JENNY WOOD
Graphic geometric tiles can give bathrooms a definite wow factor, writes
IT USED to be called the smallest room in the house, but bathrooms are often just as important as kitchens and living rooms when thinking about styling our homes. To recreate the look here – see right – take the same patterned ceramic tiles over the floor and up onto one or two walls to blur the lines between them.
A design such as this one from British Ceramic Tile (Illusion Blush tiles, £32.85 per sq m, Britishceramictile.co.uk) won’t cost the earth but will make maximum impact.
For a softer take on the industrial look, paint an exposed brick wall with white emulsion. You don’t need real bricks, however, go for cheaper, easier brick slips. These slithers of real brick can be mounted on your wall in the same way as tiles. Or, use a whitewashed brick-effect wallpaper – Wallpaperdirect.com has a good selection.
Opt for stylish black taps. Then add pops of black elsewhere with a black-edged mirror, black lights and furniture details.
A bathroom can never have too many plants. Choose varieties that love a damp atmosphere, such as palms and ferns, and continue the theme with leaf-print artwork.
Mirror the straight lines of the tile design with angular sanitaryware. Choose a squared-off console-style stand for your sink; a wall-hung loo
(to avoid covering up those fabulous tiles); and a freestanding rectangular bath.
Add spa-like finishing touches such as dusky pale-pink towels and decadent toiletries. On a budget? Decant bath products into fancy bottles – no one will be any the wiser! Above: Jungle leaf poster, from £13.95, Desenio.co.uk
Right: VonHaus rustic side table, £29.99, Domu.co.uk Above: Cooke & Lewis modern acrylic freestanding bath, £550, B&Q
Right: Cooke & Lewis Imandra gloss white vanity basin unit, £150, B&Q Below: Above: Below: Umbra Hub wall mirror 24in, £95, Hurnand hurn.com