10 BATHROOM TRENDS
Forget about splash and go. Your bathroom is no longer a purely practical space — it’s there to be enjoyed, and these days, it can be one of the first rooms prospective buyers check out. Make sure yours is up to scratch with Ciara Elliott’s guide to the t
1 TEXTURE AND TOUCH
As the trend in bathrooms moves from clean white box spaces into more purposeful environments, touch-me textures and natural materials are coming more and more to the fore, for floors and walls as well as furniture. The Dome mosaics from Palio Limestone at Fired Earth, pictured above, will create a gorgeous tactile wall treatment perfect for a neutral scheme — from €250 per sqm; firedearth.com
2 GREEN FINGERS
Bringing all things nature centrestage again, Pantone’s Colour of the Year, Greenery, is the big interiors news story for 2017. When transferred to bathrooms, it’s a trend that can be reworked into some floral or jungle flavoured wallpaper — or for a quick fix, you could make a bee-line for your local garden centre to stock up on all things fern-like and leafy. Accessories, pictured left, from soapandglory.com
3 STYLE IT DARK
The mood is turning, and it’s time to get brave with colour again, with darker sanitary-ware a big trend. This double-ended cast-iron bath, pictured left, is just the right modern update, Madeira, price on application, available at halotiles.ie
4 ROUGH WITH THE SMOOTH
Embrace free-flowing Scandi vibes with soft architectural shapes and materials such as textured woodgrains, bamboo and wood. You can then bring in extra textural elements with natural rugs and towels in neutral, soothing colours to create a warm and inviting space. Pictured below left, Amalfi hammam towels from €9.50, Savoy towels in white and navy from €17, wooden toothbrush holder €17 and soap dish €12, thewhitecompany.com
5 GOING GLOBAL
As we look to more ethnic styles, bathrooms are also becoming more and more hippie-luxe, with a laidback 1970s West Coast American feel — think sink-in bathtubs, crystals and lots of tropical plantage. This is a huge trend on Instagram, and you will get heaps more inspiration on accounts such as @thejungalow if you click and follow. In the meantime, check out the look, pictured above, at zarahome.com
6 LEARNING CURVES
Whether you want to make a statement with a curved and sculptured tub, basin or shower unit, or just go for more rounded shapes in cabinetry or accessories such as mirrors, the look for future bathrooms now is all about curved design elements. Mixing squares with curves looks great, too — so if you already have slick and angular shapes in your space, try adding some new rounded black tapware or even a round mirror to update the look. Fresh from the new design presentations in Milan, the look, pictured below, is by Cielo Ceramica. Order at ceramicacielo.com; cphart.co.uk
7 IN THE PINK
Clean colours such as nudes, pastels and matte pinks will bring a chic, fresh and contemporary feel to your scheme and is a look achievable with a simple lick of paint, although for a luxe high-end scheme, brassware is key. We love these double shower mixers and shower heads, with hand showers in chrome, pictured right, by Zucchetti.Kos, from €150, bathhouse.ie
8 THINK HERITAGE
Victorian and Edwardian-era brass fixtures and fittings, stand-alone tubs and chequered floor tiles are right back on our radar now, and we’ve also seen Art Deco return to the mix. This heritage-style bathroom, pictured above, from Tilestyle, ticks many of the boxes, with traditional fittings and a freestanding bathtub, but updated in slate grey. Bath €2,659 (includes panelling, but excludes taps), vanity unit €4,062 (excludes taps), shower €1,186, mirror lights €258 each, Tuscany honed natural stone tiles reduced from €141 to €97 per sqm; all at tilestyle.ie
9 INDUSTRIAL IDEAS
A proper architectural favourite and a contrast to the more ornate designs coming through now, bare concrete is an especially effective material in the bathroom. Pair a full industrial fit-out with white ceramic sanitary-ware for a cool and contemporary look, using smooth ceramics from Duravit, pictured right (from beggsandpartners.com). Or employ hard-working slate for your shower tray. Not only does it come in shades such as anthracite, white or taupe, but it has anti-slip properties. Opt for a double shower to give the impression of a wetroom. From €499, from stockists of Kristal Shower Doors or the SONAS Bathroom Collection, sonasbathrooms.com
10 FREE-STANDING GLORY
Go for traditional country style at home, with a farmhouse feel in the bathroom. Shaker-style cabinets are never going to go out of fashion, and these ones from the Chichester collection at Neptune will stay high in the style stakes. Large open-top washstand, available in 28 colours, from €1,240, neptune.com/ie