Luxurious Roll Top and Freestanding Baths

Luxurious roll top and freestanding baths are a must have. If you are lucky enough to have the space in your bathroom you must invest. My neighbour recently asked me to help her look for a freestanding bath as she is getting ready to renovate her family bathroom. I got a little carried away on Houzz, so I thought I would  share some of my favourites with you guys - enjoy!! 

Creating a wet-room

Bathroom Wet-rooms have risen in popularity in the last couple of years with more and more people opting to convert their conventional family bathrooms into one which a tiled area thus creating a wet-room. In theory any home can create a wet-room but there are certain factors to consider before making the change. 

Size

If you are converting your large family bathroom them a wet-room is ideal, the tiled area will more than contain the water flow from your shower, if how ever you are converting a smaller bathroom you may need to use a shower screen to prevent water from escaping, the last thing you want it a wet hall way or landing.

Drainage

If you like me are lucky enough to have a clever husband who can tile your bathroom then count yourself lucky as a professional can be costly. You will need to create a gradient so that the water flows effectively towards the drainage area, if you do not create an effect gradient you may have problems with excess water laying on the tiles. The most popular method is to install a sub-floor made from Plywood which can then easily be tiled over.

Waterproofing

Although your tiles will be waterproof it is important to prime the floor before tiling commences to make sure any gaps and cracks do not allow water to seep through the tiled area.

Once you have dealt with the boring bits you can focus on the pretty new bathroom you have created, choose a large shower head and bathroom accessories to really give your bathroom the WOW factor, I have picked a few of my favourite wet-rooms, let me know what you think and I hope you found this blog post useful!

My Favourite Small Bathrooms Design Ideas

When tackling your small cloakroom bathroom it is important to make the most of your space as you do not want to create a room that feels cluttered and cramped, at the same time you do not want a room that lacks personality and style, here are a few of my top tips for creating a fantastic small bathrooms.

Feature wall

Create a feature wall by using a bright and eye catching wallpaper, you maybe mistaken when thinking that wallpaper will make your small space seem even smaller, by teaming it up with neutral tones your walls will look stunning.

Wall hung toilet

By installing a wall hung cloakroom suite your bathroom will feel more spacious as well as looking ultra modern.

Flooring

Use white or light tiles on your floor, stay away from dark colours or heavy patterns. If you have a wooden floor then fantastic, make the most of it, remember a lighter wooden floor will compliment your floor more than a dark wooden floor.

Vanity and sink combo

Team up your basin and storage unit by installing a vanity unit and sink combo. This will provide you with adequate storage space to hide away those bathroom products which tend to clutter up your basin area.

Neutral theme

Use neutral colours to compliment your wallpaper, this will create a sense of light and space.Vintage style 

Mirrors

Finish off your feature wall with a vintage mirror, pick one up from your local thrifty store or create your own from an old mirror. There are plenty of tutorials out there on how to create a bespoke mirror of your own, be creative!!

Let me know what your favorite small bathroom design idea is :)

Beautiful Bathroom Styles

What better way to start the May bank holiday than with some beautiful Spring and Summer bathroom styles. Both bright colours and bold patterns are in style once more for Spring and Summer 2013. Adding a little of either to your bathroom can put a smile on your face in the morning as well as bringing your home bang up to date. Bathroom suites are a basic necessity in any home, but by making yours stand out from the crowd you’re sure to impress your guests.

As with any bold design statement, a little goes a long way. If you’re experimenting with bright colours, think splashes of colour - don’t drown your bathroom in bright pink! And if you’ve splashed the colour in one area, try adding texture rather than colour elsewhere: a neutral rug on the floor, some textured wallpaper, a glass vase with pebbles and a cream candle...

Many people don’t like to use wallpaper in a bathroom, but there are loads of wallpapers out there produced specifically for the bathroom that happily withstand steam and direct splashes from the shower or basin. Even regular wallpaper should handle a bathroom location well if you keep it away from the really wet areas and keep the room well ventilated so that moisture doesn’t build up. And wallpaper is a great way to add pattern without committing to keeping it long term. So go wild with that flamingo pattern!

Monochrome designs work well in the bathroom and can be simultaneously eye-catching yet restrained. Simple patterns look great on modern sanitaryware: swirls, silhouettes, cityscapes... you name it, someone’s designed it. And of course, a traditional bathroom suite in plain white can be paired with black and white tiles and period style accessories for a classical look that never dates. Using monochrome designs like this means you’re free to add splashes of colour as well if you wish, or keep it black and white.

Use a mirror or mirrors to amplify your style statement. Positioned correctly, a mirror can make your bathroom appear both larger and lighter, and can reflect the part of your room design that you’re most proud of, so that guests see it twice!

Finally, always pick a style that’s true to your personal taste: slavishly following fashion anywhere in the home simply means you’re sure to be redecorating again more quickly than you would if you picked a style you love at the outset. Let me know which style you like and if you have any bathroom projects coming up in the next few months.

Creating a Stylish and Practical Family Bathroom

In a household with young children, it can feel like any semblance of style has to be sacrificed to make way for toys, clothes and child-safety measures. Well, in the bathroom that doesn’t have to be the case. Here are a few ideas to help you create a chic and stylish family bathroom that is safe, practical and still looks fantastic.

