27 fun road trip games for adults that make car travel more enjoyable

Travel

27 Fun Road Trip Games for Adults That Make Car Travel More Enjoyable

Drescription

Road trips are fun—at least, in theory. But after a couple of hours of music, podcasts, and "I'm just going to take a quick nap while you drive," things can quickly turn boring. Sometimes you can adapt party games for the car, but they don't always translate to sitting in a moving metal box.

That's where these road trip games come in. "I Spy" may have kept your attention when you were young—impressive, given that you had the attention span of a goldfish—but this list of car ride games up the ante a bit. Pick a few adult-worthy road trip games for your next long ride.

01

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Spin a Story From the Past

Think of this as "Who can lie better?" One player begins by telling a story about their past, and players have to guess whether they're telling the truth or spinning a tale.

Each guesser gets two follow-up questions, and then it's time for an answer. Every correct answer is two points, and the first player to 10 wins. (The loser has to reveal a super-embarrassing story.)

02

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Riff Off

This competition involves finding a license plate with random letters and creating a word with those letters. For example, if the license plate is YMT23, the answer could be "Yosemite".

Think of it as Road Trip Scrabble, but instead of taking turns, just yell when you see one and come up with a word. Other players can challenge by creating a longer word with those same letters.

To up the stakes, stipulate that the letters must be in the exact order to make the word and can't be scrambled. Award two points for each winning answer and two extra points for anyone who spots a vanity plate. The winner is the first to reach 10 points.

03

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Explain a Movie Plot Badly

This party game also works when you're trapped in a car. One player thinks of a movie and explains its plot in a way that is factual and terrible, and the other players have to guess.

The first player to guess correctly gets a point. If no one guesses correctly, the plot explainer gets a point. Our favorite: "Girl can't commit. Loses cat." (Yep, Breakfast at Tiffany's!)

04

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Essentially the Same Movie

In another film-related game, a player starts by naming a movie. The next player has to name another movie that has the same basic plot. For example, Pretty in Pink and Some Kind of Wonderful, or No Strings Attached and Friends with Benefits.

Players continue to take turns naming flicks with essentially the same narrative until someone gets stumped—the last person to come up with a film that fits wins. Start with your favorite kid movies if you're having trouble thinking of movie plots.

05

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Radio Roulette

This is essentially a road trip game of Name That Tune. Flip among radio stations until you hear a song (presets work best), and let it play for 15 seconds. Players are challenged to name that song and its artist, earning one point for each, with an extra point for naming its album. The first one to reach 15 points wins.

06

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Mad Libs

You know Mad Libs, that hilarious word game that solicits nouns, adjectives, and verbs from players to create an imaginative narrative. If you plan ahead, you can access a free printable Funny Mad Libs For Adults to take with you on the road. (Don't forget to bring a pen!)

If you're not a fan of pre-technology, whip out a smartphone and play WordLibs online for free, with no app or downloads required. You can even create your own stories!

07

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Fortunately, Unfortunately

To start this storytelling game, one player makes a declarative statement that begins with "Fortunately..." For example, "Fortunately, on this highway, we will soon pass a cool roadside attraction." The next player must follow up with an "unfortunately" statement such as "Unfortunately, the attraction is a giant booger."

The subsequent player must give a "fortunately" statement, and so on as you go from player to player. Switch from "fortunately" to "unfortunately" statements until everyone runs out of steam.

08

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Snack the Rainbow

Along your road trip route, plan to stop at seven gas stations. At each station, find a snack that's a specific color of the rainbow. (Remember, it's ROYGBIV!) You can only get one snack item per gas station.

09

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Famous Names

For this road trip game, someone starts by saying the first and last names of a famous person. The next player must name another famous person whose first name starts with the first letter of the previous celebrity's last name.

For example, Justin Bieber leads to Billy Crystal. Billy Crystal leads to Catherine O'Hara. Catherine O'Hara leads to Owen Wilson, and so on. If a player is stumped, they're out, and the group moves on to the next player.

