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Best Bathroom 2021 Winner

Chad Holgerson of Keystone Creative, LLC set out to transform a small bathroom basement with no natural light into a welcoming, bright and functional space.

by Tessa Cooper

Jun 2021

Best Bathroom winner of Design Awards 2021

Photo by Dan Rockafellow/Rockafellow PhotographyWith a lack of natural light sources, the challenge was to create the feeling of it through fixtures, color and material choice and creative placement of glass surfaces and mirrors.

WINNING DESIGNER: Chad Holgerson of Keystone Creative LLC

Project Goal Summary

To transform a small bathroom basement with no natural light into a welcoming, bright and functional space.

It’s the classic basement bathroom dilemma: A lack of natural light paired with low ceilings creates a cramped space. Chad Holgerson of Keystone Creative, LLC used workarounds to make this primary bathroom feel bright and spacious using color, material sizes and layout reconfiguration. The result is this luxe bathroom that exceeded client expectations.

“The best projects come from the clients who allow the design and build teams to do their jobs,” Holgerson says. When he first toured the home, he noticed the closet inside the bathroom wasn’t an efficient use of space. Additionally, the homeowners wanted a bathtub, so he knew removing the closet was a must. Keystone Creative, LLC offers both building and design services, so Holgerson selected the bathroom’s color scheme and materials, designed the layout and oversaw the project’s implementation.

His quality control management of the build team also kept the project on track. The goal was to use light colors to create visual space, adding medium-dark wood planks to the accent walls to add visual height. Using a light flooring color and white ceiling was also an intentional choice. “I tiled that with plank floor to ceiling to give height to the room,” he says. The medicine cabinets use flattering lights, and have integrated digital clocks and a defogger. Humidistat-driven fans transport the steam out of the home to prevent trapped moisture, a touch screen controls the radiant heated floor, and the owners can manage all of the lighting by a central smart system.

“I am a big fan of adding lots of opportunity for light,” Holgerson says. “The granite really bounced a lot of light in there, as well as the large medicine cabinets. So, the space really isn’t that much bigger than it was to begin with, but we really paid attention to every last inch to make sure everything fit and functioned well.”