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Natural Light

How natural light elevates two bespoke blue bathrooms

Explore two colorful spaces that use natural light from above to bring out the details.

A laundry room with sunset colored pink and blue wallpaper highlighted by two skylights

Designer Brian Patrick Flynn tackled The HGTV Urban Oasis® 2020 with a wide sense of color and texture to transform this dated Portland, Maine, home into a bespoke getaway outfitted with unique vintage and modern finds. Inspired by the outdoor fishing and seafaring culture of Portland, Flynn interpreted a maritime theme in two distinct ways for the home’s half and master bathrooms. The resulting designs use the color blue to add a sense of cohesion and ample natural light to the overall scheme of the home.

Near the side entryway and off the kitchen, the powder room takes the nautical theme literally, playfully incorporating illustrated sailboat wallpaper and a porthole-shaped mirror. This home’s style is all about intertwining a whimsical sense of old and new, and that includes the bathroom. Bright white and high-gloss painted floors underscore the vintage farmhouse-style sink with exposed plumbing and sleek curved faucet, seamlessly blending a rustic vibe with modern functionality to this first-level bathroom.

blue nautical themed powder room with skylight

A VELUX Solar Powered “Fresh Air” Skylight enhances the blue and white color scheme. Natural light reflects from the glossy white floors, balancing the dark blues, adding an airy feel and preventing the details from getting lost in the shadows. Room-darkening solar powered skylight blinds in Charcoal perfectly complement the colors of the farmhouse sink and hardware. This skylight also benefits the neighboring laundry and mudroom, adding another dimension of natural light to complement the entryway and laundry room skylights on the other side.

Upstairs, the main bathroom takes a subtler approach to the nautical theme by using shades of blue and white to evoke imagery of the sea. A frameless sliding-glass door separates the vanity area from the wet room, which houses an enclosed shower space and unique clawfoot tub. The custom vanity piece with blue gradient drawers helps tie together light and dark. The light sconces above the vanity bring to mind the industrial lights found on a ship. While the bathroom is bright and airy, bold dark blue details are found throughout in the lower drawer, rug, freestanding tub, and sink, offering cohesion with both the adjoining blue bedroom and the lower-level powder room.

two skylights brighten a blue tonal bathroom

Flynn intentionally designed this home as a celebration of the outdoor culture and natural beauty of Portland’s landscape. To help bring the outdoors in, the main bathroom boasts a massive window and well-positioned VELUX Solar Powered “Fresh Air” skylights that bring plenty of natural light and fresh air indoors. Located over the vanity, these skylights are perfectly placed to offer helpful natural light for morning primping. A third skylight is located strategically over the tub in the wet room, opening for bathers to enjoy fresh air or to release steam and ventilate the space after a shower.

To help foster the bright, light approach for this main bathroom, Flynn chose White skylight blinds over the vanity. In addition to the bathroom skylights, the master bedroom has its own skylights over the bed and facing the bathroom, setting up an exchange of abundant natural light between the two rooms.

blue bedroom with two skylights view through a doorway

Love a bold and beautiful blue room? Don't miss your chance to enter for your chance to win. Sign up to receive daily email reminders to enter The HGTV Urban Oasis® Giveaway 2020, which opens to entries on Oct. 5.

HGTV, HGTV Urban Oasis, HGTV Urban Oasis Giveaway and their associated logos are trademarks of Discovery or its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved. Photos © 2020 Discovery or its subsidiaries and affiliates. All rights reserved.

No purchase necessary. Open to legal residents of the U.S., age 21 or older. Void where prohibited. Sweepstakes starts at 9 a.m. ET on 10/5/20 and ends at 5 p.m. ET on 11/25/2020. Odds of winning depend on number of entries received. For full official rules, prize disclosures, and to enter, visit HGTV.com/UrbanOasis. Main Sponsor: Scripps Networks, LLC d/b/a Home & Garden Television, an affiliate of Discovery, Inc.

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