Worth the wait

This is the second makeover these homeowners have given their en-suite bathroom and now the space offers five-star comfort!

A bathroom that boasts a wonderful view of Lion’s Head and Signal Hill takes the therapy of that ‘end-of-a-long-day shower’ to a whole new level – just ask Sarah Curtis-Bowles and her husband John Bowles of Oranjezicht in Cape Town.

For this couple, refurbishing a home is nothing new. In 2009, after purchasing their romantic Victorian abode dating back to the early 1900s, they created an en-suite bathroom for their bedroom. And for the next few years, this space suited them down to the ground. But when they enlarged their main bedroom in 2014, the bathroom needed a whole new layout – a project that was completed in January 2018.

The patience of Job

The project took about three months – with good reason. The taps and bathroom accessories that Sarah had set her heart on are manufactured in Italy and shipping to South Africa takes about six to eight weeks.

“We had to halt the entire project because the mixer had to be installed before we could proceed with the finish on the walls. We also couldn’t install the vanity before the walls were finished, and this meant that the measurements for the marble slab and sides had to wait.”

Not that she regrets the fittings she chose. “They’re exactly what we wanted.”

As it was their second renovation in less than 10 years, the couple decided to save on costs by allowing the existing plumbing and the arched window they’d installed in 2009 (for extra light, ventilation and the view) to guide the new changes.

A slight hitch

Sarah chose the most beautiful big grey ceramic tiles for her bathroom floor. Initially, she planned to also use them on the shower floor to create a seamless look, but the slope required for drainage made this impractical.

“I had to go back to the drawing board and find another tile solution for the shower. After several visits to various stockists and a few tile samples later, I decided on lantern-shaped mosaic tiles from Douglas Jones. The clean white complements all the other elements in the bathroom and the darker edges give the tiles an authentic feel. They also have an interesting texture, and their shape provides a welcome contrast to the more angular lines in the room.”

Our bathroom makes a quiet statement, but it also feels luxurious in just the right way.

– Sarah

It’s in the detail The shower has a low wall on one side ( below). It was built to hide the outlet pipe of the toilet but ended up being higher than intended so it now provides a neat alternative to a bathroom shelf.

Other than the floor of the shower, the rest of the bathroom previously had a wooden floor. When they decided to lay tiles, the wooden floor was retained but a raised floor was installed on top of it; this raised level now accommodates the drainage for the shower.

John and Sarah

Sarah wasn’t keen to tile the walls but the mismatch of different wall materials – from bricks and cement to plaster – meant that additional insulation had to be installed to ensure adequate waterproofing. The walls were then finished with SatinCrete. The shells in the tall glass vases on the vanity were collected on various holidays.