Beautiful bathrooms: styling an all-white palette
ALL-WHITE BATHROOMS NEVER DATE. YET THOUGH THE PALETTE MAY BE LIMITED, THE CHOICE OF STYLES IS ENDLESS.
Shades of history
This bathroom in a 100-year-old heritage worker’s cottage in Dubbo, NSW, is deliberately simple, to fit its past, but has luxe touches that elevate it above plain and into elegant. Herringbone brick flooring is pretty and practical; an oil painting of a stormy sky adds drama and a decorative flourish; and the restored clawfoot bath nods to the cottage’s history. A classic bentwood chair provides a convenient spot for towels, and an olive tree in a basket adds a touch of green. See more @the_repose >
European glamour
Former fashion designer Collette Dinnigan’s makeover of Black Barn Bowral included reclaimed French marble floor tiles in the bathroom that are 400 years old, no less, and wooden shutters she sourced locally in the pretty NSW town. Mirrored French doors, painted white, open into the master bedroom. Yet this heritage charm comes with modern touches, too: those marble tiles have solar-powered underfloor heating beneath them, the tapware is from Australian-made architectural brand Brodware, and the freestanding bath has an unusual metal frame. See more @blackbarnbowral >
Small-scale style
It might seem somewhat counterintuitive, but a dark floor in a small room can be a glorious thing. This white-tiled, light-filled bathroom is in a 1930s weatherboard farm cottage, Rowanberry, in the Mornington Peninsula town of Merricks. It retains a traditional feel, with a pedestal sink, low-set bath and those stained Tasmanian oak floorboards. Texture adds interest, with pleasantly nubbly towels in shades of taupe and beige that bridge the tonal gap between the floor and the walls. >
Surf chic
The owners of this “two-bedroom beach shack”, also on the Mornington Peninsula, have fitted it to their needs. “We’re big surfers,” Bec Dentry explains, “and the bathroom has an outside door. So you come in from outside in your wetsuit, get straight into the shower, take your wettie off, and, because there are heated floors, hang it on the hook and everything’s dry by morning.” The arched mirror echoes an arched door whose 1950s lines they love; the wooden cabinet gives the “modern beach shack” feel Bec wanted; and the contemporary basin updates the space. >