The lower-level powder room was inspired by something the homeowners had seen at an extreme sports hotel.

Extreme experience

Extreme sports lovers Bonnie Hammond and her husband, Kelsey Starks, wanted to incorporate their love of the water and water sports into the redesign of their Mequon home’s lower level. Deep sea diving relics, beach finds and murals help to provide a seaside feeling. The most unique feature might be the lower level powder room, made to look like the inside of a shark diving cage. "We stayed at an extreme sports hotel in Cape Town where all of the elevators were built like shark diving cages. We fell in love with the idea of creating a simulated shark cage in our home. When you walk into the powder room, you feel just like you’re in a shark cage, right down to the iron bars, which were specially designed for us by Dean Derge Ornamental Iron Works in Kewaskum," says Bonnie Hammond.

No scuba gear or diving certificate is necessary, but it might be a good idea to have the smelling salts handy when guests open the powder room door and come face to face with a (painted) Great White shark. "Our friends are all amazed. They say it’s just like the real thing," Hammond says.

Barbara Barry wallpaper was the inspiration for the color scheme and design of this powder room that the homeowner calls her jewel box.

High Style

A powder room may be just a "half bath," but there’s nothing halfway about the design of this well-dressed little room in the Fox Point home of David and Jane Frank. "I envisioned my guests touching up at a party and I wanted them to have the loveliest possible experience. Words like glamour, Hollywood and crystal came to my mind when I thought about designing this powder room," says Jane Frank.

The plan for this room located off the main foyer was driven by the wallpaper Frank selected from Los Angeles interior designer Barbara Barry. "I saw this paper in a magazine article and knew it was the one for me. The color scheme in the room came from the wallpaper, a reflection of modern glamour," Frank adds.

The glass shelving, built by KGH Craftsmen and Wisconsin Shower Door, allows Frank to display her Limoges and Swarovski treasures. Light fixtures were specially designed by Baga, and the mirror was custom made by Bresler Eitel. Bathroom fixtures are from Kohler.

A tiled lineal tile drain in the shower maintains the clean aesthetic of the design. The bath also features heated floors and lights that turn on and off automatically when you enter or leave the room.

Spacial Illusion

At just 5 feet by 6-1/2 feet, the first-floor bath of Jake Ruiz’s West Allis home is small. But in remodeling the space, Ruiz, a project manager with Quality Remodeling Specialists in Pewaukee, maximized every inch of the small space.

"Because the bathroom is so small, I wanted the new shower and the rest of the room to feel like one larger space," Ruiz says. He accomplished this by using the same neutral-tone tile on the walls, floor and in the shower, installing a curbless shower and clear glass panel with no door. "Natural stone pebbles surrounding a new glass block window wrapped in marble makes the room feel deeper and brighter while giving the room character," he says.

A recessed mirror, compact Kohler Persuade toilet and a cantilevered vanity with vessel sink give the room a larger feel.

Now the clean, modern design of the bath flows with the rest of the remodeled home. m