Here’s a real, live, high-end design for less.

We got fantastic feedback on the story about Marsh & Clark’s elegant and contemporary powder room design for the 2009 San Francisco Decorator Showcase.

I was thrilled when Stephanie Marsh Fillbrandt wrote me about another version of the room they recently completed. Here’s the new room:

Photographs by Elisabeth Fall

As you’ll recall, the original room featured an incredible stone mosaic in artful swirls that crawled up the luminous Venetian plaster walls. Warmth was brought to the room with a custom-built, cantilevered, wood vanity.

Another client adored the design.

“The client wanted ‘the same bathroom’ but did not have the budget to replicate our original design, so we updated the look with more cost effective materials,” said Stephanie.

Details from Stephanie:

• Paint on walls is Benjamin Moore Grey Cloud in a satin finish, instead of Venetian plaster.
• Fun center light fixture (the company is no longer making this, but we have had it custom made for other projects).
• The new light cast a glow on the wall which actually gave the walls the appearance of Venetian plaster.
• Custom tile floor with swirl pattern inlaid.
• Custom cantilevered, wood vanity but this time from mahogany rather than the more pricey machiche wood.
• Matching wood wall mirror, instead of antique mirror.
• No tile detail on wall and no custom art window.

The new design cost about sixty percent less than the original.
 

What do you think about the new powder room? Have you ever been inspired by a more costly design that you emulated for less?