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Leesburg, VA • Loudoun County • Before and After
Before and After: A Primary Bathroom Remodel in Leesburg, VA
A 2000s primary bath with a drop-in tub in a raised tile deck, cherry vanities and beige tile, rebuilt as a spa suite: freestanding tub under the arched window, a curbless his and hers shower, floating vanities, and a second toilet room added inside the same walls.
The Project
Primary bath
Scope
Curbless
His and hers shower
Second toilet
Room added
Leesburg
Loudoun County
The short version for anyone planning something similar: a 1990s primary bathroom in Leesburg with a drop-in tub, twin cherry vanities and beige tile was rebuilt into a spa layout with a freestanding tub under the arched window, a no curb his and hers shower, floating vanities, and a separate toilet room. The footprint did not change. Everything inside it did.
Updated September 2026
Before and After: Three Views of the Same Room
Same arched window, same walls, same footprint. Everything inside it changed.
Before
The tub deck under the arched window, with cherry vanities on both sides.
After
The same view: freestanding tub, floating vanities, and a curbless shower zone on each side of the room.
Before
The deck and the arched niches, seen from the doorway.
After
Where the deck was: the tub centred on the window, with his and hers shower heads on the walls either side.
Before
The old framed shower on the left, and the doors on the right.
After
The same wall today: open shower on the left, floating vanity, the new second toilet room, and frosted double doors.
The Story, Start to Finish
Where this bathroom started
The room had good bones and was using none of them. A drop-in tub sat in a raised tiled deck in the middle of the space under a beautiful arched window, cherry vanities faced each other on either side, and the tile was the beige that dates a Northern Virginia primary bath faster than anything else in the room.
The arched window was the best feature in the house, and nothing in the layout acknowledged it. The deck blocked the floor in front of it, and the eye went to the vanities instead. Two people getting ready at the same time was a daily negotiation, and the single toilet was shared.
Sound familiar? The signs of a 2000s primary bath
A drop-in tub in a raised tile deck, usually under the best window in the room
Arched niches and a tray ceiling, so the room looks grand but works badly
Cherry or dark wood vanities facing each other across the room
Beige tile in small squares, on the floor and up the tub deck
A small framed shower with a curb, tucked into a corner
One toilet for two people, with no door between it and the vanities
Seen from the doorway: the tub centred on the arched window, with a floating vanity on each side.
What we delivered
The tub deck was demolished, the floor was raised and levelled so large format porcelain could run flat across the whole room, and a sculptural freestanding tub was centred on the arched window, which finally made it the focal point. The vanities were rebuilt as floating units with full height storage towers, and the lighting moved into the ceiling so nothing competes at eye level. A curbless his and hers shower took the two side walls, and a second toilet room was built inside the existing walls.
What changed, item by item
Tub
Before
Drop-in tub sunk into a raised, tiled deck
After
Freestanding tub centred on the arched window, floor mounted filler
Shower
Before
Small framed shower with a curb in the corner
After
Curbless his and hers shower with heads and controls on both side walls, no step and no curb
Toilet
Before
One shared toilet open to the vanities
After
A second, separate toilet room added inside the existing footprint
Vanities
Before
Cherry vanities facing each other
After
Floating Kitchen Craft vanities in the Contempra horizontal door style with full height storage towers
Tile
Before
Beige tile in small squares on floor and deck
After
Happy Floors Baltimore 24×48 in Cris on the floor and walls, with an Emser shower pan
Counters
Before
Builder tops on the cherry vanities
After
MSI Calacatta Trento quartz counters and backsplash
Lighting
Before
Fixtures at eye level over the mirrors
After
Lighting moved into the ceiling
Window
Before
Blocked by the tub deck
After
Unchanged, and now the focal point of the room
The shower zone beside the tub: controls and body sprays on the wall, and the floating vanity with its marble look slab.
The second toilet room, added inside the existing walls, next to the floating vanity.
Three decisions that made the difference
1
Keep the window, lose the deck
Everything now sits on the axis of the arched window. Removing the deck and centring the tub cost nothing in footprint and gave the room its focal point.
