Bathroom
Go for elegance If you’re installing a freestanding bath, a floor-standing curved bath shower mixer in polished chrome will give the space instant grandeur. For maximum impact, invest in the tallest tap you can find, but be sure to double-check that its proportions suit those of the bath – it should be about one-third taller than the bath’s height at most.
Find a flexible friend A tray table can provide useful, versatile storage in a bathroom to keep everyday items close to hand, and is easy to fold up or move when not required. This can work particularly well when guests are staying over, offering them a temporary surface space to place their own toiletries on.
Check the glass thickness All shower enclosures are made from tempered glass, also known as safety glass. ‘Glass comes in different thicknesses, and this has a bearing on price,’ explains Elliot. ‘Cheap enclosures are often made from 4mm glass. You will generally find that when you open and close the door, it does not feel as smooth or substantial due to the lighter weight. More expensive, but usually reasonably affordable, are shower enclosures made of 6mm glass, while premium enclosures often utilise 8mm or even 10mm glass.’ ‘But glass thickness is not the only indicator of quality. Hinges, runners, wheels and design all play a part.’ Contemporary Bathroom by TG-Studio TG-Studio SaveEmail Make it easy to clean Untreated glass can suffer staining from hard-water deposits, which are difficult to remove even with regular cleaning. To keep your shower enclosure sparkling for longer, many manufacturers offer a protective coating as standard – so make sure you check. ‘This is an effective, invisible coating that acts as a lasting protective barrier on the surface of the glass, helping to reduce staining from hard water and chemical deposits that accelerate the ageing process, and ma...
Framed versus frameless Aesthetically, frameless shower enclosures and screens look great. ‘Spans of clear glass create the illusion of more space with clean lines that flow right the way through,’ says Jayne. ‘Combined with chrome polished edges, the overall look is stylish and sleek and one that doesn’t overwhelm the space.’
Consider a walk-in shower The popularity of the walk-in and walk-through shower has grown significantly, driven by our desire to achieve a wet-room look without the expense of tanking the floor and walls. Comprising a simple glass panel teamed with a low-profile or concealed underfloor shower tray, one end is left open allowing you to ‘walk-in’, or both ends are left open to ‘walk-through’. Walk-in and walk-through showers are low maintenance, according to Elliot. ‘There are no hard-to-reach seals or runners, as they generally consist of simply a piece of glass sitting upon either a shower tray or a tiled and waterproofed floor,’ he explains. They have a number of practical benefits, too. A simple panel teamed with a flush-to-floor shower tray is safe for all ages, as there is no awkward step up into the shower. ‘Future-proofing and households with three generations living under one roof are hot topics, and easy-access walk-in showers are one solution for this situation,’ says Marten. To create space for your walk-in, consider trading in your bath; a standard bath is 1,700mm x 700mm, which will give you enough space.
Alternative corner options Similar to a quadrant shower enclosure, an offset quadrant also slots neatly into a corner. How it differs is that one side is longer than the other. ‘These have become popular as they allow for varying wall dimensions on either side,’ explains Marten Baker. Alternatively, opt for a space-saving pentagon shower enclosure. Another corner solution, it resembles a square with one corner cut off (as seen here).
Quadrant shower enclosures On average, British bathrooms have always been smaller than their European counterparts and now, with increasing demand for housing, bathrooms are being squeezed into even smaller spaces. Quadrant enclosures are a great space-saving alternative to rectangular or square corner enclosures, taking the shape of a quarter circle, with two sides of the same length and a rounded outer edge. ‘Losing one of the corners of your shower has little impact on how big the enclosure feels when you’re stood inside, but saves valuable floor space,’ explains Elliot Lees Bell. ‘Quadrant enclosures often have one or two sliding doors, making them an excellent option for compact bathrooms where an outward opening door would cause an issue.’
