FROM DATED TUSCAN TO TIMELESS MODERN:A CHANTILLY, VA PRIMARY BATHROOM REMODEL

When a Chantilly couple — both working from home — finally decided to remodel the primary bathroom they'd lived with for years, they knew exactly what they no longer wanted: the heavy, warm Tuscan look that made the room feel dated and closed-in. What they wanted was harder to picture — something calm, modern, and timeless that still felt warm enough to relax in.

This is the story of how Peerless Construction took their primary bath from beige-and-brown builder Tuscan to a bright, spa-like retreat in matte black and marble-look porcelain, and the design decisions that made the difference. If you're a Northern Virginia homeowner weighing a primary bathroom remodel of your own, this before-and-after walk-through shows what's possible, what it takes, and roughly what it costs.

 

After: the finished primary bath — matte black fixtures, large-format marble-look porcelain, and a right-sized frameless glass shower.

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The Challenge: A Dated Bath That No Longer Fit

The original bathroom wasn't falling apart — it was simply dated and no longer matched how the homeowners lived. Warm yellow walls and brown, marble-veined tile wrapped the floor, tub deck, and shower in a Tuscan palette that had gone out of style. A large drop-in soaking tub sat on a raised, tiled step beneath the window, eating up floor space and making the room feel cramped and awkward to move through.

The shower was oversized — with an equally oversized run of glass — yet came up short on the details that matter day to day: no built-in niches for shampoo and soap, a weak and dated shower head, and no rain shower. At the vanity, counter space was minimal and cluttered, with no dedicated storage tower and no lighted shaving or makeup mirror.

Behind the scenes, a minor leak at the tub had begun to affect the subfloor — the kind of small problem that only gets more expensive the longer it's ignored. Added up, the homeowners had a bathroom that looked tired, wasted space, and lacked the everyday comforts they wanted in a primary suite.

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The Homeowners' Goals

The couple came to us with a clear vision and a short, focused wish list. Aesthetically, they wanted the opposite of what they had: a sleek, timeless look built around matte black fixtures and clean marble-look porcelain. Functionally, three requests stood out — a true rain shower, a lighted shaving and makeup mirror, and far more storage than the old vanity offered. They also simply wanted the room to feel bigger and calmer.

Budget-wise, this was a moderate-budget project, not a blank check, so every dollar had to earn its place. As the finished photos show, the result punches well above its weight class.

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Design Decisions

The single biggest move was rethinking the tub. We removed the bulky drop-in tub and its tiled step entirely and replaced it with a sleek freestanding soaking tub set beneath the window. That one change instantly opened up the floor, simplified the room's lines, and delivered the modern, uncluttered feel the homeowners were after — while a matte black floor-mounted tub filler kept the look intentional.

For a cohesive, timeless backdrop, we ran large-format marble-look porcelain from the shower walls to the floor throughout. Its soft gray veining does the heavy lifting on style without the upkeep of natural marble. Matte black then carried through every fixture — shower system, tub filler, faucets, hardware, and the frameless glass enclosure — to tie the whole room together.

Inside the shower, we right-sized the enclosure and added the details the old one lacked: a rain shower head plus a handheld on a slide bar, and a large recessed niche with a mosaic tile background that intentionally matches the shower floor — a small custom touch that reads as designed rather than default.

At the vanity, we built in the storage the couple wanted: a custom hardwood double vanity in a warm, natural wood tone, topped with a countertop storage tower between the two sinks and finished with framed medicine-cabinet mirrors for hidden storage, plus lighted shaving mirrors on each side. The warm wood keeps the black-and-white palette from feeling cold — proof that “modern” and “warm” aren't opposites.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The Construction Process

Every Peerless project follows the same disciplined sequence, and this one was no exception. We started with a full demolition — removing the old tub and step, shower, tile, and vanity down to the studs and subfloor — which also let us access and repair the subfloor damage from the tub leak before it could spread.

With the room opened up, our crew handled the framing, plumbing, and electrical rough-in: relocating supply and drain lines for the new freestanding tub filler, roughing in the rain shower and recessed niches, and adding wiring for updated lighting and the ceiling fan.

