Back to Basics

Polished nickel faucetry in the tub.

Metal touches include antique-brass mirror frames, a steel sink console

The dressing room is inviting in its own right, with Paul McCobb stools from Broadway Antique Market standing on a casual throw rug. A 1950s French light fixture from Pavilion carries over the aesthetic of the sconces in the bathroom (also vintage French, from Pavilion). The old suitcases speak to Berkus's love of travel.

An 18th-century French armoire warms up the industrial-ness—and this was not by accident. Berkus knew he would have an armoire in his bathroom; he even built a special niche for it. It just took finding the right one, and Richard Buxbaum of Antiques on Old Plank Road delivered. The pig from London has a little friend on the vanity, a 1950s Italian ceramic piglet

In bathrooms, Berkus likes to use timeless materials, such as subway tiles on the walls and hexagonal marble tiles on the floor, because "they last forever and you never get sick of them."

To achieve an industrial look, he used a lot of metals. The antique-brass mirrors were custom-made by a Miami dealer. The frames' prominent screws reminded Berkus of a Cartier watchband; he carried the same look over into the vanity that he designed with his assistant Sasha Adler, and had it welded locally. The brass sconces, which Berkus purchased at Pavilion in Bucktown, were once gold-leafed, but he stripped them down, preferring the look of the raw metal.