Part 1 - Style
OK this one is going to be a little difficult to define as I have noticed that it is very much a country by country thing and although I am based in Australia, blogs have a world wide audience, so be aware that some of my advice will be Aussie skewed.
In Australia we have a tendency by far to go for quite a modern sleek look in bathrooms. The top of the line is quality stone, porcelain or glass tiles with custom vanities, solid stone baths, European tapware, wall hung toilets with in-wall cisterns and large frameless glass shower screens. All very sleek, clean and minimalist.
freestanding baths are right on trend and marble tiles add a timeless luxury
the frameless blade shower screen is very now but you must make sure that the water is well contained in the area, linear grates are perfect for this situation with the fall to the back of the shower. Word of warning, if the blade is not long enough you will get a lot of overspray into the bathroom.
Pure luxury, a room with a view ... quite a masculine bathroom with the dark wood surfaces both on the floor and ceiling. The different surfaces add interest and texture to the room.
large format tiles, built in cabinetry, double basins, freestanding baths all of these make a top quality contemporary bathroom
glass splash back tiles, good lighting and double basins
Asian influence with special artistic touches, never be afraid of displaying works of art in the bathroom as long as you have good ventilation. This bathroom does lack natural light which can be a drawback at times but sometimes it is unavoidable.
This is something I do a lot in bathroom design, I run a feature tile over the floor up the bath and on one wall, then use a less expensive white tile on the other walls. More bang for your buck!! plus it is not overwhelming, this pietra grey marble is very dark and would have been overpowering in such a small space.
One of the big new trends for ensuites (if there is room) is a his and hers vanity rather than one large one with individual mirrors above each basin
the individual mirrors allows for easier lighting either side of the mirror
no arguments with separate vanities.
my personal preference is for something a little bit more traditional but not quite so grand as the bathroom above. There are not too many of us that can afford to use this amount of space!
this is probably a bit more like it but I would tend to avoid carrera marble on the bench tops as from experience they don't stand up well to makeup stains.
this is just gorgeous!
When planning your bathroom consider who will be using it.... is it a family bathroom, a master bathroom a small en suite. A lot of people like to put in double basins in the family bathroom but realistically they are only used by one person at a time, most kids (especially as they get older) are not interested in sharing the bathroom while they are in it!!! Different story for the master bath, if you have a large enough room it is definitely a good resale point.
Also to consider is the bath, there really should be a bath somewhere in the house and the most likely place is the family bathroom as they are needed to bath young children. If you have the space include one in the master bathroom/en suite as a little bit of luxury but don't compromise the space if it is tight, you are better off going for a large double shower.
More will be discussed in part 2 on design. Coming soon!
