1998, Fall Issue, American Homestyle & Gardening Kitchen & Bath, CUSTOM PLANNER
It’s not the size, it’s what you do with it
Anthony S. Binns

Glass block, cool tile and clear thinking make a once-cramped bath feel spacious and serene

By Norman Kolpas

Effective remodelling can result as much from knowing what you don’t want as from a lengthy wish list. Take, for example, the downstairs bath in the Toronto home shared by sisters Marg and Katherine Nix. “It always reminded me of an airplane bathroom, where you go in and can’t turn around,” Marg jokes about the 5 ½ x 8- foot space, made smaller still by a bedroom closet jutting into one corner. “After more than 20 years, we had suffered long enough and wanted to do something about it.” One thing they didn’t want was a tub since both women prefer showers. That made the task of remodelling vastly easier for certified kitchen designer Anthony S. Binns. He pulled out the tub/shower, gaining a 5-foot-wide space into which he moved both the vanity, which had stood directly in front of the door, and the toilet. By the window, in the 3-foot-square space vacated by the toilet, he then put a roomy walk-in shower. Set flush with the shower’s tiles for easy cleaning, glass blocks replaced the window to give greater privacy without the loss if light. Indeed, the room is now brighter than it ever was before. It also looks bigger, thanks to such visual sleights as the shower’s frameless, clear tempered-glass door and the diagonal pattern in which the floor tiles were placed. Binns even switched the door’s hinges from the right to the left side, so it now swings open to reveal a full view of the room. “It’s amazing,” marvels the designer, “how big it looks.”

Flowing from floor to walls, marble-patterned ceramic tile in earth and cream tones gives the bath a traditional look. With raised-panel doors and fluted pilasters, the vanity resembles a piece of furniture.
The adjustable-height showerhead features both a thermostatic temperature control and a detachable spray. The unwanted tub hogged almost 14 square feet- about a third of the bath’s total space. Without the tub, the shower, vanity and toilet, efficiently repositioned, fit comfortably with room to spare.

SOURCES
Designer: Anthony S. Binns CKD CBD
Cabinetry: Acorn
Countertop: Wilsonart, Corian (edge)
Sink, toilet: Kohler
Shower: Jacuzzi (pan), Mirror Your World (door)
Fixtures: Grohe