10

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Road Sign Alphabet Game

Each player must find a word on a road sign that starts with the letter A, then a word that starts with B, and so on through the alphabet. Once a player has claimed a word, the other players can't use that word. Whoever gets to the end of the alphabet first wins.

11

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Road Trip Trivia

For each city you pass through on your trip, designate one person to be the "expert" about that city's population, industry, dining establishments, and anything it might be known for. The expert can use their smartphone, but guessers cannot.

As you pass through each city, the expert asks trivia questions that other players guess the answers to. Examples are, "How many people live in Scranton?" and "Which fast food restaurant does Cedar Key have five of?"

12

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Road Trip Bingo

Road trip bingo is always a crowd-pleaser. Before you leave, you can create your own paper bingo cards or print road trip Bingo cards for free to distribute to each player.

If you make your own, consider a theme of fast food restaurants (McDonald's, Chick-Fil-A, KFC), gas stations (BP, Shell, Texaco), or types of cars (Honda Civic, Subaru Outback, Toyota Tacoma). Whichever you choose, make sure there are enough markers or stickers for everyone to mark their cards.

13

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Guess the Time

Look up which cities you'll be passing through on the way to your final destination, and have everyone in the car guess the exact time you'll arrive at each one. (The use of map apps are prohibited.) For example, what time does your car pass the sign that says "Entering Sacramento"? The player whose guess is the closest wins that round.

14

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Categories

Someone chooses a category, such as movies, sweet treats, or flowers. The first player must name something in that category that starts with the letter A. The second player has the letter B, and so on.

For example, if the category is flowers, the first player might say "amaryllis." The second person might say "begonia." The third person might say "carnation," and so on. Be sure to choose the categories based on the players' knowledge base. (If no one in the car is interested in gardening, flowers might not be the best category.)

15

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The Price is Right

Based on the TV game show, each player guesses the price for regular unleaded gas at the next gas station you see. Whoever gets the price to the nearest tenth gets a point. When it's time to stop for gas, the player with the least number of points buys snacks for everyone.

16

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Guess the Song

For Guess the Song, one player sings or says lyrics to a song, and the other players must name the title of that song. Stating the lyrics in a monotone makes the game harder.

For example, someone says, "And he's long gone when he's next to me. And I realize the blame is on me." The winner is whoever correctly names the song's title, Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble."

Players must name the exact title. So, if a player says, "I Knew You Were Trouble When You Walked In," that answer is wrong, and someone else gets a chance to name the exact title.

17

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Guess the Quote

One player looks up a famous quote on their smartphone and reads it to the other the players, who must name the person (or fictional character) who uttered it. The quote could be from a famous speech, like "Give me liberty or give me death!" (Patrick Henry) or a movie, like "There's no place like home," (Judy Garland as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz).

18

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While You Were Sleeping

This is a group game to play when one or two passengers are taking a nap. While they're sleeping, the rest of the passengers work together to create a story about something the sleepers missed.

For example, you all spotted a famous person who was stopped by the side of the road with a flat tire. The celebrity lets you hold their dog, eat some of their delicious snacks, and so on. Storytellers collectively agree on the specific, weird details for optimal believability. Too bad you didn't take any photos!

19

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Who's Most Likely to...?

For this fun road trip game, someone starts by asking the question, "Who in this car is most likely to...?" The other players have 3 seconds to name the person that fits the statement best.

Players take turns asking a new question. Here are some possibilities:

Who is most likely to answer the phone at 3 am?

Who is most likely to throw their friend a surprise party?

Who is most likely to give you a nickname?

If you have trouble thinking up questions, visit teambuilding.com for a list of dozens of them that'll keep you asking and answering for miles.

20

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Triple Threat

In Triple Threat, someone starts in the role of the judge by saying three random words, and each player has to tell a story using those three words. The player who thought up the best story, according to the judge, wins. The winner becomes the judge for the next round, offering the next trio of random words, and the game continues.

