‘PINTEREST WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR MY NEW LOOK BATHROOM’
Dramatic colours, vivid patterned tiles and a trove of vintage treasures turned a dated family bathroom into an indulgent space
Marketing consultant Kate Moerel, and her husband, Ross, live in a four-bedroom home in the New Forest with their children Josie, seven, and Finn, four. Walls were moved and the ceiling altered to make way for a new bathroom
Describe what your bathroom was like before…
The brown and cream flock wallpaper and similar-looking floor tiles were really old, and the loo and basin were separated from the bath by a strange half wall, presumably for privacy.
Where did you get your initial ideas?
I came across an image on Pinterest three years before we found this house and it stayed in my mind. It had a freestanding bath at one end and a vibrant geometric floor. I considered having a dramatic pink bath and bronze taps, but it would have been a huge expense to change if we had second thoughts later on. Repainting walls was considerably cheaper and easier.
What was top of your wishlist?
Having a generous-sized bath was definitely a priority.
And your biggest challenge?
My dream floor tiles were Moroccan encaustic cement, but they’re porous and wouldn’t have lasted in here. I spent months looking for something comparable in a geometric pattern with a handpainted-style finish and found these on Ebay – I absolutely love the colour. I also wanted a reinforced acrylic bath. The one I liked in my price bracket was in the Charles Brooks showroom, which was too far away for me to visit to check the quality. Luckily, I found someone on Instagram who’d bought a bath from there and reassured me it would be a good buy.
Why did you decide to paint the walls blue?
I love how you can turn a functional space into something far more
intriguing with dramatic use of colour. We were renovating the whole house – it took six months for the work to be completed, and we moved in before decorating as we were so desperate to get out of the caravan where we’d been living. We waited to see if there would be enough natural light in here for the walls to carry the navy blue without making the room feel dingy. Fortunately, we’re bathed in ambient light from the roof windows, so we decided to go for the strong blue and I’m so pleased we did – I think it looks amazing.
What makes the room personal to you?
We’ve had the vanity unit for more than 10 years. We found it discarded on a street in Brighton, where we used to live, and it’s been useful in every home we’ve had. When we were in the caravan, we stored our crockery in there. We like that it has a story and we knew it would look great with a basin mounted on top. Ross made the wall shelves out of wood salvaged from the old roof – this was a bungalow before – and the tree stump came from a tree we had to cut down to get the caravan into the garden. Years ago, I used a letterpress tray to store my jewellery and now this is where we display the shells our children collect during our beach adventures.
Do you have any money-saving tips?
We bought our kitchen appliances from ao.com via the website topcashback.co.uk and they gave us a percentage of our purchases back in cash. We used the money to buy the loo from Sanctuary Bathrooms and tiles from Ebay. It’s a great idea.
Is there anything left to do?
We want to add more planters and create a growing wall with ivy. I’m also keen to paint the vanity unit an eyecatching colour such as teal, mustard or gold.
And your favourite part of the renovation?
I love catching a glimpse of the floor at the end of the hallway – it’s as if you’re being tempted in. We’re lucky to have such a big bathroom and the patterned tiles carry the plain sanitaryware well. It’s like looking at the original Pinterest picture all over again. I got my dream bathroom in the end.
‘I’m so pleased we planned the width of the room around the length of the bath, as this makes a lovely focal point’