 

During: studs-out demolition, subfloor repair, and USG Durock cement board going in across the wet areas.

Next came waterproofing — the step that protects everything you can't see. We installed USG Durock cement board across the shower and wet areas and waterproofed the assembly so the new tile sits on a durable, water-tight substrate built to last. Only then did tile installation begin: large-format marble-look porcelain on the walls and floor, with the mosaic niche background carefully coordinated to match the shower floor.

Finally, the finishing details brought it all together — the frameless glass enclosure, the custom hardwood vanity and storage tower, matte black plumbing fixtures, mirrors, and lighting. Because Peerless runs a dedicated crew on one project at a time, the entire remodel came together in about two weeks. Throughout, the crew showed up on time, kept the home clean for a couple working from home, and checked in before each install.

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The Finished Project

The transformation speaks for itself. A room that once felt dark, dated, and cramped now reads bright, open, and unmistakably modern — a genuine primary-suite retreat. The freestanding tub beneath the window is the quiet centerpiece, while the walk-in shower — wrapped in marble-look porcelain with its matte black rain head and coordinated mosaic niche — delivers the spa experience the homeowners wanted every single day.

Their favorite wins were exactly the ones they'd hoped for: the rain shower, the added storage from the custom hardwood vanity and countertop tower, the lighted shaving mirrors, and the sheer sense of space created by swapping the drop-in tub for a freestanding model. The consistent matte black and marble-look palette makes the whole room feel designed, cohesive, and timeless — the kind of bathroom that will still look current a decade from now.

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What the Homeowners Said

“[the] team at Peerless Construction were an absolute pleasure to work with! My husband and I finally decided to remodel our primary bathroom, and Darius was so helpful in explaining all the different design details, and making recommendations that took into consideration the unique layout of our bathroom space. I really appreciated the team's punctuality every morning, and for keeping our house tidy throughout the construction — especially since we both work from home.”

“We were kept informed on a daily basis as to updates, and the team always checked in with us before installing anything. Ultimately, we trusted the process and the team's expertise, and we are really glad we did — the end result is both beautiful and functional! We look forward to the opportunity to work with Peerless Construction again, as we have other bathrooms we'd love to remodel in the near future!”

Read this and more verified reviews on our Google Business profile.

Key Takeaways for Homeowners

• Rethink the layout, not just the finishes. A drop-in tub on a raised step often wastes more space than you realize. Swapping it for a freestanding tub can make a mid-sized bathroom feel dramatically larger.

• Waterproofing is the step you'll never see. Cement board and a proper waterproofing assembly are what make a tile shower last. It's the least glamorous line item and the most important one.

• Small custom touches read as high-end. Matching a niche background to the shower floor, or carrying one metal finish through every fixture, is what separates a designed bathroom from a builder-grade one.

• Consistency beats variety. A single palette — here, matte black plus marble-look porcelain — keeps a remodel from looking busy and helps it stay timeless.

• Address the small problems now. A minor tub leak had already reached the subfloor. Rolling repairs into a planned remodel is far cheaper than an emergency fix later.

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Thinking about a primary bathroom remodel of your own in Chantilly or the surrounding Northern Virginia area? Projects like this — a full primary bath with a freestanding tub, frameless glass shower, marble-look porcelain, and a custom hardwood vanity — typically fall in the $30,000–$40,000 range, depending on layout changes, fixtures, and finishes. With Peerless's all-inclusive, turnkey pricing, that number reflects the whole project — design guidance, materials, and labor — with no surprise line items.

Contact us at darius@peerlessconstructioncorp.com or (703) 547-7409 to schedule a home consultation, and let's talk about what's possible in your space.

 

About Peerless Construction. Peerless Construction is a licensed Class A bathroom remodeling company (VA Class A Contractor #2705179037) serving Northern Virginia since 2020. We specialize exclusively in full bathroom remodels across eastern Loudoun County and western Fairfax County. The costs, designs, and details described here reflect real projects completed in our local service area.