21

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20 Questions

This classic guessing game easily adapts to a road trip. It starts with a player thinking of a person, place, or thing. The other players take turns asking yes-or-no questions to determine what they're thinking about.

Whoever guesses correctly gets a point, but if no one guesses after 20 questions, the originator gets a point. Make sure someone is keeping track of the number of questions.

22

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Spot the Car

This road trip game is similar to I Spy and keeps everyone's eyes on the road. One player names a particular type of vehicle—like a double tractor-trailer, RV, or a Ram pickup—and players compete to be the first to see one and score a point. For a variation, consider non-vehicle items like signs or landscape items.

23

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Scavenger Hunt

This activity works as well in a car as it does out of one and demands much less legwork. If you're a planner, create your own list ahead of time based on what you expect to see along your drive. If not, print out a generic list for free. Either way, make a copy for each player, and whoever has seen (checked off) the most list items wins.

24

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License Plate Checklist

If you're taking a long trip on the interstates, this game is the perfect way to kill time. Just make a list on your phone or a notepad of all fifty states and check them off when you see a license plate from that state. Try and find all fifty states before your trip ends.

25

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They're a 10, But...

Find out how far your car riders would go for their dream partner with this silly game. To start, one person will say "your partner is 10, but..." and follow up with something funny or just plain outrageous.

You could say, "he's a 10, but he has lobster claws instead of hands." Or "she's a 10, but she always has to rhyme when she speaks." How much are you willing to compromise for the perfect companion?

26

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Count to 20

See if you and your fellow road trippers can get on the same wavelength with this simple yet challenging game.

This game requires at least three people. Everyone in the group is trying to count up to 20 without saying the same number at the same time. If two or more people say the same number simultaneous, the game resets back to one. Sound easy? You might be surprised.

27

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Battle of the Songs

Test your skills as a DJ with this fun and musical game. A judge will pick a category for a type of song—this could be "80s power ballads," "90s alternative rock songs," or any genre of music your heart desires. Both people or teams will select a song in that category and play them. Whichever one the judge prefers is the winner and that team gets a point.

