Greig Design & Construction Save Email Warm it up with timber Just as black is making its mark in bathrooms, kitchens and home exteriors, timber is also having a moment – or an extended stay, really. Timber works in just about any bathroom but in black bathrooms it adds a special kind of warmth and grace, and stops it feeling too sterile.
he black and white theme continues in the bathrooms through to the tiling and cabinetry. “There is a continuity of materials used throughout the house,” says Fitzpatrick. “Creating a clean and cohesive aesthetic.” Custom-made vanity with blackbutt benchtop and surround, white laminate cupboards; Geo basin: Caroma; Scala mixer tap: Reece; pendant light: Mud Australia; tiles: Signorino Tile Gallery
This dividing wall between the bedroom and the bathroom works much like the one in the kitchen. It has deeper grooves that make the boards appear to float, and holds the bathroom mirror instead of factory windows. “This layout was inspired by a trip to Thailand,” Brown says. “We wanted a hotel-like feeling in here.” The designer thinks he has the answer to whether or not to go with an open ensuite (a growing trend). “Since my partner and I have similar schedules, it works just fine for us,” Brown says. “But if you’re on opposite schedules and waking each other up, it doesn’t work.” Also, a separate room for the toilet is key in this scenario.
Cement tiles Unlike ceramic tiles, which are made from clay and fired, cement tiles are a cured sand and mortar mix, made by hand using traditional manufacturing processes requiring several steps. The colour mixture is hand poured into moulds, then a layer of cement is sprinkled on top to provide a bond between the colour layer and the cement and sand-tiled body. It is then hydraulically pressed and cured under water. Note: They are non-vitreous, so definitely require sealing. GOOD FOR: Those after durability with design flexibility. Also great for people who want an industrial look or design feature for their bathroom.
. Bluestone This is a volcanic stone formed from cooling lava. It is extremely dense, durable and scratch resistant, but requires sealing. It lends itself to a modern, contemporary, sleek look as well as blending well into a classical style. Its colouring, as the name suggests, is generally varying degrees of bluey grey. It comes in a selection of finishes – honed, flamed, polished, chiseled, shot blasted or split faced. Its rich, deep grey colour looks striking as a backdrop against white bathroom fittings. GOOD FOR: Those who like the clean, sleek modern look as well as the warmth and feel of natural stone. Its consistency and depth of colour works well in any modern bathroom.
Travertine Another popular choice for bathrooms. It has a lot of character, with its creamy golden and reddish colours, along with its naturally occurring pores, holes and veins. Great for that classical or rustic look, depending on the tile’s finish. The two main finishes used in bathroom applications are honed and tumbled. Honed tiles undergo extensive grinding and sanding during manufacturing to create a uniform surface that has a smooth marble-like finish, but aren’t as shiny as polished. Tumbled tiles have a highly textured surface with the least amount of shine. Their rounded edges and textured surface give these tiles a rustic, aged look. Regardless of the finish, these tiles must be properly sealed to make them impervious to water and easier to maintain. The holes can be filled with grout during the grouting process to help stabilise the stone, help keep it clean and give it a finished appearance, or left unfilled to provide a more natural look. GOOD FOR: Those who like a classical tile with character. Suits those with a higher budget who don’t mind the maintenance required.
River rock/pebbles If you are looking for that ‘natural’ look, you can’t go past the river rock and other pebble-type tiles. They can look great in bathrooms and feel great underfoot. They usually come in sheets and it is advised that you get a reputable tiler to lay them. The last thing you want is to see the outline of the individual sheets. These have more grout than standard tiles, and with the rounded rocks, there will be slightly more resistance to water flowing across the floor to get to the drain. If used on the floor, consider increasing the pitch of the floor a little to aid in the water draining. GOOD FOR: Bringing a bit of nature into your bathroom. Fits in well with coastal homes. Its informal, casual look makes it a popular material for holiday home bathrooms. You can’t go wrong using it in a family bathroom, as it is hard-wearing and easy to care for.
Marble A sophisticated, classical smooth stone that works beautifully in both modern and traditional bathrooms. Its distinctive natural veining adds interest and drama to your bathroom with colours ranging from black, grey rose and blue to white. It’s available in polished (gloss, high gloss) or honed (satin, smooth with little or no gloss) and comes in a range of sizes in both slab, tile or even mosaics, which are becoming increasingly popular. Marble tiles can be used for floor and wall applications but are most commonly used as a feature due to its high price. GOOD FOR: Those for whom budget is not an issue, are looking for a classical, sophisticated look, and don’t mind the extra care and maintenance required. Not a practical tile for the everyday family bathroom.
NATURAL STONE There are many different types of natural stone tiles available, all of which are less dense than porcelain tiles, so will absorb water. This means they require sealing to make them water and stain resistant for bathroom use. Natural stone tiles are cut to size. Therefore, like rectified porcelain, they can be laid close together, creating a thin grout line.
