The One Room HGTV Star Leanne Ford Will Never Forget

All-white bathroom.

Photo by Max Kim Bee; Courtesy of Leanne Ford

Interior designers and other experts in the home industry work on an impressive number of spaces throughout their careers. But even if some of the makeovers and redesigns start to blend together after a few years, there are some rooms that are just truly unforgettable. 

So, to give designers a chance to revisit their favorite projects—and to bring you plenty of inspiration for your own home—we’re sharing the one room these pros will remember forever. For some, there’s a sentimental connection, for others, there was an obstacle they never thought they’d overcome. But no matter what, these rooms are worth remembering.

Interior designer and the star of HGTV series Restored By The Fords Leanne Ford has designed homes across the country alongside her brother, Steve, spanning far beyond her Pittsburgh area roots. But one project she remembers clearly is the very first of her career, when she took on the renovation of her own bathroom.

“This is the room that started it all,” says Ford. “I was fifteen years into my fashion career when I designed this bathroom for my own home. I tried to hire help, but no one understood or “got” the vision for what I wanted in this bathroom. So, I did it myself, and so began a full-on dive head first into a career as an interior designer.”

The bathroom renovation was a monumental moment for Ford, and the decision to design and restore it herself fills her with nothing but gratitude. 

I’m so glad everyone said 'no' to helping me.

Keep scrolling to see how Ford created the modern farmhouse bathroom that ultimately ignited her design career.

All-white bathroom.

Photo by Max Kim Bee; Courtesy of Leanne Ford

The HGTV star of Restored With The Fords currently flips Pittsburgh homes and unlocks their true potential with a little bit of elbow grease, alongside Steve, who is the carpenter of the duo. Her career launched with restorations of vintage homes, including this bathroom in her own. 

Timeless yet cool, this bathroom embraces Ford’s signature design style of “white on white,” with wall-to-wall crisp white subway tiling, white hexagonal tile, and a grand clawfoot bathtub, which Ford notes was one of the most challenging design elements of the space. 

“There was no space to get the tub in, hence the tub in the shower design element,” notes Ford. What was a structural obstacle in the bathroom became a notable design element instead. 

This bathroom influenced Ford’s design projects to come, and it was one of the first applications of her personal design style. “It's filled with classic materials that I keep using,” she says.

Ford’s favorite elements of the room? “All of it! The Victoria tub, the tile, the sink, and the window.” If she could go back and change anything about the bathroom, she wouldn’t, and notes that the room is very representative of her modern yet lived-in style.