Drummonds Bathrooms SaveEmail Be brave and bold Found a decorative tile you’ve totally fallen for? Max it out! Using patterned tiles everywhere has the potential to dizzy one’s senses, so if you’re after something striking as well as some visual breathing space, follow this model. The white-tiled segments of the room, as well as some white-painted walls (take a look in the mirror), ensure you don’t walk in and feel like the room is swallowing you up (though, in the right hands, that’s a look some can pull off). At the same time, there’s no getting away from those in-yer-face blue-green beauties.
Go for it with colour Use your tiles to create a simple but striking feature wall by choosing a plain design in a rich colour. Allow the wall to be the focal point of your bathroom, especially in a smaller space like this. Consider your accessories; towels, soap dispensers, bathmats and the like should all be chosen to complement your tiled wall and each other. In this bathroom, the watery blue towels make for a cooling counterpoint to the orange metros.
for a luxe rather than hip effect, make that splashback using marble or marble-look porcelain tiles and brass taps. Consider swerving from the classic white bathroom walls if you go for a marble or marble-like feature – the effect of the grey/mushroom paint here against the warm metal and marble splashback is wonderfully soft. The white basin keeps things feeling crisp and clean
Make a feature of your floor This eclectically decorated bathroom features the bare minimum when it comes to wall tiles (solely protecting walls from water around the shower area). The tiles are simple white metros, laid with white grout and topped and edged with white-painted walls and sanitaryware, so they almost vanish. Instead, the owners have chosen to use tiling to make a feature of the floor (and it stands out all the more thanks to the uniformly pale backdrop). If you fancy making a statement like this, but neutrals and whites are your go-to hues, simply choose a strong pattern but one with a limited or monochrome palette.
Roman blinds. Roman blinds are a classic choice that always works. But they are especially smart in the bath and bedroom, where you need the most privacy, and in the kitchen, where curtains would get in the way of cooking. Roman blinds also work well layered with floor-length drapes for an elegant look.
Bathroom From shallow, mirrored cupboards above the basin and toilet to deeper drawers under the basin, there’s a variety of simple ways to add useful storage to even the smallest of bathrooms. Given the array of potions and lotions we tend to accumulate, there is probably no shelf too shallow to be useful. Deep shelves can, in fact, be a hindrance, making it difficult to locate and access items in the depths. The diameter of a toilet roll (12cm) is a useful all-round depth for shelving. One item often overlooked in planning household storage is the laundry basket, which would be well placed in the family bathroom. Two baskets would be a bonus, one for darks and the other for lights and whites. While baskets vary in size, a space measuring 45cm x 45cm and 60cm high will house most options.
Linen The secret to great linen storage is shelving that is smaller in all dimensions than you might expect. A clearance of just 25cm vertically between each shelf works perfectly. This allows you to fit a large amount of sheets or towels on each shelf but without the toppling-over effect that results from shelves placed farther apart. Shelves 45cm deep work well, allowing you to stack your linen in one tidy pile. Deeper shelves can mean rummaging for stray items in the nether reaches.
Work with what you have It’s more than likely that you’re going to discover pipework or utility meters under your stairs – and it probably won’t be possible, or practical, to move them. It will be a challenge to find space for everything, but you can play it to your advantage. Here, they’ve nestled the basin on top of boxed-in pipework. Make sure that meters are boxed in with a waterproof covering, but they do need to be accessible so include an access panel or door.
Enter in another way In a more modern home the staircase may well be positioned differently, allowing access to the cloakroom below via an alternative route. Here, the loo is still nestled under the stairs, but the doorway to the room is at the tallest point. The space for the basin moves to a side wall in this layout. It is necessary to ensure that the basin is slim in depth, so as not to protrude too far into the room. There are some very sleek basin designs on the market for just this purpose – often as wide as most hand basins, but half the depth. Consider also whether you will leave the pipework visible, as they’ve done here, or if you’d prefer to hide it within a useful storage cabinet.
Opt for spa style If you want to create a feeling of indulgent, designer luxury in your bathroom, choosing a bath shower mixer with a waterfall spout will do the job. Check the function of the tap before your plumber leaves – if the water pressure is very high and the tap lever isn’t adjusted properly, the water can shoot forwards rather than lapping lazily downwards.
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