A Colorful Concept - Kansas City Homes & Style

Story by Ann Butenas | Photography by Zach Bauman

When the owners of this Overland Park home decided to update their master bathroom, they wanted their fun and bold personalities reflected in the design. As such, designer Cara Christman, CKBR with Shack Built, drew inspiration from other areas within the home and from iconic artists the homeowners admired, including Roy Lichtenstein, Piet Mondrian, and Andy Warhol.

With such direction in mind, Christman incorporated an eye-popping trio of bold colors – orange, teal blue, and lime green, and all for good reason.

“The teal blue was inspired by their bedroom wall color, and we used that as the jumping off point for this project,” explained Christman, who further noted the lime green adds a bit of energy, and the orange provides a bold statement.

“It took great collaboration between our crew and the tile people to ensure the necessary precision,” she emphasized. “We treated the shower space like a mural.”

“The matte black shower fixtures punctuate the look, much in the way the artists balanced bold color with the color black.”

More than just adding brilliant pops of color, the Shack Built team flipped the entire layout of the bathroom. What was once a narrow hall with her closet on the left and his on the right, one had to pass those two areas to get to the shower and the vanity.

“We decided to put the shower and tub where her closet was and moved her closet back a bit,” noted Christman. “We then reclaimed an unused powder room and added it to the master bathroom space for an improved closet situation.”

The vanity area is a true delight in and of itself, standing more as an artistic expression rather than just sinks and mirrors.

“We didn’t want a lot of bulk in this space, so we used floating birch shelves stained a walnut color that give utility to the space as well as a place to display items,” said Christman.

The penny tile strip on the vanity wall and in the shower add a polka dot aesthetic, reminiscent of what Lichtenstein used in his works, as well as complementary texture. The matte black faucets, quartz countertop, and stained birch vanity complete the look.

“It’s fun to have a creative client who gets enthused, and then you and your team get caught up in it, working together to create a functional space the owners are super excited about,” expressed Christman. “We had to address function first here, but then we got to showcase its style.”