Before and After: Turning a Dated Bathroom Into a Spa-Like Retreat

When James and Lisa bought their Kirkland home, the primary bathroom was the room they tried hardest to ignore. Builder-grade everything: a generic tub that nobody used, a cramped shower with dated tile, a builder vanity with a mirror that was just a mirror, and lighting that made everything look slightly grey.

"It worked," Lisa told us. "It just didn't feel like anything. It definitely didn't feel like our home."

After 11 years, they decided it was finally time. Here's what happened, and the design decisions that made it work.

The Before: What We Were Working With

The bathroom was a standard primary suite footprint, about 95 square feet. The layout had a standard tub/shower combo on one wall, a single-sink vanity, and a toilet. The tile was a 4x4 cream ceramic that had been fine in 2004 and felt painfully dated by 2025.

The biggest issue wasn't any single element: nothing in the room felt intentional. It was a collection of builder defaults, and it showed.

The Three Design Decisions That Changed Everything

1. Remove the Tub. Add Space for What They'd Actually Use.

James and Lisa hadn't used the tub in years. The only person who ever got in it was the dog, and he wasn't thrilled about it either. We recommended removing it entirely and using that space to create a large, curbless walk-in shower.

This is one of the most impactful changes you can make in a primary bathroom, especially if you don't use the tub. A curbless shower feels immediately more spacious, more accessible, and more luxurious than a standard shower/tub combo. The frameless glass enclosure we chose kept the visual openness of the space without sacrificing practicality.

2. Tile All the Way to the Ceiling.

In the shower, we used a large-format marble tile taken all the way to the ceiling, no half-wall tile, no paint above. This single decision makes a bathroom feel dramatically more intentional and high-end. The grout color was matched carefully to the tile so it would recede visually rather than compete.

For the floor, we used a smaller marble mosaic in the same family, providing grip and visual texture without breaking the cohesion.

3. Replace the Builder Vanity with a Floating Double.

The original vanity was a standard builder unit that sat on the floor, collected grime around the base, and offered storage that was technically present but practically useless. We replaced it with a floating double vanity that created visual breathing room, doubled the sink count, and provided actual drawer storage organized the way the couple uses the bathroom.

We added integrated lighting above the vanity: a warm-toned strip behind a diffuser, and a large frameless mirror that reflects the shower tile and makes the whole room feel twice as big.

The Detail That Made the Biggest Daily Difference

When we asked James and Lisa what they love most about the finished bathroom six months later, neither of them said the shower tile or the vanity.

They both said: the heated floors.

Radiant in-floor heating is one of those upgrades that sounds like a luxury until you experience it every morning in a Pacific Northwest winter. It costs relatively little to add during a remodel when the floor is already being replaced, and it genuinely changes the daily experience of the room.

If you're doing a bathroom remodel and you're on the fence about heated floors: add them. You won't regret it.

The Result: A Room They Actually Love

The project took four weeks and finished on schedule. The total investment was approximately $52,000, which included the curbless shower, new tile throughout, floating double vanity, heated floors, lighting, and all plumbing and fixture upgrades.

"I look forward to getting ready in the morning now," Lisa told us. "That's not something I ever thought I'd say about a bathroom."

The finished room is easier to use day to day, with the layout, storage, shower, and lighting working together.