Gretch’s Next MOTO: The Bedroom Switch Up

Timing is everything, and that’s also true in design. A little over a year ago, in April, to be exact, I revealed my first Makeover Takeover–my bedroom. I had moved into my place a few months prior and was so excited to have the opportunity to design my room from the ground up, so soon after moving in. It felt like perfect timing. I was (and still am) absolutely in love with how the space turned out. I scored some incredible furniture pieces from Article (a sick storage bed, the coolest floating headboard, and the dresser of my dreams), plus enough fabric to completely cover my walls and then some. It was awesome! But a year and two months of living in a space, even in a room you LOVE, can tend to reveal some things. Namely, how wrong I was in making the smaller room my bedroom, with the stubbed toes to prove it. I consider myself lucky to reside in a two-bedroom apartment, where both rooms are mine to do with as I please. When I moved from my last spot, “more livable space” was high on my wishlist. I’d had a garage previously, which was AWESOME but very dangerous. Not in the sense that anything could harm me (except maybe the rats, damp/crumbling walls, and broken/exposed pipes…okay maybe it was a little dangerous). But when you have a ton of extra space, especially the kind disconnected from daily life (a garage), it is alarmingly easy to fill it with extra stuff. And for me, that is very dangerous. (Later this week, Em will dive into an assessment of her own stuff, which is initially what inspired me to take a closer look at mine, so definitely check that out when it’s live!) When I had the garage, I was working a variety of freelance creative jobs and was heavily into flipping furniture and selling vintage decor on Facebook Marketplace. Having a workshop space was ideal and necessary for how I made a living. But soon enough, I started working for Em, and that garage space just wasn’t needed anymore. And yet somehow I convinced myself that most of what lived inside still was. A handful of unfinished projects, paint cans with some life left (debatable), a huge collection of vintage wares (and soooo much more) came with me to the new spot. When it was time to choose which room would serve as my bedroom and the other as my “studio”, it made more sense to me at the time to pile my mountains of crap into the larger space, thinking I would eventually turn it into a state-of-the-art creative zone and office, with plenty of room to spread out and work. Fast forward a bit, and I can barely walk inside. The in-home studio I envisioned earned its new name, The Doom Room, in record time. A place where all of my extra things went to die, disappearing out of sight and out of mind as soon as I shut the door. No systems, all chaos. And when chaos lives next door, even the dreamiest of bedrooms will begin to suffocate you. After a year in my beautiful room, I began to feel the walls closing in, and not because of the wallpaper, no complaints there–but the lack of wiggle room, in both spaces. My storage bed is so functional, but not if the drawers will only open when all of the dresser drawers across it are closed. Then there’s my clothes closet–the true catalyst for the switch up. If hang up one more romper, and I promise you that wooden rod will SNAP. I literally have to fist fight my t-shirts daily to get them back behind closed doors. And I’m sick of it!! Sick of traversing the narrow walkways of my tiny room, carved out by my big, beautiful bed. Sick of the piles of stuff ignored next door, filling the room with more and more doom every second. Sick of the overall lack of breathing room, accidental injuries, and impenetrable wall of garments. Caitlin’s closet confidential had awoken something in me. Em’s recent prop/carriage house assessment inspired me. Tripping one too many times in both of my rooms drove me insane enough to need a change. Sometimes you really just have to empty everything out, take stock, trim alllll the fat and put back only what’s really important to you, with care (and a bit of a cut-throat mentality) while trying your darnedest not to add more stuff to the stuff. Then step-and-repeating every few years because consumerism has us in a chokehold, and this is a lesson I never seem to be done learning. So that’s my plan! This is the official kick-off of my MOTO: Take 2. A reassessment. And my first step is to purge. My neighborhood is having a garage sale this weekend, and it’s the perfect opportunity (hell yes, deadline) to decide what really deserves to take up space in my life and home. Then it’s another small room challenge–this time a guest room/office that is actually useable and inspired. I want to live in a livable space! My biggest priority is having a bedroom I can actually walk around in, and plenty of room to sit back and admire the pieces I love so much, with the ability to use the drawers (all of them, at the same time) without stubbing my damn toe! I don’t have a solid design plan for either space. Concepts of a plan, sure. What I know for a fact is that all of the major elements of my first MOTO design will live on. I will not be parting ways with my bedroom furniture, only migrating it. I am not exaggerating when I say: these are some of the best pieces I’ve ever owned and still look as good as the day I got them. The headboard, storage bed, and dresser–they’ll live on in the bigger room for a chance to really shine! I will also NOT be touching the wall fabric in the smaller room. This hasn’t budged since the day I installed it (a year ago! With just liquid starch, a bucket, and a paint roller!), and I don’t intend to remove it anytime soon. But it’s totally renter-friendly, and when I am ready to take it down, I can re-use the fabric elsewhere (shameless DIY post plug)! I actually can’t fathom designing a space without adding a little DIY mojo to the mix. The wall fabric is the foundation of the smaller room, so it should be a fun challenge for me to pick pieces that work well with the existing vibe. But the DIY element in my new bedroom is yet to be determined. One big idea on the brain is: stencils. I’ve been vision boarding a lot lately and find myself continuously drawn to the vintage magazine images of stenciled, folky flowers on the walls (or the ceiling, perhaps?). It’s not necessarily renter-friendly, but I’m a friendly renter and could always paint over it when I leave. But also, I’ve been dying to play with the color stain trend I’ve been seeing everywhere lately and might need to test it out on an older piece of mine that could use a refresh (my garage workshop mentality will never die). It’s a beautiful etagere I’ve been using (and not really loving) in my bathroom, which I think would serve me better in my new big bedroom. Better yet, if the wood was stained…burgundy? Or maybe a denim-y blue? I don’t know! But I want to try. So look out for that DIY sometime down the line. That’s it for now. The grunt work comes first, hopefully followed by clarity and tons of radical vision. I’ll keep you posted as I move the needle. All in due time. Until then… Sincerely, Gretch

