When it comes to bathrooms, people tend to stick to a safe design that often includes the color ocean blue. But Judi Belzer and Jerry Waldman decided they were done with bland and called up their friend Sheila Cole, principal interior designer at Shecole Inc.—who in turn called J Brothers Home Improvement in Maple Grove and started planning.
“I worked with Sheila for years and years,” Belzer says, “and we always like doing fun things.” This time around, fun meant a bathroom filled with bubble tile and pink, something Belzer and Waldman thought their grandkids would enjoy.
Soon after Belzer and Waldman moved to their Minnetonka home, the bathroom was given a quick update. But four years later, “[Belzer] called and said ‘the bathroom has to change,’” remembers Cole. So Cole and her assistant, Julie Scharnhorst, met with Belzer. They began drawing up some ideas, including the fuchsia, and stumbled upon the bubbles. But first they had to address some of the problems with the current bathroom.
It started with the shower, which Belzer and Waldman had been struggling with. The shower harbored mold, and they were tired of the upkeep. To fix this, Cole designed a wraparound walk-in shower created out of tile. “[It] was a little unorthodox,” Belzer says. But, she adds, “it’s pretty easy to maintain and it’s fun!” And the bathtub isn’t missed, even by the grandkids, who enjoy the whimsical nature of the room.
In projects like these, the little things make a difference. “A perfect detail with our bubble theme,” Cole says, was “this fire-molded glass that was added above the half-wall and shower wall for added privacy, yet allowed the natural light to flow through.” Both the glass and the bathroom’s mirrors were built and installed by Glass Art. The setup includes a frameless pivot mirror for the vanity and a full-length mirror against the adjacent wall.
The vanity, Cole says, brought up a lot of concerns. It was designed with a lowered counter in front of the window and was divided from the sinks with a tower of shelving to keep outlets hidden.
After the vanity, the plumbing supplies needed to be chosen, and the team had to pick faucets that went with the whimsical atmosphere of the rest of the bathroom. So they decided on the Toto wall-hung toilet, which gives the appearance of floating as there is nothing connected to the floor. The under-mounted sink allowed the bathroom to keep its smooth lines, and the Moen 90-degree faucet was a perfect rectangular contrast to the surrounding bubble-shaped tile. Back in the shower, the downpour showerhead meshed with the circular style.
All of this was strictly a part of the upfront design: Belzer, Waldman and Cole had yet to choose a builder for the installations. After some deliberation, J Brothers’ Chuck Johnson was selected. And when it came time to start working on the tile, the team was grateful. “Chuck’s tile installer was excellent,” Cole says. And that was a big plus—because installing custom tiles is not an easy task. Cole explains that they had to detail the placement of the tile before actually installing it, which meant cutting out shapes and placing them throughout the bathroom—around the shower, mirror, backsplash and vanity.
The chrome and acrylic hardware came from Brass Handle in Edina’s Galleria, where Cole found items that could be reused, as opposed to buying new. Cole’s assistant even did some online shopping to find a special knob for the vanity drawer.
Last additions included the custom ultra-glide Duette shades behind the vanity, an angled valance, and a bonus tie-in, using the master bedroom’s duvet cover fabric on the vanity’s stool covering. All of these touches are illuminated by bubble glass halogen lights over the sink, helping to continue the theme and shine on the rest of the masterpiece of a bathroom.
The finished product was just what Belzer and Waldman were looking for: Whimsical and out of the ordinary.
Use this whimsical bathroom’s touches as inspiration for your own oasis. • Vanity counter: Avonite, “Cat Eye” counter • Paint: Benjamin Moore, color 1356, fuchsia rose • Toilet: Toto wall-hung toilet • Sink: American Standard rectangle under-mount sink • Faucets: Moen 90-degree single-handle faucets • Showerheads: Hansgrohe downpour air showerhead and raindance jet handshower
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Sheila Cole, FIFDA
Principal Interior Designer
Shecole Inc.
121 Washington Ave. S., #901
Minneapolis
sheila@shecole.com
J Brothers Home Improvement
10550 Cty. Road 81, #206
Maple Grove
