When a homeowner in California was looking to update her master bathroom and create a more relaxing space for herself, she enlisted the assistance of a local interior designer with a keen eye for design. “The overall design goal was to create a space that was serene and calm with a bit of sparkle,” said Kelly Morisseau, Certified Master Kitchen and Bath Designer (CMKBD®) and Certified Interior Designer (CID) of MSK Design Build, a design-build firm in Walnut Creek, CA. “The client went through the selection process and had final approval, but was content to let me direct the details.”

Morisseau, who has been specializing in kitchen and bath design for over 25 years, guided the homeowner in the selection of roughly 360 square feet of new tile to employ on the master bath’s floor; shower walls, floor and bench seat; two vanity backsplashes; and towel inset to the right of one of the vanities. For the bathroom’s floors and shower bench seat, 12- x 24-inch glazed porcelain tile from Ceramiche Capogalliano’s Dune series in the color “Beige,” as well as 2- x 2-inch mosaics for the shower walls and towel inset, were chosen. The shower floor consists of square-shaped interlocking tiles from Island Stone’s Random series in “Beige & Tan Marble Mix” in an 11 ¾- x 11 ¾-inch format, finished with Schluter System’s brushed nickel trim. For the two vanity backsplashes, as well as the lining for the shower bench, shower wall and towel inset, mosaic tiles from Arizona Tile’s Skylights glass tile collection in “Harvest Mélange” in a 9/16 - x 9/16-inch format were used. All of the tile was supplied by European Tile & Marble of Lafayette, CA.

“We wanted porcelain for maintenance and the color/pattern was the selection,” explained Morisseau. “The homeowner said it reminded her of the beach. We went through countless options and tile stores prior to the final selection.”

When installing the tile, which only required one installer and took between one to two weeks to complete, Morisseau said they encountered one small problem with the shower. “There was a small challenge at the shower seat bench with the corners that we knew in advance and worked out in the field,” she said. “The post-tension slab floor also required some skilled work in relocating the toilet. And we also relocated the furnace and completely rebuilt the walk-in closets.”

To ensure everything was going according to plan during the installation process, Morisseau was onsite regularly. “I made a couple of visits primarily to check color and slight detail changes between the drawings and reality,” she said. “The tile installer and I have been working together for a while; we trust each other’s work.”

The project, which was completed using Custom Building Products’ Fusion Pro® Grout, took between two and three months to finish, and the homeowner is enthralled with her new bathroom. “There are a lot of ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs,’” said Morisseau. “The primary envy: the bathroom is larger than most people’s bedrooms. When people see the photos, they’re itching to try the bathroom out.” cstd

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