. Glass A vibrant tile available in a variety of bold colours. Its reflective quality provides a dramatic, unique and distinctive appearance, lending itself to feature walls or accent panels or strips. Because of its luminous quality, it comes to life and creates a lovely effect when featured with strip lighting. No sealing is required as it is naturally impervious to water and is stain resistant. GOOD FOR: Contemporary bathrooms. For use on feature walls, panels and shower recesses. Also great for those who want that wow factor without the maintenance.
Porcelain These are actually a form of ceramic tile but made from a much finer clay than ceramic. They are shaped by dry pressing the clay dust to form a ceramic material that is fired at higher temperatures than ceramic, resulting in a very tough, extremely vitreous and dense tile, ideal for bathroom floors and walls. Porcelain tiles can be glazed or unglazed. Due to their ‘through colour’ property, unglazed porcelain tiles are available in a variety of finishes from matt to high gloss, as well as textured (made to imitate natural stone). Glazed tiles can be ground and polished to produce a completely flat surface, making them ideal for glazing with high-resolution digital images fused onto the tile surface. Porcelain tiles can also be ‘rectified’, which means the tile has been mechanically cut or ground to an exact size as opposed to being moulded and fired (so will have slight dimensional differences). This allows the tiles to be laid more closely together, giving you the added benefit of thin, subtle grout lines. GOOD FOR: Family bathrooms, and for and those who like simple, clean, modern lines. It’s a diverse, ultra-low-maintenance tile that suits any modern family bathroom...
. Terracotta Terracotta is a type of ceramic, and all ceramics are highly absorbent in their natural untreated state. As terracotta is fired at lower temperatures, it has low density, is non-vitreous, and generally only suitable for dry areas. However, terracotta’s porous nature can be resolved with a good quality sealant to make it suitable for bathroom use. With its earthy, orange/red tones and classic rustic look, it’s a tile that’s inviting and simply oozes warmth. GOOD FOR: Mediterranean-inspired schemes, so long as you don’t mind putting a little effort into regular maintenance and care.
. Ceramic These tiles are made from a mixture of clays that have been pressed into shape and fired in a kiln at high temperatures. The surface can be unglazed or glazed. The glazing becomes hard and non-porous, making it suitable for bathrooms. The glaze can be high gloss, matt and have abrasive slip-resistant finishes added. It’s the properties of the glaze that determine whether it is suitable for floor or wall applications. GOOD FOR: Renovators who are looking for an easy-fit, low- maintenance, practical tile. This choice can fit many budgets, styles and looks. It’s a good ‘all rounder’.
. Metal Metal tiles give a modern, contemporary and sleek look to your bathroom that could even be described as seductive. With innovative shapes and sizes, they can be made from solid metal where the tile is punched out from a 1.6mm sheet of high quality metal or made using a resin base with a metallic coating. Metal tiles come in a range of finishes, including bronze, copper, and stainless steel. Because they are a natural product, they will be susceptible to oxidising over time and will develop patina and tarnish. This is not necessarily a bad thing if this is the look you are trying to achieve. Alternatively, titanium-plated tiles are more resilient to the weathering effect of natural metals. Titanium is fabricated in colours similar to brass and copper as well as greys, without the natural patina. Metal tiles are often used as bathroom accents in conjunction with other types of tiles, mosaics being the most common. GOOD FOR: A modern city home or apartment, and for people who like a bit of ‘glitz and glam’ in their lives. These tiles are expensive and require care in cleaning and maintenance so are not really practical for a busy family bathroom. They’re ideal for a powder ...
Cool concrete A long and chunky concrete bench with an open space provides plenty of space on top and below, and oozes style in a modern bathroom space.
Shapely timber This custom-made cabinet is made with birch hardwoods. The unusual shape, while narrow, provides good storage. It tapers to the floor, while the toilet is cantilevered, to give the bathroom a roomy feel.
Colour play This large white vanity offers masses of storage, but what really brings it to life is the simple addition of those green handles that perfectly match the groovy green splashback tiles
Stunning stone According to the owner of this home, the stone sink “was meant to be a birdbath or something.” She had a custom concrete base made for the stone bowl to sit upon, transforming both into a gorgeous bathroom feature.
You can update older cabinets with new handles. This dresser, converted to a vanity, has been fitted with star-shaped pulls to the draw fronts, giving it a little extra pizzazz.
Also bear in mind that dressers with doors might be easier to adapt to the fitting of pipes than drawers. However, this one is stunning, and combined with the modern bath and other elements, gives the bathroom a comfortable, living room look.
Concrete and colour Here, a practical charcoal and white coloured bathroom is given some extra punch with gorgeous aqua-coloured drawers and an oh-so-practical concrete bench. Two sinks and plenty of storage also add to the usefulness of this vanity.
