This was a very interesting project that encopassed many different decisions and risks. The existing bathroom was pokey and pretty irredeemable, so we converted a spare bedroom into this airy and spacious family bathroom, and converted the old bathroom into a study area.
The key features to the room were the stand alone shower unit, the large square bath and the very large basin along with the simple and striking fireplace. We wanted to keep everything incredibly pure, minimal and clean, creating s space that despite the monochrome palette and straight lines is not at all harsh, but calming and meditative.
Units above the toilet provide the storage along with the vanity unit. The chimney breast
allowed us to inject an element of texture into the room, to sit alongside the nibbled sugar cube effect tiling in the shower. We re-plastered the chimney with the plaster sucking away at the moment it dried, leaving flat platelets behind. This was then painted and the effect is subtle but effective. Swimming pool glass
mosaic tiles were used and applied with a slightly textured effect, and a black tiled alcove in the shower cubicle affords a subtle shelf space.
The interior of the fireplace was painted black to swallow up the space and the rubber floor was dressed right into it. The driftwoodwood over the fireplace had been languishing in our back garden for near on 4 years after we had hauled it off a beach in the Lake District. It's oak and when we brought it back to life with the aid of a thicknesser it bacame apparent that this was the space in which to use it. It is some kind of industrial beam, full of stains and character and at some point had been part of someone's campfire, leaving beautiful blackened areas. The oak was washed and sealed with oil.
All in all, the project was an exercise in subltety.
