Interior designer Bronwyn Huffard of Huffard House Interior Design designs a memorable guest bath with British industrial touches

“The house is a new build in the Cross Hill area of Cape Elizabeth. The clients were looking for a unique and less formal design for their home. This bathroom is attached to a guest room, and the first piece of design inspiration was what we call the ‘phone booth’ shower door, because the pane pattern looks a little like a classic British telephone booth. When the initial quote for a glass and steel door came back high, we thought about other ways to accomplish the look that we wanted. We turned to Al Kronk at Rusted Puffin Metal Works. He came up with the idea of creating two steel grids that we would then affix to the outside of the shower glass. The panes aren’t truly divided, but it is a great solution: you don’t want steel inside the shower doors anyway, because it has a propensity to rust.

On the shower walls, we chose a darker grout to add a little interest to white subway tile from Distinctive Tile and Design. From there, it became a black and white bathroom, which informed the floor tile. You can see that the repeating squares and rectangles of the door are echoed in the tile’s basket-weave pattern. Russ Doucette Custom Home Builders, who built the home, also built the vanity. It’s neat because the cabinetry and countertop is less deep underneath the windows on the ends, but then jumps out in the middle to accommodate the mirror and undermount sink. We painted the vanity in a pale gray-blue to tie in with some of the blues that we used in the adjoining guest bedroom. The countertops are quartz. It looks very much like Carrara marble but is really hard wearing. Carrara will show watermarks, and it’ll get etched from things such as toothpaste or perfume. Quartz is a good option for bathrooms and kitchens.

For the hardware, we went with a design that’s beautiful and classic, without overdoing any one theme. We didn’t want it to be too British or too industrial or too anything. I was looking for something that fit it with the decor without beleaguering the other stylistic points that we had made. Everyone who’s seen the bathroom has loved it—the shower door and the floor in particular. Most important? The homeowners love, love, love it.”

-Bronwyn Huffard, Huffed House Interior Design