A glass wall. A bathroom like this one will revolutionise your showering experience. Add a glass wall between your ensuite and main bedroom, plus an oversized rainforest showerhead for drama, and you’ve created a space with real impact.
In the bathroom wall. A laundry chute can be such a handy addition to a bathroom in a house with different levels. Rather than have the dirty clothes sit and fester on the floor, waiting limply for some kind soul to deliver them downstairs to the laundry, all that your family has to do is pop them in the chute and they slide there in style. It’s like an amusement park for your apparel! Also, it encourages everyone to keep their dirty clothes off the floor. You may not even need to do a quick clean up with something this easy to maintain. BONUS TIP: Just make sure that you make the hole small enough that adventurous young children don’t decide to take a trip on the clothes slide, sorry, laundry chute. There’s nothing worse than having to explain to unexpected guests why your child is stuck inside a wall.
The bathroom is in keeping with the simple design theme and colour palette, with wall tiles that echo turquoise waters and sea shells.
Special treatment. The massages and body wraps at spa retreats are enticing, but so is this tropical sparadise. This one is an extension of the ensuite bathroom and, unless someone happens to glance down from a low-flying helicopter, your privacy is assured.
3. Create a shower that can be indoors or out Disappearing doors transform this shower into an open-air space. While not recommended for Kate Middleton, Jennifer Aniston or others stalked by long-lens-toting paparazzi, washing one’s hair out here must be a unique experience.
. Extend an indoor bathroom outdoors Glass doors that lead to an outdoor shower let in the natural light, while the rock wall provides a stunning view and privacy.
Real books in a clever recessed niche add personality and entertainment to this powder room. Walls covered in a birch forest and a snowshoe repurposed as a mirror pay homage to the woodsy Vermont surroundings. This homeowner collected plumbing fixtures for years in anticipation of her remodel; these vintage treasures are the icing on the cake.
A 11000-litre tank on the property provides ample water for ablutions. The modest bathroom has white tiles and tongue-and-groove wall linings. The First Light team designed an innovative drying cupboard that uses water heated during the day by solar collectors then pumped through towel rails to dry towels. A 60-watt fan ensures that air circulates throughout the cupboard which is designed to dry six bath towels in two hours, for very little energy use. “The bathroom and laundry were located in the colder south side of the house, while the kitchen, living and bedroom was on the north.”
Another not-too-big bath relies on form, trim and a bold splash of green tile in a mostly white environment to make this shower irresistible.
This curbless shower is almost invisible in this elegant London bathroom. The window provides light, ventilation and a sense of openness, but for privacy reasons can’t be seen through.
Without the windows, this shower and wet room would be less remarkable. But with them the room gives bathers the experience of showering outdoors, minus the drafts.
Outdoor connection Before we lather up, let’s make two assumptions: 1. There is proper privacy, and the windows aren’t open to the street or neighbour’s house. 2. Heating systems are in place or not needed. (Hot water has a way of warming up a space.) This Berlin bathroom illustrates the concept perfectly: the shower is completely open to the views and the light provided by the bank of exterior windows. (Shades rise from the bottom up to provide a privacy screen.) The view outside the window isn’t the only attractive thing to look at; the glass wall makes it possible to admire the wood grain of the pine ceiling and walls. The designers installed a rain shower head, something that is high on the wish lists of many homeowners.
Inside out For those set on embracing the elements, turn your bathroom inside out and install a bath outside. Just don’t forget your sunscreen as you soak up the sunshine and suds at the same time.
Concrete is one more material to consider for a modern bathtub. Since it can be poured and moulded into any shape, the possibilities are endless
The first time I saw a sunken bathtub, I thought it was the most luxurious thing in the world. There is something so wonderful about not having to step over the side of a tub to get in and out. Using a sunken tub in this bathroom leaves an unobstructed view out of the floor-to-ceiling window.
This is the photo that got me busy writing this Ideabook. I had never seen a glass-sided bathtub before, and this one completely appeals to my minimalist tendencies. The architect, David Stern, says the client wanted this custom made tub for the kids’ bathroom and wanted it to feel fresh and fun. Well, he succeeded. But here is what I want to know: why should the kids have all the fun? I have a rubber ducky. Don’t you? Doesn’t everybody?
… or go with a super modern version in stainless-steel. These take up less floor space than a traditional bathtub, but you sit instead of stretching your legs out in front of you. Some people prefer this. Because they don’t take up as much floor space as the traditional size bathtub, one of these might be a good option for a smaller bathroom.
This sunken tub is lined up perfectly at the same level as an exterior pool of water. The window opens all the way so it looks like a single pool. This would be so peaceful and is absolutely lovely.
Behind the bedhead wall of the master bedroom lies this picture-perfect bathroom. The magnificent views of Gordons Bay are made even more so with a mirror that cleverly doubles the expanse.
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