The Challenge
This Gilbert second-story master bathroom had been left exactly as the builder handed it over. The vanity was original cherry with a cultured marble top, the lighting was the standard hollywood-strip fixture, the shower was a black-framed glass stall, and the bathing centerpiece — a corner garden tub under glass-block windows — was used a few times a year at most. Functionally fine, but visually nowhere near where the rest of the house had grown.
The homeowner wanted a real redesign, not a refresh. Something that read as designed-from-scratch: bold but classic, color but restrained, modern but not trend-chasing.
Our Solution
We gutted the bathroom to the studs and rebuilt it as a true classic-modern master suite.
The corner garden tub came out and got replaced with a freestanding soaking tub — same wall, much better moment. We kept the original glass-block window behind it (it was good, distinctive, and worth preserving) and let it anchor the new tub instead of an awkward step-up surround.
For the shower, we built a frameless walk-in with classic white subway tile from floor to near-ceiling, with a vertical herringbone niche accent that catches the eye against the field tile. Matte black hardware throughout — handles, drain, shower head — pulls a graphic line through the otherwise quiet white.
The vanity is the room’s color moment: a freestanding navy blue double with a quartz top, undermount sinks, and polished gold faucets. We paired it with arched black-framed mirrors and three-bulb gold globe sconces above. The mix of black, gold, and navy reads classic without leaning either stuffy or trendy.
Underfoot, a geometric starburst-pattern porcelain tile carries through the whole space — graphic enough to give the room real personality, restrained enough to play well with everything above it.
The Results
This Gilbert master bathroom went from anonymous builder-grade to a designed-from-scratch classic with real personality. The navy vanity makes the room feel custom from the moment you walk in, the freestanding tub turned a wasted corner into a destination, and the starburst floor pulls the whole design language together.
The kind of bathroom that’s still going to look right in twenty years.
Alpha Remodelers is a veteran-owned, husband-and-wife remodeling team serving Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, and the greater Phoenix East Valley. Licensed CR-48, R-60, R-62. A+ BBB. 2-year workmanship warranty. Call or text 480-993-4000 for a free estimate.
