Situation
The owners wanted their primary suite to function as a self-contained retreat — a place where the sequence from sleeping to bathing to dressing felt considered at every transition. The existing layout had the bones but not the finishes or the spatial flow to deliver on that ambition. Every surface, fixture, and built-in needed to go.
Challenge
Gutting a primary suite to the studs means coordinating structural, plumbing, electrical, tile, and millwork trades across four distinct zones — bedroom, bath, and two walk-in closets — while maintaining a single, coherent material vocabulary throughout. The designer's palette called for white oak paneling in the bedroom, fluted marble and zellige tile in the bath, and walnut with brass hardware in the closets. Each material has different substrate requirements, different expansion tolerances, and different lead times. Sequencing the work so that no trade was waiting on another — while protecting already-installed finishes from damage by later trades — drove the schedule.
The bathroom posed the tightest tolerances. The freestanding polished nickel soaking tub required reinforced subfloor framing and a precisely routed drain. The fluted marble shower surround — each flute milled to a consistent depth and width — left no room for out-of-plumb walls. The recessed shower niche was framed and waterproofed before the marble went in, with tile layout calculated to avoid awkward cuts at the niche edges.
Approach
We worked the suite in a controlled sequence: demolition and structural framing first, then rough-in for plumbing and electrical across all four rooms simultaneously. Once the wet rooms were waterproofed and inspected, tile installation began in the bath — the most schedule-critical space — while the bedroom received its white oak paneling system.
The two walk-in closets were built out last. The primary dressing room received a walnut built-in system with an integrated vanity featuring a marble top, shoe shelving, and drawer banks — all finished with brushed brass hardware. The secondary closet mirrors the walnut palette in a more utilitarian layout with full-height shelving, hanging rods, and drawer storage.
Lighting was designed room by room: a glass bubble chandelier over the tub, pendant fixtures in the bedroom flanking the skylight, backlit oval mirrors at each vanity station, and integrated LED strips inside the closet cabinetry.
Outcome
The finished suite moves from white oak and natural light in the bedroom, through marble and zellige in the bath, into warm walnut in the closets — three material palettes that feel distinct but clearly belong to the same home. The skylight in the bedroom and the chandelier in the bath give each room its own focal point without competing for attention.
