Steal Ideas From Our Best Bath Before and Afters

Nothing speeds up the timeline for a bath redo like a shower leaking into the room below it. At least, that was the impetus for Martin Stock to finally tackle the master bath in his 1910 home in Wilmette, Illinois. Remodeled in the 1980s, the charmless space was lined with bulky beige built-ins. "I just wanted to throw three grenades in there and blow it up," he says.

In its place he wanted a masculine bath that was more traditional gentlemen’s club than locker room. Turning to designer Karen Walker to come up with a plan, Stock presented her with magazine pages and offered up a piece of antique stained glass he bought in London. That window found a home above a new Victoria & Albert claw-foot tub that sits alongside a ceiling-height built-in vanity and across from a now larger shower. Walker fit the new amenities within the original footprint, using the existing plumbing lines—smart moves that allowed for high-end luxuries, such as custom cabinetry, an alabaster pendant by Urban Archaeology, and marble floor tile. The result is a vintage-style space that’s stately but simple—and, of course, watertight.

You can see more photos from this remodel in A Ho-Hum Bath Becomes a Handsome Retreat.