The River House Primary Bathroom Reveal (Including A Sauna!! And Mirrors In Front Of The Window)

Today we have quite the luxury bathroom for you – including a hers and his shared shower, a view of the river, a heated toilet, and a sauna inside the bathroom (I’m truly jealous). It’s another River House bathroom, my favorite one that is so warm and airy – and the white tile in here might be my favorite I’ve ever used. The bathroom itself is more long and narrow – the shower faces east and the windows over the vanity are south. The footprint of this wing was dictated by how the house was designed by Anne Usher (the architect) and built by JP Macy of Sierra Custom Construction. It’s not huge so it had to be really thoughtful in how it was going to be maximized. They actually added the sauna near the end which I think they stole by flipping the toilet room and getting rid of that small storage cabinet between the old toilet room and the vanity area. Here you can see how it connects to the primary bedroom. There is a pocket door to ensure that if one person needs to get up early to get ready or needs privacy they can just close it. The view from the bedroom (reveal here!) into the bathroom is just so pretty. Those mirrors hanging in front of the window might be my favorite thing (albeit controversial). Here’s a little video before we get into the pretty photos! (just wait for the ad to play:)) She is such a sophisticated bathroom – wood, green, brass, and so much natural light that you would never need to turn on the overhead lights (except during the 5 months of darkness that we are about to enter, LOL). The vanity is a long floating custom vanity designed by Max and Anne (and maybe me, I honestly don’t remember at this point). Mirrors In Front Of The Windows? Anne was the one driving the mirror in front of the window situation which I was fully on board with because it’s weird and cool (and I’ll do anything for natural light + quirk). Anne had an interesting philosophy that basically says we should prioritize seeing nature over seeing our faces all day. Obviously, you need a mirror when you are getting ready but I love the idea of not being confronted with my own face when I’m just getting up or even brushing my teeth and instead looking at the trees. Now of course we ended up putting mirrors above the vanity in front of the windows anyway, and here is why… We originally wanted to hang the mirrors from the side or ceiling on a pivot that could be stored out of the way, but the ceilings are vaulted and angled and the sconces needed to be hung as flush mounts up there. Also, the sides weren’t symmetrical which felt odd to us. We worked with a welder and tried to figure out how to hang from the top of the wood or the side, but he basically told us that it would be floppy and never solid (which seemed like a bad choice). So we designed them to be attached inside the wood frame and used the Kohler mirrors (which were perfect in size and shape) with a custom welded back. The vanity has three drawers – two with cutouts for the sink plumbing then a huge drawer in the middle. The faucets are part of the Components Collection from Kohler that comes in all the different finishes and a few different shapes. The line is called “components” because you can choose separate handles and spouts – essentially customize the exact look you are going for. We used the gooseneck faucet for the guest bath so opted for the Row spout, a squared-off version, up here. These light fixtures are new and so awesome. They are so heavy and high quality, with a really pretty gold patina, and they give off excellent light. You can obviously use them vertically flanking a vanity mirror as well. To the right of the bathroom is the tub/shower wet room and it’s so flooded with light, bouncing off all the textures in the tile and the faucets – it’s extremely dreamy to be in there. Because we were working with Kohler on this we were able to go all out in the plumbing department – a rain shower, two