The Daily Telegraph - Saturday - The Telegraph Magazine
House proud
Sweet retreat
By knocking down stud walls and shopping around for fittings, Phoebe Miller turned a dingy bathroom into a spa-like space
FOR PHOEBE MILLER, founder of home-fragrance and wellness brand SW Botanicals, creating a dream bathroom was one of the first things she wanted to do when she and her husband moved into their new home in Yorkshire. ‘Our old house had an awful bathroom, and this one was very dark and chunky, a bit overwhelming,’ she says. ‘I wanted something much more breathable and feminine.’
The starting point for its new look was the pink free-standing bath, which she spotted online. ‘As soon as I saw it, I knew it was the one,’ she says. ‘The whole design stemmed from that. I looked for other things that would mirror the bath’s curves, such as the lights, the basin and the scallop tiles in the shower.’
It wasn’t all about the aesthetics though: to make best use of the space, they knocked down a stud wall that previously housed a series of cubbyholes to make the room wider, ripped out the shower cubicle to create a more open design, and removed a false ceiling studded with spotlights to reveal the original one with its wooden beam.
‘It’s such a calming space now,’ says Miller. ‘I suffer from anxiety and this bathroom has become my safe space; somewhere to relax, put a podcast on and enjoy a bath.’ ‘To give your room personality, mix old with new. I knew I wanted some vintage furniture, so I found the table at an antique shop and asked our bathroom fitter to turn it into a vanity unit.’