Be inspired by blissful bathrooms and ideas to steal.
Inspiration and ideas to create your dream bathroom and laundry
Ideas to try
Luxury finishes such as marble and gold and a focus on eye-catching features will create a bathroom sanctuary. Clockwise from top left, Fima Spillo Tech X Collection basin mixer in Gold from Paterson, paterson.co.nz. Dutchmaster Blush Floral round basin $2299 by Kohler, kohler.co.nz. Sebon soap dispenser $22.95 and Marci mirror $32.95, both from Freedom, freedom.co.nz. Teak shell inlay dish $40 from Annabelle’s, annabelles.nz. Oxford soap basket $89 from Early Settler, earlysettler.co.nz.
Opposites attract
The bathrooms in this Auckland home are a contrast of dark and light. The rooms dictated their looks says interior designer Nicola Manning of NM Design – the master ensuite was already a light and bright room and the downstairs powder room/laundry was quite dark, so she worked with that instead of against it. “I really wanted to build on that and make it even darker but then use lighting, textures and colours to layer it with luxurious finishes. It sets a really nice scene.”
Yet Nicola has created a sense of cohesion between the distinctive rooms. “The tapware and the bowls were consistent between the rooms and I just changed the colours. That gave each bathroom an individual look but did link them.”
The client brief was only that the bathrooms be luxurious and glamorous. “That’s why I added the gold. It was all about texture and different finishes, gloss versus matt.”
The mirrors in the ensuite were designed by Nicola and conceal cabinet storage with power outlets. A touchpoint on the mirrors changes the LED light from white to warm and also includes a de-mister pad.
Nicola used both chrome and gold in the ensuite. “The ceiling rain shower has lights so as soon as the water starts coming out the LEDs turn on, which is really nice. Those were chrome and they didn’t come in any other finishes so that’s why I used a combination on the tapware of the gold and the chrome and then brought in the gold pendant light.”
Tile style
For Carmen Hubber and her team at Hub Design, redesigning the bathroom spaces came as part of a much larger project to renovate the clients’ entire Queenstown home. As well as major structural changes, the challenges from these relatively small rooms included their unusual shapes and that one had to provide access to an indoor pool.
“In terms of the brief the client, who lives overseas, placed a lot of trust in our style and design,” says Carmen. “The challenge here was to create a spacious feel.”
She managed to borrow a metre from the bedroom and added frosted glass dividing walls to allow more light into the master ensuite, thus softening the space. The bathtub was removed and the vanity relocated, allowing it to be a feature.
Carmen chose to use the same tile in different colours for each bathroom, but kept the master ensuite a little more glam with the use of a geometric mosaic and premium fittings such as a rainhead shower and Philippe Starck heated toilet suites. She says she particularly loves the mosaic tiles in the ensuite, which had to be ordered from Italy.
Ideas to try
Clever storage is key in bathrooms, and careful use of colour can enhance the sense of space. Clockwise from top, Expando T from Blum allows fixing of cabinet-front material as thin as 8mm, and even products such as Corian, blum.com. Sen tapware by Agape from Matisse, matisse.co.nz. Snazzi Dusty Pink Leaf Print ring dish $15 from The Hive, thehivenz.co.nz. Salt by Hendrix Neroli & Argan Body Oil $48 from Crave Home, cravehome.co.nz. Sen storage accessory by Agape from Matisse. River bathroom accessories in Blush all sold separately from $12.74 from Adairs, adairs.co.nz. Harvey Holdall in Grey $39.90 from Crave Home.
Black, white and sparkly
Luxury apartment living was the end goal for the team at Schwarz Design for these two complementary bathrooms for a new home in Remuera, Auckland. Rose Schwarz says they set out to create a simple, elegant, international look for the master and guest ensuites, with space for everything to be tucked away. The brief reveals how much trust the owners placed in the design studio, simply specifying spacious living, ease of cleaning, luxury finishes and clever storage. “We were particularly lucky that the clients embraced materials and design not commonly seen in New Zealand and as such were rewarded with unique spaces.”
Those materials include glass wall mosaic tiles – one room featuring black and white, the other metallic grey. Occasional white gold tiles in the master ensuite mosaic adds glamour and a subtle sparkle. Striking floors and vanities custom-made with marble sourced from China and Spain were tailored to enhance each room.
