Tiny bathrooms with major impact
These three pocket-size projects prove that clever planning and ingenuity can make every inch of space count
1 PATTERN RECOGNITION Four bathrooms in a period home manage to straddle old and new with a clever command of the colour blue
THE DESIGN Designer Greg Natale was charged with creating a welcoming family home filled with bold colour and personality when he undertook the renovation of this Federation-style house in Sydney’s inner west. Retaining the front rooms, Greg opened up the back of the house to embrace modern open-plan living, while also restoring period detailing throughout. “The floor plan is new and contemporary, but the detailing was reinstated,” he says. “All those original cornices and ceilings were painstakingly put back into the front rooms and added to the new ones.”
Greg also revamped all four bathrooms, including a powder room and the main ensuite bathroom (pictured opposite), which met the clients’ brief of “colour, colour and more colour”. The heroes of the space are undoubtedly the spectacular geometric tiles – part of Greg’s range for Teranova – using a custom palette. While modern in design, the tiles echo the tessellated tiles of the Federation era, referencing both design styles.
THE COLOUR PALETTE The base shade of the four bathrooms was blue, explains Greg. “The family’s favourite colour is blue and the brief was, ‘Let’s have every shade of blue,’” he says. “The rest of the house is different hues of blue – the dining chairs, rugs, tiles, everything. They just love blue.”
Each bathroom uses a blue shade from the spectrum, custom coloured to a slightly different hue. The challenge with this technique was maintaining a cohesive palette. “It’s very tricky,” says Greg, “because you’ve got to get the hues of all the blues right. Blues don’t always work together, so you can imagine the time we spent getting all those blues right.”
WHY IT WORKS A subtle yet important element of the design of all bathrooms was the choice of soft brushed-brass tapware from Astra Walker. Greg says that the brass helps the strongly patterned tiles pop, whereas chrome might not have had the same effect. “Chrome tapware would have got lost in those bathrooms,” he explains. “I think chrome looks really good in black bathrooms, where it pops against the black, but here the tone of the blue would have dominated the chrome so we went with brass.” Greg’s team managed the whole process, from the architecture to the interior design and even the styling. The resulting interiors are full of personality, says Greg – like the family who live there. “They just love the colour, and they love the patterns. It’s just a really happy family home.” For more information, visit gregnatale.com
2 GEOMETRIC DREAM A cramped and dated bathroom owned by a young family receives a bold and ‘bubbly’ makeover
THE DESIGN It may be compact, but there’s a surprising sense of style and space in this reimagined bathroom in Melbourne’s south-east. “It had been renovated in the 1980s, but now had to suit the needs of its current family – a couple with two small children,” says interior designer Petrina Turner of Petrina Turner Design. “The concept I created was inspired by the joys of bathing, from simple swimming pools to a tub full of glistening bubbles.”
Prior to the makeover, the bathroom was dominated by an oversized corner spa bath. “That only left space for a tiny, enclosed shower and a vanity pushed into a corner,” says Petrina. To allow for a considerably airier design, the bathroom was gutted, as was a similarly dated powder room. “It was important to be mindful of budget, so we worked the new fittings into the same vicinity as the original to save on plumbing costs,” she says.
THE COLOUR PALETTE Much to Petrina’s delight, the owners embraced her love of a bolder colour scheme and a dramatic mix of textures and materials. “The palette grew from the initial concept, with blues – both duck egg and lilac – coming through from the bathing-and-bubbles inspiration,” she says.
Petrina gave the crisp white subway wall tiles from Byzantine Design a contemporary twist by using a violet-hued grout, while her choice of a lilac laminate cabinet contrasts against the warmth of a terrazzo vanity top. Other inspired additions are a bespoke matt-blue Calibre shower rose by Sussex Taps and customcoloured Polar 300 wall light by Ross Gardam.
Elsewhere, the powder room is almost fully encased in a custom duck egg blue Mito wallpaper. “Forget feature walls,” Petrina says. “Go all the way and cover all the walls – even the ceiling. To create balance and harmony, the colour here mirrors the wall hooks and feature wall light in the main bathroom.”
WHY IT WORKS Petrina’s masterful marriage of colour, form and space have produced a great result. “At its core, the new bathroom is quite conservative, with the bulk of the surfaces being the white subway tiles and grey terrazzo,” she says. “But the colour palette and details give it personality. My intention was to create the perfect balance of function, practicality and joy.” Best of all, the homeowners could not be more thrilled with the outcome. “Our bathroom makes us smile every time we walk in,” they reveal. “It’s perfect for the house – and for us.” For more information, visit petrinaturnerdesign.com.au
3 EXCITEMENT STRIPS Inspired by the owner’s art collection, this papered powder room has the wow factor a small space can enjoy
THE DESIGN Small spaces, such as powder rooms, are often a challenge to design – too little decoration and they end up being box-like; too much and they get crowded and busy. With this powder room, Wendy Davey of Cranberry Design took inspiration for the interior from the owner’s love of bright colours and art. Working with design company Saltbox Design, she created a rich showpiece for guests. “The client loves colour; she’s got lots of fantastic art, and we took our cue from that,” Wendy explains. “We worked her love of bright, happy things into each of the home’s spaces. And with the powder room, we wanted it to have a sense of ‘wow’ because it’s little and no one spends too much time in there.” Wainscoting was added to the room to create subtle interest without overwhelming what is essentially a functional space. “For a room like that, you need some details, otherwise it’s just a room,” says Wendy.
THE COLOUR PALETTE Inspiration for the room’s palette came from an artwork by Alesandro Ljubicic in the hallway outside, which in turn inspired the spectacular Chinoiserie-style wallpaper from Schumacher. Wallpaper is a recurring feature throughout the house, and Wendy wanted to continue the theme in the powder room. The door is painted Porter’s Paints Priscilla pink, making it pop in the hallway. “Priscilla is such a great colour to use because of its vibrancy,” she says. “I’ve used it quite a bit, including on my daughter’s bedroom when she was younger. Everyone loved it – it’s just a good colour.”
WHY IT WORKS Despite being such a small space, the design of the powder room was carefully considered in line with the rooms nearby. “It’s quite close to the kitchen, which is open and has a tiny sitting area just off it,” says Wendy. “From that sitting area, you look across to the powder room, so it’s all quite linked. We did the kitchen in the same marble we used on the bench in the bathroom and a little shelf behind the toilet, to continue that story.” The powder room’s brushed-brass tapware is complemented by the similarly finished oval mirror and wall light. For more projects, visit cranberrydesign.com.au and saltboxdesign.com.au