DKOR Interiors: Modern Family-Friendly Bathroom Inspiration

A young Miami Beach couple came to us recently with a classic request—to help turn the husband's bachelor pad into a family-friendly, contemporary weekend retreat!

After gutting the existing masculine den, they asked us to transform the petite apartment into a home for their growing family. They wanted a space where they could take "mini vacations" on the weekends, visit the beach, play in the sand, and be next to the ocean. They were looking for an escape from the hustle and bustle of every day Miami life.

South Beach, Florida / the DKOR project teammates during an initial site visit

Like all of our projects, our first objective is to sit down with our clients for their initial interview. This is where we create a solid understanding of their budget, goals, likes, dislikes, and needs. From here, we're able to create a checklist to tackle as we develop their home's design.

​Photo: Dkor Interiors

Step 1: Concept Creation

Based on our clients' natural draw to the glistening ocean and desire for an architecturally sound interior, the concept of the "nacre" was born. Also known as the mother of pearl, the nacre is a strong, resilient, and iridescent outer shell of molluscs and pearls. This was how we were going to translate our design.

​Photo: Dkor Interiors

Step 2: Create a Checklist

Requirement 1: Lots of Bling

Our clients come from Indian heritage so it was important to them that we incorporate a cultural connection through material and fabric selections. We needed to make sure that the finishes popped, wall coverings shimmered, and the tile and fabrics sparkled. Sounded like fun to us!

Photo: Credits TK

Requirement 2: Pops of Colour

"I love modern design but I need colour in my life." These exact words from our clients have stuck with us since we first met them. We needed to make a conscious effort not to default to our beloved white and taupe monochromatic colour palette.

Requirement 3: Clever Storage

Faced with the challenge of accommodating a four-person family into a small, vertically spaced condo, our client did a lot of research before coming to us on ways to incorporate clever storage. We thought this was an amazing idea and worked hard to incorporate design elements that were not only functional and beautiful but feasible on our timeline.

Step 3: Design Development

Taking into account all of the design elements, it was time to bring our clients' iridescent vision to life!

Photo: Dkor Interiors

When selecting tiles, our clients originally wanted bright blue, shimmery tile on all of the walls. We thought that this might overwhelm the space. Since there isn't much natural light and the space is small, our compromise was to break up the room with a gradient of blue tile that starts on the floor, wraps up the side of the tub, continues onto the shower wall, and then covers the ceiling. The blue tile selected has a beautiful herringbone pattern which highlights tones of shimmery blue, green, and silver. To compliment this bold statement, we selected a white field tile for the other walls, which still has a subtle sheen.

Architecturally, we played with the space even more by pulling out the walls and creating niches for storage inside the shower. Faced with low ceilings, we specified a flush ceiling mount rain shower head from Kohler. This was the perfect compromise to our tiny standing space! All the remaining shower plumbing fixtures are gathered on one wall and in polished chrome to keep the look and feel modern and to relate back to that pop of bling requirement.

The wall-hung "Veil" toilet and vanity from Kohler were selected in white to look light and airy. They also float off the floor to open up the space. They're great options when faced with small bathroom spaces.

Without any other option to incorporate storage, we had to get creative! There is a built-in (and hidden) shelving unit to the right side of the shower that will be tiled over so that it doesn't disrupt the design. We selected heavy duty pull handles from Kohler to be installed on the outside and to appear as hidden as possible. We also included a floor-to-ceiling mirror with custom integrated LED side lighting to open up the small space. Mirrors are a designer go-to when creating the illusion of a larger space.

Check back soon as we reveal the implementation of this beautiful design!