showerheads for joint showering, and a hand shower. Their new Statement and Anthem line is so beautiful and with a lot of flexibility and customization – with options for mechanical valves that don’t require electrical in addition to plumbing (so an easier install) or digital. We chose the Ceric tub because it was the narrowest and has such a sculptural and classic shape. The water temp is automatically set and you simply just push on and off and it reaches that temperature. The look of it is so design-forward, but the function is really simple. The tub is big enough for two people but doesn’t have a huge footprint so fitting into this shower was just fine (which was something we worried about and went through all the exercises like bringing a cardboard template to make sure it fit). The knob controls the temperature and the buttons turn it on and off (and control the hand shower). It’s just so streamlined and squared off with these modern round knobs – so graphic and simple. Each person gets to control their own temperature, all pre-set by them, and they can change the water pressure and stream with a few different options (there is a really fun spray that is so soft that we love). This tile is one of my favorites I’ve ever used – such a pretty texture with white and vertical organic stripes. We stacked them horizontally and the vibe is so rich and textured, and yet still calm. Ann Sacks has a lot of stone tile as well, and we chose the large format 12×24 for the vanity floor and then switched to a small herringbone of the same tile for the shower room (smaller tile always works to slope better towards the drain). It’s all so gorgeous. The stone has a lot of warmth and green in it, calling back to the trees outside all the windows. I can’t stop staring at it. Anne (the architect) designed this storage cabinet with three shelves and a door for extra storage. The Kohler hooks are black to help pull in the black sliding door frame and all the black light switches (we also chose a black hand towel bar). The Sauna Now, TBH I had very little to do design-wise with this sauna, beyond my extreme support and enthusiasm. The best part is that it’s both infrared AND a traditional dry sauna. I’m so jealous. Essentially the infrared goes deeper and some say is better for your skin, but they don’t heat up to be as hot as fast (and you have to stay in much longer to get the benefits) whereas a traditional dry sauna can get really hot and you only need 20 minutes to drip with sweat and get the mood-boosting benefits. The black panels are the infrared heat and then below you’ll see the dry system with all the rocks. My brother worked with a local sauna builder (that is a design/build firm) and Ken was super happy with their service and work. The sauna is big enough to fit both of them sitting up or one lounging. They have been using it 5 nights a week, watching Friday Night Lights through the glass on an iPad. Again, very jealous. The Toilet Room/Watercloset Yes, there is a toilet in its own little room with a pocket door and a beautiful deep color. It’s a smart toilet with a heated seat, bidet, and a lot of bells and whistles (controlled by a remote that is attached to the wall). Yes, you need to plan for a plug (and I’d suggest all toilet rooms get an outlet just in case a future owner is as obsessed with having a bidet as the general bidet enthusiasts club population seems to be. LOL). They LOVE it. And I love how streamlined the toilet is, thus making it easy to clean:) Jess thought it would be fun to show you the difference between the bathroom before and after styling – it’s so simple and calm so the styling really added a lot. Human for scale:) I love my bathroom, I do, but when you are in this bathroom, showering with a view of the river, surrounded by trees it’s pretty darn glorious. A huge thanks to Kohler for partnering with us on this bathroom – we are so thankful to work with our favorite brands to create beautiful rooms (and photos for the blog).

