Onyx
Honey onyx
Translucent, banded and unrepeatable. Backlit from a ventilated cavity it becomes the only light source a room needs at night.
Never underfoot. Onyx is soft and it will scratch in traffic.
Chicago and the North Shore, bathrooms only
Bathrooms only, built like the room you retreat to.
A bathroom-only atelier in River North. One crew, a fixed price after design, and nothing starts on site until every slab is in our warehouse.
- 4.9 from 168 reviews
- 640 baths since 2009
- 10 year waterproofing warranty
Ensuite planner
Three choices, an indicative range. Sample figures only.
Indicative investment
$80,750 - $109,250
11 to 13 weeks on site
Sample bands for a demonstration site. A real price comes from a site visit and a drawn scope, never from a web page. (312) 555-0214
- Honey onyx
- Nero Marquina
- Calacatta Viola
- Taj Mahal quartzite
- Unlacquered brass
- Fluted low-iron glass
- Gold Coast
- Lincoln Park
- Lakeview
- River North
- Hyde Park
- Evanston
How we work
The atelier standard
Six things we do on every project, from a twenty-six square foot powder room to a fifteen week ensuite. None of them are upgrades.
One crew, start to finish
The same lead carpenter is in your home every working day. We do not rotate subcontractors through a bathroom.
Fixed price after design
Design ends with a number, not a range. Allowances are named, and change orders are written and priced before work happens.
Nothing starts on a partial order
Every fixture, slab and glass panel is in our warehouse and inspected before we open a wall.
Flood-tested waterproofing
Membranes are banded at the corners and held under water for 24 hours. We photograph the test and give you the file.
Dust taken seriously
Zipper walls, negative air machines and a protected route from the door to the room, on every project regardless of size.
We come back
A thirty-day adjustment visit and a one-year check are in the contract, not offered as a favour.
The material library
A material library you can put your hands on
Eight materials we return to again and again. Every one of them is in the River North showroom at full size, under the lighting temperature your room will use.
Marble
Nero Marquina
Dense black marble with sharp white veining. Honed, it grounds a dark room without turning it into a mirror.
Seal it and keep acidic cleaners away from it. Etching shows quickly on polished black.
Marble
Calacatta Viola
Plum and rust veining across a warm white field. The one marble that reads as jewellery rather than as stone.
Buy the whole block. Matching a second slab later is effectively impossible.
Quartzite
Taj Mahal quartzite
Warm cream with soft movement, and far harder than it looks. Our default when a client wants marble but lives like marble is a bad idea.
The practical choice. It takes daily abuse far better than any marble.
Metal
Unlacquered brass
It arrives bright and darkens where hands touch it. Within a year it has a map of how the room is used.
If you want it to stay bright, choose satin brass instead. Unlacquered is a commitment.
Metal
Blackened steel
The frame material for fluted and reeded glass screens. Thin sections, sharp corners and a finish that absorbs light rather than reflecting it.
Keep standing water off horizontal sections. Wax once a year.
Glass
Fluted low-iron glass
Clear glass has a green edge. Low-iron does not, so the stone behind it keeps its real colour. Fluting adds privacy without losing light.
Templated after tile, never before. Nothing here is a stock size.
Glass
Smoked mirror
A bronze-tinted mirror doubles a dark room without the hard reflection of clear glass. Flattering at low light levels, which is the point.
Not for the grooming mirror. Use clear glass where you actually need to see detail.
Signature features
The freestanding tub
A tub that earns the floor space it takes
Most freestanding tubs are bought before anyone checks whether the room can hold one. They need clearance on every side, a filler that is either floor mounted or wall mounted well before rough-in, and a floor that will take between 900 and 1,400 pounds when full.
We plan the tub first and everything else around it, because it is the one fixture that cannot be nudged six inches once the stone is set.
- Floor loading checked against the joist span before selection
- Filler position fixed at rough-in, not chosen at the end
- Cast stone and solid surface tubs that actually hold heat
- Clearance drawn to scale so the room still works around it
Wet rooms and steam
One glass plane, one floor, one room that stays warm
A wet room puts the shower and the tub behind a single sheet of glass, with the whole zone waterproofed and falling one way to a linear drain. It reads as a larger room and it is far easier to clean than two separate compartments.
Add steam and the requirements change: a sealed enclosure, a sloped ceiling section so condensation runs back rather than dripping, a generator on its own circuit, and an exhaust that runs on a humidity sensor with an overrun.
- Single-direction fall so large-format stone stays flat
- Bonded membrane, banded corners, 24 hour flood test
- Steam-rated glass with a sealed door and a sloped ceiling
- Humidity-sensing exhaust ducted properly to the outside
By the numbers
Seventeen years of bathrooms and nothing else
We stopped taking kitchen and basement work in 2013. These are the numbers that followed.
640
Bathrooms finished
Chicago and the North Shore since 2009
14
People on the team
Including our own millwork shop
4.9
Average rating
From 168 reviews across three platforms
10 yr
Waterproofing warranty
On the assembly we install and flood test
White-glove phases
Six phases, and you always know which one you are in
Every project runs the same way, whether it is a powder room or a twenty week commission. You get the same documents, the same reporting and the same aftercare.
