Vanessa Carlton’s Tale of Two Bathrooms
When singer-songwriter Vanessa Carlton decided to take the plunge—pre-pandemic—and finally renovate the bathrooms in her circa-1892 SoHo loft (which she shows off in the latest installment of Open Door), she asked Mandy Moore for an intro to her interior designer, Sarah Sherman Samuel. The pair ended up having so much fun that another lavatory was tacked on—in Nashville. “Being able to renovate three bathrooms only took 20 years and a loan,” laughs the musician of her new zen escapes. “It’s the ultimate luxury and privilege.”
As disparate as the settings and styles are, there’s at least one common note flowing through: completely luxurious bathtubs. “I’m a bath person. We all are in my family,” says Carlton. “No matter what home these bathrooms are a part of, they all exude that same thing, which is total comfort, and that beautiful lighting and calm, serene vibe.”
“I was super inspired by the buildings themselves,” says Sherman Samuel. Especially the arched exposed brickwork in the loft—where “the bathroom was a little sad,” she admits. “I really wanted to bring the original qualities of the building back into the bathroom, but also bring them into this era, make them modern and more usable.”
Carlton requested “really interesting tile floors that would relate back to old-school New York tiling.” Sherman Samuel likes to riff on the architecture and materials and, after nailing down the layout, ”start with the floor up. Deciding on what covers the floor and walls is really what sets the tone for the whole bathroom.” Carlton’s guest bath in NYC is evidence, with the existing claw-foot tub and beadboard influencing Sherman Samuel to tap into her graphic design background for a ’20s-style mosaic tile floor.
The main bath in New York was a total gut job, with a single sink stand, a bidet, and a toilet taking up lots of real estate. “It was kind of like a cave, so we wanted to brighten that up big-time,” says Sherman Samuel. Now there’s a double vanity topped with Arabescato marble and Apparatus sconces, and a spacious shower and tub. The biggest challenge was creating the illusion of natural light sans a single window—Carlton says a dimmer is key.
Light was a major instigator for the Nashville bathroom, too, in a 1935 home Carlton likens to The Royal Tenenbaums house. “I love, love, love dark rooms that get a ton of light,” says the singer, who says it makes a bathroom feel less sterile. They bumped out an attic space to create a large dormer bathroom with deep, dimensional Roman Clay finish on the walls, one-of-a-kind tile floors, and the perfect reflective centerpiece: a copper bathtub. “I’d always wanted a copper tub, but they are always hammered or a funky color,” Carlton says. “My one big contribution is I found the tub on Etsy in that perfect color with beautiful shine.”
For the bathroom addition, Sherman Samuel did not actually travel the (almost) thousand miles from New York to Nashville, but instead completed the project entirely virtually. Still, “she really understood the vibe and sanctuary feeling of the entire space,” says Carlton, adding, “Sarah’s attention to detail just makes my heart sing.” As do her tubs. “I’ve lived in dorms in NYC and a rental in Hell’s Kitchen. I’ve come a long way. To lie in a really nice tub in New York will never get old—it’s a miracle.”
Originally Appeared on Architectural Digest
