A Bathroom Remodel with Peace of Mind
This bath space was designed and built with a focus on wellness.
Homeowner Elizabeth Yee’s new master bathroom is timeless and inspired by Zen, and the sophisticated, well-traveled woman says she finds calmness and peace here every chance she gets. Drawing from principles of quiet rejuvenation — “Zen” is a Japanese derivative of the Sanskrit word for meditation — Yee’s Waialae Iki home embodies the concepts of stillness and purity. Ion Builders worked alongside interior designer Brandie Kasula and The Glass Guru of Honolulu to bring Yee’s bathroom remodel to life.
For her bathroom project, wellness and hygiene were top priorities. Instead of a regular free-standing toilet, this bathroom features a mounted toilet, allowing easy and efficient cleaning. “The wall-mounted toilet is fantastic because it doesn’t collect unsanitary things at the bottom,” says Kasula. Mimicking standard bathrooms in Asia, the shower pan aligns with the toilet, and an installed hose makes it easy to clean.
Accompanying earthy, custom-made walnut cabinets are countertops and bathtub ledges covered with quartzite, a stone which holistic health practitioners believe brings stability and grace to the body. The quartzite comes in various shades — such as white or cream, brown, and undertones of green. “Quartzite is a natural stone, so every stone has a unique color — no two slabs are the same,” explains Trevor Lee of Ion Builders. Quartzite is also highly resistant to scratches and chips, making it extremely durable.
Custom-made walnut cabinets add rich contrast to the light neutrals in quartzite used throughout the bathroom remodel, as seen here in the bathtub arrangement.
Some designers believe that glass, when incorporated into bathroom design, represents water in the natural world. Thanks to The Glass Guru of Honolulu, Yee got a sleek and seamless integration of glass in her master bathroom. The large shower partition, with brass-coated clamps, is clean and straightforward and made with tempered glass. The Glass Guru of Honolulu team also installed a wide-ranging copper-free vanity mirror that is edge-lit.
“It illuminates your face evenly,” Kasula says of the mirror and its all-around LED lighting. “That way, it’s easier to put on makeup and gentler on the eyes.” In addition to providing remarkable lighting, the mirror contains J-channel framing, a thin wrap that prevents the mirror’s edges from blackening due to salty sea air.
A wide-ranging copper-free vanity mirror installed by The Glass Guru of Honolulu is a gorgeous and functional design element in this bathroom remodel. The mirror is edge-lit, providing gentle, even illumination for tasks like putting on makeup.
The main challenge with this project was the turnaround time for tempered glass. “The issue with Hawaii is that we have a three- to five-week time frame for glass to come in,” explains Guerric de Coligny of The Glass Guru of Honolulu. “There is no tempering facility on the island. A lot of it comes from the mainland.” But once the tempered glass did come in, The Glass Guru of Honolulu only needed about half a day to install it.
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