BEFORE
THE DESIGNER
Gladys Schanstra
Drury Design
(drurydesigns.com)
THE CHALLENGE
Give a nothing-special powder room burnished Old World appeal.
THE WISH LIST
• POWDER ROOM THAT FITS IN CLOSE QUARTERS
• FURNITURE-STYLE VANITY
• DRESSY VIBE
THE RESULT
Empty nesters (and frequent entertainers) who were overhauling a Wheaton townhouse wanted to carve out a fancy powder room from an impossibly tiny, oddly shaped entryway space. Schanstra had the genius idea to shoehorn a little bit of 18th-century France into the room. The vanity appears to be a voluptuous repurposed antique bombe chest, but it’s actually new and came sink-ready. It fit like a courtier’s glove into the cramped little alcove. Curvy light fixtures, with thin profiles that don’t crowd the room, look like ancient torchères, subtly illuminating the textured wallpaper and delivering a huge payoff in Old World elegance.
Resources See Buy Guide.
Photograph: Eric Hausman