We all tend to accumulate far more toiletries, cosmetics and cleaning supplies than we really need, and in family bathrooms, products tend to get stockpiled to avoid running out. Without sufficient storage space, all of those mismatched and multi-coloured products and packages are enough to make even the largest bathroom seem cramped and cluttered, so it’s important to be able to neatly store your bathroom supplies out of sight, but within easy reach.

Fortunately, bathroom furniture is enjoying a real resurgence in popularity, so there are now cabinets and cupboards available in just about every conceivable size, shape and finish. A fitted vanity unit will allow you to keep your basin area clean and organised, and for families with young children, wall-mounted cabinets can be a great way to safely store any medicines and supplements safely out of reach. The arrangement of doors and drawers is entirely down to you, but in a busy family bathroom, giving each member of the household their own drawer or designated storage area can make daily bathroom use run much more smoothly.

Soft-close doors and drawers are also becoming increasingly popular, as they eliminate the risk of trapped fingers, as well as any annoying (if accidental) slams! Many modern units will also come pre-treated with a moisture coating to ensure that they can survive daily bathroom life for a long time to come, because we all no how frequently splashes and drips can happen in a family bathroom!

Although heated towel rails look great and provide you with warm fluffy towels whenever you need them, underfloor heating can be a safer choice if you have young children, removing the possibility of accidental burns. Underfloor heating has improved in quality as much as it has decreased in price in recent years, so this is a really attainable heating method. Another heating safeguard is a thermostatic controller, which will mean that your bathroom water can never be heated over a set temperature (of your choosing), to give you a little extra peace of mind.

Remember that all of these new and improved safety measures have been designed to look great as well, so take the time to have a click around and find the ways to safeguard your bathroom that appeal most to you, and then simply find the styling and finish that will help you to create your ideal bathroom! Don't forget to add some of your children's art work in stylish frames as we do not want our bathrooms to look like a completely kid free zone, and there you have it, your stylish and practical family bathroom!

Get the Look: Cloakroom Bathroom

After the post I wrote early in the month about small bathroom ideas my friend Julie said she loved one of the ideas. She asked me if I could recommend to her how to recreate the look at an affordable price so I thoughts I would share my recommendations with you all so you could 'get the look' to!

1. Mirrored Cabinet

Pick up this fab cabinet from better bathrooms at just £65.95 you cannot go wrong. If you would prefer an illuminated mirrored cabinet then you could choose that as an alternative.

2. Taps

When I spoke with Julie she mentioned that she prefers chrome taps and to be honest for this style of bathroom I would suggest going for a chrome finish tap as they compliment the tiles and vanity unit much better. This cascade bath filler is £123.95 and it’s square features perfectly compliment the style of the basin. 

3. Basin & Vanity Unit

You have two options with the basin. You can either go for a basin that is built into the vanity unit or one which sits on top of the unit. Personally I prefer the basin that sites on the vanity unit but I have given you a few options below. They come in a variety of sizes and wood colours, if you would prefer a white unit they are also available.

 (Above) Barcelona 600 Black Vanity Unit £339.95

 (Above) Aspen 750 Wall Mounted Walnut Cabinet with Rec Basin £188.95

(Above) Aspen 750 Wall Mounted Walnut Vanity Unit £169.95


4. Toilet

A wall-hung toilet is a great way to save space and they also look pretty neat and tidy to. You can pick these up at a very low cost and they look very high quality. Below is the Venus Wall Hung Toilet £119.95.

5. Storage unit

In addition to the vanity unit Julie is after an additional storage unit to keep those bathroom cleaning products organised and most importantly hidden. Here are a few of my favourite. Below is the Mito 350mm Oak Slatted Unit at £211.95. The darker unit is the Mito Mid Height Walnut Slatted Unit which is at £ 306.95

6. Tiles

Tiles can completely change the feel of any bathroom and it is important to pick the right ones for the size of room you are decorating. Choosing a tile too large for a bathroom can make it feel small and cluttered. Here are a few that I feel would work best in this sized bathroom. Below is the White Travertine Tumbled Mosaic Tile and below that is the Polis Relieve Gris Tile.

I hope you have found this post useful, Julie will be looking to renovate her bathroom in the new few months so I will post some photos and let you know how it goes as I am sure she will be roping me in to do some of the painting!

Spring Bathrooms

So, its finally here, when I woke up this morning I could defiantly feel spring in the air, the fact that we gained an hour defiantly helped this spring feeling although I could see the faint sight of snow falling from the sky when I took the dog out for her morning walk (we will ignore that!). So what better way to start off Spring & April than with a little piece on spring design. One of my favourite spring themes for bathroom design is rustic. Creating a rustic bathroom is a sure fire way of making your bathroom space feel fresh and bright! Rustic bathrooms tend to use lots of wood and stone features, here are just a few of my favorites from rustic design... enjoy!!

You will see that many of the objects have been gathered from car boot sales and thrifty stores, this is a cheap way to create a designer looking bathroom. So give it and go and let me know how it went :) Thanks for reading, Helen Xx