A Spa of One’s Own
Studio P Interiors transforms a dated basement into a hotel-worthy sanctuary
When a retired Toronto couple decided it was time to refresh the bathroom in their 35-year-old home, they didn’t come to Priya J. Mitrovic with a laundry list of demands. Instead, they gave her one clear vision: make it feel like a hotel spa.
“That’s pretty much all the direction she gave,” says Mitrovic, principal of Studio P Interiors. “I’ve worked with this client for many years, so we already know each other. She just said she wanted it to feel like a hotel spa—zen but luxurious—and we developed everything from there.”
The lower-level space already functioned as a spa of sorts—connected to the home’s indoor pool—but it was dated and dark, more practical than inspiring. The renovation gutted the entire footprint, creating a serene, hotel-like environment that still works for a busy family life. “We knew there were going to be a lot of kids using the space too,” says Mitrovic. “So it had to look adult and beautiful but also be very functional for everyone who would be there. Beautiful, but also durable.”
The redesigned spa now features two private change rooms, a custom vanity area, a sauna, a spacious walk-in shower, a full bathroom, laundry and storage. All of it is tied together through a soft, layered material palette and a series of carefully defined zones.
To organize the open-concept space without closing it off, Studio P designed a set of custom brass architectural screens that Mitrovic counts as one of her favourite elements. “We wanted to keep the three zones—the main walkway, the vanity area and the storage area—divided but still connected,” she explains. “Instead of putting in a wall, we thought, let’s delineate the space but let light travel through it. Those screens were really cool because they’re the first thing you see when you walk in, and they create the most impact.”
The perforated panels, fabricated in aged brass and fixed into custom millwork for durability, add a sculptural, almost unexpected note. “It’s the perfect result of beauty meeting function,” says Mitrovic. “You’d expect to see them more in a commercial setting—it’s a little unexpected in a home, and I love that.”
Material selection was equally deliberate. Mitrovic set out to create a soft, warm and inviting atmosphere that would feel light and bright despite the absence of windows. “The overall palette was always going to be super soft and subdued, and then we layered in the striking marbles and the fixtures,” she says. “The porcelain tile was a really good find—it looks exactly like travertine, but it’s durable and non-slip, so it became the base of everything.” The large-format porcelain, chosen to echo the bleached white oak in the adjacent rec room, flows seamlessly into the spa. Calacatta Viola marble, sourced from Stone Tile, adds drama at the vanity and in the shower, its deep veining giving the otherwise muted space an organic richness.
And then there are the hits of colour—subtle but intentional. “We brought blues and turquoises into certain areas, and then purples into other areas,” she explains. “When you walk in, it’s very calm and zen, and then those little accents elevate the space.”
Lighting played an especially important role in keeping the spa bright and inviting. Studio P redesigned the entire lighting plan to include layered, customizable illumination. “We used sconces, pendant lights, and integrated LED strip lighting in the millwork,” Mitrovic says. “When you walk in, you can just have the two pendants over the vanity and the main sconces on, and it feels like a real hotel spa — a real mood. Or you can turn everything on and it’s bright and easy to see everything.”
The decorative fixtures—including the pendants and sconces—came from Luminaire Authentik and were customized in tones that worked with the overall palette. “We have a little swatch kit from them and just picked out tones that we thought worked well,” she says.
The spa sits off a rec room with its own understated vibe—white oak floors, a bar, and plenty of space for entertaining—and the renovation ties these spaces together while creating a more distinct, memorable moment in the home. “It really was an opportunity to create something unique,” Mitrovic says. “We always like to introduce something unexpected into a space—something that you wouldn’t typically expect in a home but feels just right.”
For this couple—and their extended family of kids and grandkids—the spa is now exactly that: a hotel-worthy retreat that balances quiet luxury with the durability to stand up to wet feet and big family gatherings. “It’s beautiful and functional,” says Mitrovic. “And at the end of the day, it just feels good to be in there.”
