Custom was the keyword for this year’s Chrysalis Award-winning bath designs. In fact, each winning design shares one key attribute: a unique custom approach geared specifically for the client's sensibilities. From creating a soaking tub on-site to meet the clients’ specifications, to giving a tall client the large shower he always desired, the winning baths stood out from the pack by showcasing the designer’s choice architectural elements, color pairings and custom elements.

Whether it meant turning a windowless bath into a bachelor’s sanctuary, creating savvy storage space or craftily working around existing structural elements, each bath employs intuitive designs and subtle details to stunning effect.

The Chrysalis Awards for Remodeling Excellence – which have honored the best and brightest in remodeling since 1993 – are co-sponsored by Qualified Remodeler, a sister publication of Kitchen & Bath Design News. Judges this year included editors and writers from a range of consumer publications, including Better Homes & Gardens and Southern Living.

This month, KBDN highlights some of the national bath design winners of the 14th Annual Chrysalis Awards for Remodeling Excellence.

Best Bath Under $40,000

Of this handsome, Asian-contemporary-inspired bath, designer Tim Franklin says, “This was a heck of a lot of work for such a small bathroom, but it was well worth it.”

Franklin, of Akron, OH-based Franklin & Associates, a design-build firm, took on the 1970s split-level remodel and was responsible for both a master bath and a master guest room renovation.

“We touched everything,” says Franklin. “We took it down to the studs.” The firm changed out old ductwork, plumbing lines and completely rewired the room as part of the project.

“You never know what you’re going to get until you strip it down,” Franklin adds.

Indeed, no truer words have been spoken as the design team moved one window and found itself redoing the exterior of the home as a result.

It was also an opportunity for the design firm to spread its wings, Franklin says. “The homeowners were really seeking to make their home very contemporary, which is neat because we don’t get to do as much contemporary design as we’d like,” he says.

However, the firm also faced some daunting challenges with the project as the original bath was quite small and narrow. The trick, according to Franklin, was coordinating all of the design elements the homeowners desired while leaving the room with a spacious feel.