When the Worthington family asked us to turn their dated 1990s primary bath into a sanctuary, we didn’t reach for trend boards. We started with how they actually use a bathroom at 6:30 AM and 10 PM. Here’s what we built — and why NARI Southwest Ohio recognized it.
The Worthington family came to us with a dated 1990s primary bath in their Centerville home and one clear request: build us a sanctuary. The space had to feel calm enough for a morning routine, indulgent enough for an evening soak, and timeless enough to outlive whatever design fad came next.
What we built — and what NARI Southwest Ohio recognized with a regional design award — is a centerville bathroom remodel that pulls from spa bathroom design, luxury bathroom dayton precedents, and a careful inventory of how the Worthingtons actually use their space at 6:30 AM and 10 PM.
This is the full case study: the design moves, the materials, the build sequence, and the before-and-after that earned the award.
The original primary bath was 11 by 13 feet — generous on paper but lost to a builder-grade layout: oversized garden tub against the window, undersized fiberglass shower stall jammed into a corner, single vanity with a builder mirror, beige tile that had aged badly. Storage was almost nonexistent.
What the Worthingtons asked for:
The constraints were as instructive as the wishlist. The plumbing wall stayed where it was — moving it would have added six weeks and $14,000 to the build with no functional gain. The window stayed too. Everything else was on the table.
Three design decisions shaped this entire master bath. Each one would still hold up if we built it again tomorrow.
1. The wet zone moved to its own corner. The walk-in shower design and the stand-alone tub now share a single waterproofed wet zone along the plumbing wall. Custom frameless glass shower door wraps two sides; hand-glazed 4×12 subway tile carries from the shower walls through the wet-zone perimeter. Visually it reads as one continuous spa space.
2. The floating vanity replaced two cabinets with one. A single 8-foot custom floating vanity in rift-cut white oak, two undermount sinks, integrated quartz top with no seams, drawer storage all the way down. The makeup zone tucks into the run as a 30-inch dropped section with a mirrored door above. The floor reads continuously underneath — a small move that made the room feel bigger than it is.
3. The lighting plan does the heavy lifting. Three lighting layers: warm-white recessed in the ceiling for general light, sconces flanking each mirror for face light, and a 2700K linear LED tucked under the floating vanity. All three on separate dimmers. At 7 AM it is task-lit; at 9 PM it is candlelit.
The single-largest mistake on a luxury bathroom dayton project is chasing a Pinterest-of-the-moment material. The Worthington bath went the other direction: every surface was selected to look better in five years, not worse.
The before/after photo tells the rest of the story.
A bathroom case study is incomplete without the operational story. Here is how the Worthington build actually ran — five focused weeks with overlapping trades and tight scheduling.
If you are pricing a project like this for your own home, our 2026 Bathroom Remodel Cost Guide walks through the line items by tier. The Worthington bath landed in the high-end of Tier 4.
Take the next step
In-home walk-through, layout sketches, real timeline, transparent line-item pricing. We will look at your existing bath, ask the questions we asked the Worthingtons, and tell you exactly what your project will cost.
Tubs, walk-in showers, master baths
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Layouts, cabinets, countertops
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From our Kettering office we serve homeowners across Dayton, Centerville, Beavercreek, Bellbrook, Springboro, Washington Township, Oakwood, and Miamisburg. In-home consultations are always free.
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RA Cooks Renovations
1922 S Smithville Rd
Kettering, OH 45420
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