The original master bathroom hadn't been touched since the house was built in 1994 — a cramped layout with a fibreglass tub-shower combo, single-sink pedestal vanity, and vinyl flooring that had long since started peeling at the seams. The homeowners wanted something that felt like a boutique hotel: warm, calm, and built around everyday rituals rather than just function.

We gutted the entire 120-square-foot space down to the studs, reconfigured the plumbing stack, and designed a new layout centred on a freestanding soaker tub beneath the window, a walk-in curbless shower along the far wall, and a 60-inch double vanity in warm white oak with a honed quartz countertop.

Before any finish material went in, we replaced all copper supply lines with PEX, relocated the drain to accommodate the freestanding tub placement, and installed a Schluter DITRA-HEAT membrane across the entire floor — giving the homeowners radiant warmth underfoot on every winter morning. The subfloor was levelled to within 1/16-inch tolerance to ensure the curbless shower entry would drain cleanly through its 36-inch stainless linear drain.

The shower walls feature a herringbone pattern in beige stone-look porcelain tile, each piece hand-cut at 22.5 degrees for tight mitre joints. The pattern runs floor to ceiling at just over nine feet, meeting a frameless fixed glass panel. Matte black fixtures — rain head, hand shower, and thermostatic valve — were roughed in at precise heights based on the homeowners' preferences.

The finished space pairs the warmth of white oak cabinetry and beige stone tile with the clean lines of matte black hardware and frameless glass. Recessed LED pot lights on a dimmer set the mood, while a backlit vanity mirror provides even task lighting. The homeowners told us the heated floor alone changed their morning routine — and six months in, the shower's curbless threshold hasn't shown a single sign of water escaping. It's the kind of result that only comes from getting every hidden layer right before the first tile goes up.