Steam gently rising, the soothing fragrance of essential oils infusing the warm air, rhythmic jets of water easing away the day’s tensions, your favourite song playing through the hidden speakers and a thick, fluffy towel warming up on the gleaming heated towel rail … It’s a total escape from reality – yet it’s not in your dreams, it’s in your own bathroom!
Modern bathrooms are increasingly being designed with indulgence, comfort and luxury in mind as well as function and purpose. It’s no surprise that the bathroom is a priority area for renovation as it is becoming the one place in the home where one can relax, recharge, indulge and escape . .
The only limit to bathroom renovation ideas is how far your imagination can take you. Current trends are cool and contemporary yet still visually complex and appealing, but really, it’s about personal style. Modern techniques, detailing and new materials are being combined in clever ways to create edgy and slick spaces that still provide old fashioned comfort and unbridled luxury. And the ideas are coming from all over the place – industrial environments, bathing rituals of the East, natural earthy environments, the sea etc. Exposed aggregate, natural wood and tactile stone combine beautifully with integrated units, hidden joins, highly polished surfaces, stainless steel, marble and glass in an exciting and tactile package.
There aren’t any real rules. What is new is a move towards seamless integration and cohesion.
According to Civil & General, a leading supplier of plumbing products in Perth, Western Australia, one key trend is to make a bathroom into a ‘wet room’, where the shower is no longer an enclosed glass compartment but rather an open space that integrates seamlessly with the entire design. Doing away with the traditional shower enclosure uses sloping floors, technologically advanced floor grates and strip shower drains to channel water away to ensure the whole space remains functional and beautiful – and doesn’t turn into a rain forest !.
Open plan bathrooms are also in vogue, with bedroom/bathroom integration becoming more and more popular in modern homes. Clever design is again the name of the game to ensure that privacy and discretion isn’t compromised.
Materials are becoming more sophisticated too. Traditional bathroom coverings such as marble, tile, stone and wood are being paired with edgy materials such as mosaic, treated concrete, stucco, coloured glass, metallics and stainless steel to create endless options from the sleek, seamless and minimalistic, traditional Victorian, eco-friendly, rough and rustic to futuristic and fabulous.
Colour palettes range from the traditional cream and white to edgy silver, black and blue. It’s all about personal choice, but some of the more popular schemes today are mocha, black and grey, chocolate and cream, bright blue and lime green. There’s no clear trend when it comes to shapes of the bathroom accessories (basins, baths etc) – with angular squares and rectangles very popular as are shapes inspired by nature (ovals, shell etc).
You don’t have to rob a bank to find bathroom renovation ideas to suit your needs and your budget. The internet, décor magazines, trade shows and exhibitions offer a treasure trove of ideas and options to create your own special space. It is your special space and it’s important that you create something that’s not only functional but that feeds your soul too.
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