Read the full process- Phase 0145 minutes, no charge
The first conversation
We come to the room, look behind one access panel and tell you what is realistically possible and what it costs.
- Written budget range
- Photographs of existing conditions
- A clear yes or no on curbless
- Phase 024 to 7 weeks
Design and selections
Plans, elevations and a full material board, plus a slab yard visit with your designer.
- Scaled plans and elevations
- Material board with real samples
- Fixed price and allowance schedule
- Phase 036 to 10 weeks
Order and stage
Everything is ordered, delivered to our warehouse and checked before a single wall is opened.
- Shared order tracker
- Inspection photos of every fixture
- Confirmed start date
- Phase 043 to 16 weeks on site
Build
One lead carpenter on site daily, dust containment, and a written schedule you can hold us to.
- Daily site photos
- Weekly look-ahead schedule
- Flood test documentation
- Phase 052 to 4 days
Commission
Every fixture cycled, lighting scenes balanced with you in the room, and hardware adjusted.
- Lighting scenes set to preference
- Material-specific care guide
- Closed punch list
- Phase 06Ongoing
Aftercare
A thirty-day adjustment visit, a one-year check and a ten-year warranty on the waterproofing assembly.
- 30 day adjustment visit
- One year check and reseal
- 10 year waterproofing warranty
Investment levels
Three levels, priced honestly
Sample bands for a demonstration site, based on completed Chicago projects. Every real number comes from a site visit and a drawn scope.
Show figures for
Considered
The room rebuilt properly, with one material doing the talking.
$42k - $68k
7 to 10 weekson site
- Full demolition, rough-in and permitted inspections
- Bonded, flood-tested waterproofing with photo record
- One feature material, porcelain or limestone field
- Stock vanity or a simple shop-built box
- Fixed price after design, named allowances
- 30 day adjustment visit
- Most requested
Atelier
Our most requested level: custom millwork, natural stone and lighting scenes.
$68k - $120k
10 to 14 weekson site
- Everything in Considered
- Slab yard selection and a shop dry-lay before cutting
- Shop-built vanity, linen tower and recessed mirror cabinets
- Frameless low-iron glass, templated after tile
- Four-scene lighting on a keypad, heated stone floor
- One year check and reseal
Commission
Book-matched slabs, backlit stone, steam and bespoke metalwork.
$120k - $260k
14 to 20 weekson site
- Everything in Atelier
- Whole-block stone purchase with reserve pieces held
- Backlit onyx or book-matched feature walls
- Steam generation with sloped ceiling and sealed enclosure
- Bespoke blackened steel or brass metalwork
- Dedicated project manager and a private delivery programme
Structural alterations and stack relocation are priced separately after survey.
Figures are illustrative sample bands for this demonstration website and are not a quote or an offer of service. Structural alterations, stack relocation and building charges are priced separately after survey.
A bathroom is the only room in the house you use in the dark. We design for that hour first, then work backwards to the morning.
Current offers
Three things we are including this season
Sample offers shown for this demonstration website. Terms would be confirmed in writing before any contract.
- $2,500 credited
Design fee credit
Book a full ensuite or full remodel by the end of the quarter and your design fee is credited against the build contract.
Applies to signed build contracts over $60,000. One credit per household.
Sample offer, shown through 31 December
- Included, normally $450
Slab yard morning
A private morning at our stone supplier with your designer, including tagging and photography of every slab you shortlist.
Included with all Atelier and Commission level projects.
Sample offer, ongoing for booked projects
- No charge on ensuites
Heated floor upgrade
Electric floor heating with a programmable thermostat, added at no charge to primary ensuite projects booked this season.
Covers mat, sensor and thermostat. Dedicated circuit priced separately if the panel needs work.
Sample offer, shown through 31 March
The studio
418 N Wells St, Studio 3, Chicago
Where we build
Chicago and the North Shore, within about thirty minutes of the shop
We keep the radius tight on purpose. A lead carpenter who can be on your site in half an hour is worth more than a wider map.
Questions we get weekly
The things people ask before they call
If yours is not here, the full list is on the questions page, and the first conversation is free either way.
Only bathrooms. We do not do kitchens, basements or whole-home renovation. A bathroom is the most technically demanding room per square foot in a house, and doing one thing means our crews have built hundreds of the same assemblies.
After design, yes. The contract carries a fixed price with named allowances. Change orders only happen when you ask for a change or when we open a wall and find something nobody could have seen, and both are priced in writing first.
Design typically starts four to six weeks out. Site starts are usually three to five months out, because we will not begin demolition until every item is in our warehouse.
A zipper wall at the door, a negative-air machine venting out of the work zone, floor protection on the whole route, and daily debris removal. It is on every project, not an upgrade.
Sometimes. Post-tension concrete slabs cannot be cut without engineering sign-off, so a recessed pan is usually out. The alternative is raising the bathroom floor to build the slope, which we will price honestly.
A bonded system: either a sheet membrane or a liquid-applied membrane, with banded corners and a pre-sloped pan. Every installation gets a 24 hour flood test that we photograph and give to you.
Let us look at the room
Forty-five minutes, two people, one inspection panel and an honest range. There is no charge and no follow-up sales call.
Request an estimate(312) 555-0214
Serving Chicago and the North Shore. Showroom visits by appointment.