her chests with drawers rather than doors, for a more furniturelike appearance. The designer also added a mahogany “apron” of wood around the tub.
Patterson worked around the existing footprint of the room to keep costs down, yet upgrades make it seem like a brand-new space. Botticino marble contributes sophisticated texture in a wide variety of sizes on the floors, walls, and vanity countertops. Patterson also painted all surfaces cream. “This simplicity in paint colors allowed the stone hues to be showcased,” he says, “rather than the previous all-white doors and white trims.” Other details—a beveled-glass window above the tub, rubbed-bronze fixtures, a frameless shower door, and a handy storage wall—make the room more inviting as well.
“I love the fact that it has clean lines but an elegant look,” says Maria. “Our bathroom now feels like a spa at a resort.”
This article originally appeared in our March 2012 issue.
