Condo remodel in Portland’s Pearl District transforms a pair of nondescript bathrooms into a warm and playful expression of the art-collector/owner’s personal aesthetic: modernism and eclecticism successfully fused in condominium bathroom design.
(Portland, OR) Since purchasing her condominium unit at The Gregory when the Portland building first opened a decade ago, professional tattoo artist and art collector Mary Jane wanted to remodel the unit’s two nondescript bathrooms. One day in late 2011 she visited the Retail Studio and dropped off a folder full of design ideas and let Hammer & Hand and Bright Designlab get to work on her condo bathroom remodel project.
“The client’s aesthetic is full of warmth and playfulness,” said Christopher “Coop” Cooper, project supervisor with Hammer & Hand. “So our job was to infuse the project with those qualities, within a context of modernity and elegance.”
A mini-boom in condo remodeling is underway in Portland’s Pearl District, thanks in part to the maturation of the building stock there, as well as a trend among residents to stay put and avoid the vagaries of the current real estate market.
Some residents who might have chosen five years ago to sell their existing condominium unit and upgrade to a nicer one are now reinvesting in their current homes. This trend can be good for existing units and existing buildings.
“Mary Jane has completely transformed the quality of her condo’s bathrooms,” said Coop. “What once were generic, even mundane, spaces have become rooms full of texture, contrast, and personality.”
The remodeled bathrooms in Mary Jane’s condominium unit feature:
- Custom zebra wood and maple cabinetry,
- Petrified wood sink basins,
- A copper vessel sink,
- Assorted Ann Sacks tile,
- Soaking tub and steam bath with built-in aromatherapy and chromatherapy features,
- Selected pieces from the client’s art collection.
All of these elements were carefully tied together and integrated into the high rise unit by the designers at Bright DesignLab.
“One of the interesting challenges of remodeling in high rise condos is the need to respond to the inherent structural elements that exist as ‘givens’ in these spaces,” said Coop. “The designers did a great mixed media job that really comes together here.”
Visit our bathroom remodeling page for more about H&H’s approach.
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