6 Most Common Packing Mistakes People Make (and the Easy Fixes You’ll Wish You Knew Sooner)

One of the most stressful parts of a vacation is the prep, and that includes the packing. Weather and plans can change last minute, but the stuff you take with you is all you'll have, so you really want to nail it, even with all of the uncertainty. This can lead us to overpack, stuffing our suitcases to the brim and crossing the 50-pound limit that many airlines have in place for checked luggage. To avoid this, we asked travel experts to tell us the biggest packing errors they see people making and how we can avoid them. Packing Too Many "What Ifs" “One of the biggest mistakes I see travelers make is overpacking for the "what ifs" instead of what might actually be needed," says Katy Rockett, regional director of North America for Explore Worldwide, a small group tour company. "Not only does it slow you down, but it can lead to added stress managing checked bags and excess baggage fees." Instead, she suggests packing versatile layers that will work for whatever activities you have planned and leaving it at that. Then, you'll have room to bring back souvenirs! Bringing Your Brand New Shoes It's tempting to buy all new stuff for your vacation. After all, you're treating yourself to a trip so you may as well keep treating yourself. But, if you're not a fan of blisters (and who is?) you might want to think twice. "It’s easy to forget how much walking happens day to day on trips, especially adventure-focused trips. Packing brand new or uncomfortable shoes can be a major misstep," Rockett says. "I always recommend bringing at least one pair of well-worn walking shoes, even on more relaxed itineraries. Your feet will thank you.” Forgetting About Dirty Laundry You don't want to mix your clean, unworn stuff in with your sweaty duds! "I bring a cloth laundry bag to put dirty laundry in," says Matt Mazanec, tour director manager at Tauck. "It keeps them separate, and if I am bringing home something fragile, I can wrap it in my dirty laundry for extra cushioning." Packing an Iron or Steamer This one may seem counterintuitive, but irons and steamers take up a ton of room, and if you're trying to bring only a carry-on, you likely won't have space for these appliances. Diana Ferro-Rodrigues, vice president at Perillo Tours, recommends an easy alternative. "Instead. roll your clothes and pack a wrinkle release spray," she says. Using Vacuum Seal Bags Yes, these save a ton of room in your bag, but what many people don't realize is that they don't make your bag weigh less. "Your bag ends up weighing a ton, and you end up not being able to fit everything in your bag after you open the vacuum bags," Mazanec says. "Instead, use packing cubes and thoughtfully plan outfits with versatile pieces so that you’re prepared for many situations." Relying Too Heavily on Converters Yes, you should definitely have these! But, converters tend to work better for smaller things like phone and computer chargers and not as well for items that take tons of power like a blowdryer or straightener. Consider buying inexpensive local appliances instead. "For example, why risk burning out your nice U.S. curling iron or flat iron when you could buy one in Europe and just let it live in your suitcase, removing all worry from the equation?" says Brenna Shay, tour director manager at Tauck.

My Brother’s Playful Shared Kids Bathroom Reveal (Including Cute Double Vanities)