Ideas to try
Choose the right materials for a dark and moody look. Clockwise from left, Eclipse Square Double head shower in Mirrored Black finish by Voda, vodaplumbingware.co.nz. Studio Pin shower mixer in Matt Black by Englefield, englefield.co.nz. Meir robe hook $89 from The Kitchen Hub, thekitchenhub.co.nz. Opus Wall Coverings by Tecnografica, exclusive to Tile Space, tiles.co.nz.
Making shapes
An architect-designed mid-century Auckland home formed a framework for Toni Roberts of Kitchen Architecture when it came to renovating a bathroom within its existing compact footprint. The brief from her client for the light-filled bathroom was to come up with a fresh but calm monolithic design “imbued with soul” that would function on a practical level while celebrating a modern aesthetic befitting the home’s design language.
Toni, who also designed the home’s new kitchen, says her repeat clients had a couple of specific requests when it came to the materials too – the non-porous, silicon-free and easy-to-clean Corian Dupont surfaces in Glacier White with their practically invisible joins feature on the floating vanity top then flow on to the bath surround and shower base, and the Venis Diamond 3D wall tiles are a nod to a geometric/triangulated glass kitchen splashback. The warm rimu veneer references timber panelling found throughout the rest of the house and star tap handles were sourced from Hansgrohe to echo the star-like pattern of the tiled walls. “The beautifully rounded radius of the tap spouts, by contrast, follows our curving motifs elsewhere,” Toni says.
While it was a long time coming thanks to issues with site drainage, Toni says her client is thoroughly delighted with the new bathroom space, and the designer herself cites the feeling of spaciousness, the balance of light and the calm yet striking arrangement of textures as her favourite aspects of the final result. And the partnership isn’t over yet, with the committed client, who is “always open to new ideas and willing to explore beyond the ordinary”, keen to work together on a possible third home in the future.
Ideas to try
Bright and fresh bathrooms are always in style. From top, the NX Orli shower arm and head from Phoenix includes HydroSense technology for the perfect spray, phoenixtapware.co.nz. Huxter Bath Soak in Bergamot & Amber $14.50 from Allium, alliuminteriors.co.nz. Turkish towel in Riviera Stripe $45 from Father Rabbit, fatherrabbit.com. Get perfect settings every time with American Standard EasySET Exposed thermostatic shower column/mixer from Robertson, robertson.co.nz. Make a statement, like this green-tiled Auckland bathroom – for a similar look try Bisazza Mosaic tiles from Tile Space, tiles.co.nz.
Colour me happy
The pop of colour in the tiled splashback of this laundry in South Auckland adds a fun element to the room’s otherwise crisp palette of white and stainless steel – a feature that designer Kyla Potter of Carlielle Kitchens says is bang on trend.
“There are so many amazing shapes, colours and textures, which is why tiles are a great choice as a splashback.”
The gardening-mad owners of the new build on a rural block wanted the laundry to double as a mud room where they could clean up before venturing into the house, so they specifically requested durable, hard-wearing products. Kyla opted for easy-toclean stainless steel in a linen finish for the benchtops with a Burns & Ferrall sink welded in for a seamless aesthetic, while Acrocore, a durable and waterproof 3mm-thick gloss acrylic product from Carlielle Kitchens, was used for the doors and panels. Negative detail handles ensured clean lines throughout the cabinetry.
To ensure the space didn’t feel too closed in, Kyla designed overhead cupboards on one wall with a hanging rail and shelf on the other. “This kept the laundry side more open and didn’t restrict the head space when leaning over the sink area,” she says.
Step by step
Some tricky steps and a carefully positioned window were the main challenges when it came to planning the laundry of this new Pukekohe build, dictating everything from the position of the sink and appliances to the need for custom-built cabinetry. Fortunately, says designer Kyla Potter of Carlielle Kitchens, the careful planning paid off.
“Obviously designing and manufacturing cabinetry to fit around stairs was going to be interesting – luckily for us, everything fitted perfectly,” she says.
The owners’ desire for a lowered window, which avoided a full view of the clothesline in the distance, provided the opportunity for overhead cupboards and a hanging clothes rail with appliances, sink and a practical work surface nestled underneath; on the other side of the room tall cabinets house linen and items such as pull-out washing hampers and a Dyson vacuum cleaner with its charging station cleverly built in.
The choice of Plytech Birch Elite plywood for the cabinetry was in keeping with the rest of the new rural build, which Kyla also designed the kitchen and bathroom vanities for, and she says her favourite aspect of the laundry is the way it integrates with the rest of the interior.
“The laundry no longer looks like a utility room at the back of the house. The cabinetry has clean lines, a seamless finish and blends perfectly with the ply linings throughout the rest of the home.”