‘I created a grand bathroom by knocking a wall down’

Hannah Young is working to revive her dream period property’s classic features while introducing affordable glamour, starting with the bathroom

Hannah Young is bringing back the classic features to her period property

When Hannah and Sam moved from Bristol out to the Somerset countryside for more space, this detached period property seemed perfect. It was dated, but it had the potential and character the couple were looking for. ‘The whole house was beige woodchip from top to bottom, but it also has really high ceilings and beautiful period features,’ says Hannah. ‘When I saw it, I just wanted to inject some more of the personality back into the space, and started in the bathroom.’

THE PROJECT

The couple chose to tackle this aspect of the house first because there was no main bathroom in the property, just a tiny shower room. ‘The door opened directly into the shower and the units were avocado green,’ says Hannah. Their spacious new bathroom was created by merging a bedroom and the tiny shower room. ‘We had to knock down the wall and do the plumbing first. We toyed with putting the bathroom in one of the smaller rooms and keeping this as a bedroom, but as the plumbing was already in this space it was an easier job and there’s no harm in having a big bathroom.’

WHAT WE DID

One of the biggest aspects of the project was getting the wall that separated the bedroom and shower room down. ‘It was then that we discovered that the ceiling was uneven, so the builder had to match it up, which took some time, but they did a good job,’ says Hannah. ‘We had the plumber round for a couple of weeks and then we finished up by painting it ourselves.’ Hannah bought the shower tiles before anything else, so she planned the

scheme around them. ‘I thought they looked vintage and Parisian, while being fresh, modern and fun. I hadn’t seen anything else like them,’ she enthuses. She complemented these with plain green and white tiles, and added panelling to the lower part of the walls. ‘I gave the panelling a go, but I couldn’t do the dado rail. I did get hands-on with the sanding and caulking though,’ she says.

HIGHS & LOWS

They took up the carpet that had been in the bedroom and had planned to strip the original floorboards then stain them brown. ‘They’re not in very good condition,’ says Hannah. ‘When I stained them it didn’t turn out very well. It didn’t work with the panel colour and really cooled the purple Farrow & Ball Brinjal down. So, I decided to paint them with Farrow & Ball Strong White and that turned out really well.’ Hannah says the boards are

Hannah painted the free-standing bath grey and positioned it in front of the window for views of nearby trees and rooftops

The former bedroom and shower room have been combined to create a chic retreat. The setup is ideal for quick morning showers or lazy evening soaks

Botanical tiles add a playful touch to the grand space, paired with antique-style brassware in reference to the period style

Hannah tiled the sink in the same tiles as the shower to tie the two together