While this house has a lot of contemporary lines (with hits of traditional vibes throughout), it’s still a house for a family with two elementary school-aged kids (6 and 9). They share a hall bathroom that is a nice size and Max and I were able to design it to be happy and playful, and yet use high-quality material that will last (and obviously grow with them). I honestly never pictured this bathroom like this – it’s really sweet and charming and full of layers that are far from “contemporary”. Some of this is in the styling, for sure, but whatever it is I love looking at these photos and every time I walk in I get that surge of, “Oh this is so fun”. Where Are We In The House? Ok, we are on the second floor and you can see the kid’s rooms are nearby. The bathroom is pretty big – although I see that the floor plan has changed since this above version to NOT have a separation between the vanity area and the toilet/bath. It’s part of the house that was designed to be vaulted so it has high ceilings. When they did the window plan they chose a huge window in here – so it has a lot of natural light. Three Different Tiles Max Humphrey and I chose the tile (we co-designed many of the bathrooms together), but this tile is more him, I’d say (and I love it). That guy is a master at selecting and mixing tiles. He generally takes more risks than me but still stays within a restrained palette which you all know I love. We worked within Ann Sacks Made line (made in Portland, which we are big fans of) which has a huge variety of colors. What I love so much about it is the variation of the color at the edges in both the penny tile on the floor and the shower tile – it gives it a lot of dimension and texture (the outline isn’t the grout, it’s the tile). I should back up and say that my brother and SIL didn’t want a tub in here – their kids take showers so they didn’t see the point of a tub (and thought it would be hard to get in and out of). But as an avid bather, I pushed back hard saying how bad for resale it would be not to have a tub for kids. So they chose the most shallow tub (one that would be easy for the kids to get in and out of as a compromise. At times I feared that it would look too basic and not special enough, but as we built the rest of the design elements now I hardly notice that it’s just an alcove tub. The shower surround that we customized (with much agony, more on that later) really helps it feel more elevated. Also a huge shout out to Anne Usher, the architect who planned the skylight in here – the light that it brings into the shower is incredible and makes this area of the room come alive. We used a leftover Caesarstone slab for the niche (making it as big as possible to be in scale with the shower wall). The tray and little pot are from a local resin maker, Swift and Stone who I found at a market and immediately reached out to for this bathroom (you can see her work on the vanities as well). Mixing Tiles We mixed three different scales – the larger blue vanity wall, the medium shower tile and the small penny on the floor. The tones of them all looked really cohesive together and it feels highly customized and yet really cohesive. Purist Faucet Line FTW Always and forever I love the Purist line from Kohler. Of course, you have a variety of finishes (we chose vibrant brushed moderne brass) and different handle profiles (we chose the cross for this bathroom). It’s just simple, modern, streamlined, and timeless. We have this line all over the mountain house. It feels more contemporary there and here it leans more transitional – it’s really easy to mix in most styles, IMHO. The toilet is tucked on the other side of the vanities. We hung embroidery art from the OG Portland project by local artist Annie Odorisio and then styled the opposite wall with robe/towel hooks and a cute wicker hamper to warm it all up. You’ll see in here a circle motif everywhere, which I think really helped it feel more playful and fun for kids. Alright – a his and hers vanity that I seriously wish we had for our kids (who share and quibble and it’s a thing). These are two Tresham vanities that have a simple (and even shaker) vibe to them and then we made them more modern with the wood handles (from Etsy). If you are wondering why they are so close, we did too. In the plans, they were 18″ apart but the room just didn’t allow it so somewhere something was off. At first, I was like “uhhhh…” and then we just worked with it and now I barely notice that they are so close and I even think it’s really sweet. They both have their own storage and counters. With the more traditional tilework and vanities, I wanted to finish the room in a way that went more modern and contemporary like the rest of the house. So once I found these sconces from Worley’s I showed them to my SIL and we both were like, “these are them.” I love that they are graphic, with these playful round glass shades (which also provide great soft light), and you can choose from a variety of metals and wood tones (we chose brushed brass to match the faucets and cornsilk oak for the wood). The three of them flanking the pill shaped mirrors. I like how they call back to the penny tile, the shower faucet shape, the rug, and even the bench. The backsplash tile goes from floor to ceiling (although it originally didn’t – it stopped at 7′ which felt weird so we had to order more tile and cross our fingers the color would match perfectly). The pattern and color make this room come alive – it’s a pattern mixed with three different tiles, stacked in a repeat (this is a Max Humphrey move that I am into). The Tresham vanities also come with an integrated countertop and sink, making it a really easy one-and-done situation. I have this vanity in our mountain house guest room and love the joinery of the base. It comes in a couple of different sizes (I wish it came in 60″ or 72″ TBH – I think it’s awesome.) If you are opening up the walls and changing plumbing (or in this case, building a new house basically) definitely think about wall mount faucets. They really do free up space and I think give a more custom look (we didn’t do this in every bathroom – I like to mix it up). The room is pretty wide in a great way and we were able to add something opposite the vanities. The pocket door was custom (and white oak) and I hung a piece of art that I’ve had forever that worked perfectly in here. I continued with the circle/scallop motif with the rug (from Etsy), wicker pot (from The Container Store, can also be a cute trash can) and bench (from AllModern). We bought a lot of these resin (not pottery, which is nice for kids) bathroom accessories from Swift and Stone which she makes in a variety of colors and sells both locally and on Etsy. Top Down Bottom Up Window Treatments Opposite the vanity is this large window with black frames and while I’m so grateful for the natural light, these kids needed some privacy. So we had Decorview make the same shades that we have in our guest room that I love. They are modern Roman shades that as you can see can be used from the top down or bottom up (therefore letting nice light in through the top). It turned out to be far more of a mix of modern/traditional than I had predicted 3+ years ago, in such a good way. It’s really spacious, airy and bright with playful elements, but executed so well by a great team.