‘WE WANTED OUR FAMILY BATHROOM TO HAVE A SENSE OF FUN’
A new layout made a striking central shower the focal point of this dramatic bathroom, defined by graphic black and white tiles and a contrasting yellow wall
Laura Siddall, a banking relationship manager, and her husband Steve, also in finance, live with their children, Alexandra, five, and Calumn, two, in a five-bed detached house in Godalming, Surrey. The original bathroom was dated and in serious need of an overhaul, so they ripped it out, opting for a new layout and bold colour scheme Tell us about the original bathroom… It was a dated, tired space with a primrose yellow suite, dull grey carpet and pale pink striped wallpaper – in other words, it was in desperate need of updating! It looked as though it hadn’t been touched since the seventies. Did you enlist help of an interior designer or project manager? The whole house needed a complete renovation, and we quickly realised it was too much for us to take on ourselves. We found interior design company Slightly Quirky through the website Houzz. Initially we only asked for help with colours, but it soon became apparent we needed more input, so they played around with a few different room layouts and lighting plans for the bathrooms, kitchen and living areas and helped us come up with the final designs. We also had a project manager, Matt Abel from Abel Projects.
Where did you get your ideas from? We had an overall scheme for the house, which we worked on with Caroline Nicholls and Deborah Moor from Slightly Quirky. The brief was to be bold with colours and patterns and to make the whole house consistent. The first thing we chose was a black and white wallpaper for the cloakroom downstairs, so it made sense to start with the black and white tiles in the family bathroom. What was top of your wishlist? A separate shower and bath – and plenty of storage. Were there any difficulties along the way? Caroline suggested positioning the shower centrally, which has created a real sense of drama in the room as well as giving the WC a separate feel, but it was a challenge to find a three-sided shower screen to fit the space properly. It took quite a lot of research to track one down that was wide enough but not so deep that it would encroach too much on the rest of the floor space. You opted for quite a bright colour palette… Yes, we wanted to go bold and the sunshine yellow has a sense of fun – very fitting for a family bathroom. What makes the room work well for you? The amount of storage and, in particular, the wall-hung vanity unit, which is my favourite part of the design as it really helps keep the room in order. The cubby holes in the shower are handy too. Do you have any tips? Research each element individually to get the best price, rather than buying everything from one stockist. How do you feel about the bathroom now it’s complete? We love how bright and spacious it is, and it will grow with us.