2
Go curbless, and raise the floor to do it
A curbless shower is a framing decision. The floor was raised and levelled across the room so the shower zones drain without a lip to step over.
3
Add the second toilet room
The space the deck had been wasting became a separate toilet room, which is what ended the daily negotiation between two people.
Materials and products used
Vanities
Kitchen Craft, Contempra horizontal door style, Melamine Pier finish
Countertop
MSI quartz, Calacatta Trento
Floor tile
Happy Floors Baltimore, 24×48, Cris
Shower wall tile
Happy Floors Baltimore, 24×48, Cris
Shower pan
Emser W78GLEASI1212MPN
Tub
Freestanding, floor mounted filler
Shower
Curbless his and hers, heads and controls on both side walls
Lighting
Recessed into the ceiling
The order of work
1
Design and selections first
Vanities, tile, tub and fittings chosen and ordered before demolition.
2
Demolition
Tub deck, cherry vanities, framed shower and old tile out.
3
Floor raised and levelled
So large format porcelain runs flat across the whole room and the shower zones can be curbless.
4
Plumbing
Shower relocated to the side walls, lines for the second toilet room run, tub filler set at the window.
5
Waterproofing and shower pans
The curbless shower zones built and waterproofed before any tile.
6
Tile
Baltimore 24×48 on the floor and walls, Emser pan tile in the shower zones.
7
Vanities, counters and fixtures
Floating vanities and storage towers, Calacatta Trento quartz, tub, toilets and fittings.
8
Lighting and finish
Ceiling lighting, paint and final clean.
The honest tradeoff: a curbless shower is not a finish choice, it is a structural one. The floor has to be recessed or raised and the waterproofing detailed properly under the pan, which is work you never see and cannot add later without opening the floor again.
The Finished Bathroom: 6 Photos
Why homeowners choose EA
28 Design Awards. Four-Time National Winner.
Virginia Class A licensed (#2705157182), five-star rated everywhere we are reviewed, with close to 2,000 remodels complete.
What Leesburg Clients Say About Their Bathrooms
“
“We just finished our master bathroom with EA. We have a Colonial house in Leesburg, Virginia. Although our Master bathroom was big, it was not functional and had a very bad layout. In the first meeting, Ali gave us the Ideas that we could not think about. The finished space feels elegant and welcoming.”
Zahiri Williams, a Leesburg bathroom client, verified Google review. A different EA project in the same town.
Where This Project Is
Leesburg, Virginia
Loudoun County. Served from our Sterling, VA design studio. Exact address withheld for the homeowner’s privacy.
Leesburg splits into two building traditions, the historic downtown and the 1990s and 2000s growth ring, and a primary bath of this era usually sits in the second.
Questions Leesburg Homeowners Ask
What does a curbless shower need that a standard shower does not?
A recessed floor. The subfloor is dropped or the surrounding floor built up so water runs to the drain without a lip to step over, and the waterproofing membrane has to be detailed correctly under and up the walls. It is the single most common thing done badly by crews who treat it as a tile decision rather than a framing one.
Can you add a second toilet room to an existing primary bathroom?
Often yes, inside the existing walls, if there is a drain line within reach and the remaining clearances still work. In this project the room came out of space the tub deck had been wasting. Whether it is possible in yours depends on where your stack is, which is one of the first things we check on site.
Do Leesburg historic district rules affect a bathroom remodel?
Only for exterior changes. The Town of Leesburg Old and Historic District requires a Certificate of Appropriateness for work visible from the outside; interior renovations run on standard town permits. A bathroom that does not touch a window or the roofline is not a historic review project.
How long does a primary bathroom like this take?
Plan on several weeks of construction after design and selections, and expect the schedule to be driven by the parts with lead times: the vanity, the glass, and the tile. We order everything before demolition starts, which is what keeps a bathroom from sitting half finished waiting on a delivery.
Thinking About Your Own Bathroom in Leesburg?
Book the free in-home consultation: your bathroom in 3D and a clear scope before you commit to anything.
Picturing this in your own home? Start with our bathroom remodeling in Leesburg, VA page for what we build there and how the process works.