Water Worlds

Sun Herald

Sunday June 17, 2007

Jodie Thomson

Bathrooms have become the luxury haven of the home, Jodie Thomson writes.

DESIGNING bathrooms was once about cramming as many white tiles and fittings as possible into the smallest space you could get away with.

But the new word in bathrooms is luxury - in the space, finishes and decorative elements. These days, the aim is to create a bathroom space you'll enjoy, whether it's for a quick shower before work or a languorous soak. Bathrooms are bigger, with more room to move, and there's a greater focus on elegantly designed pieces, such as a freestanding bath or oversized basin.

Our growing environmental awareness is reflected in the trend towards more organic textures and finishes. Materials we use elsewhere in the house are being customised to suit the wet environment of a bathroom. And there's more thought and variation in features such as lighting and storage, boosting the functionality of every element of the bathroom.

"There's a lot more luxury," says designer Darren Genner, of Minosa. "We're heading more into a day-spa scenario, with natural stone, and calming elements like mood lighting to create an ambience."

And the luxury doesn't stop at the finishes and design. It's also very much about space.

"Bathrooms are definitely getting bigger," Genner says. "We used to have relatively small spaces allocated for bathrooms, but now with all the new products available for bathrooms, they're getting bigger, especially en suite bathrooms. Generally these were just tucked onto a room, with a shower, toilet and basin, but now they're much bigger."

No longer just utilitarian space, bathrooms are now being decorated like other living areas of the house.

"It's nice to treat a bathroom not like a bathroom, but make it look more like a beautiful powder room," says interior designer George Christo, from Ara Design Studio.

"We're using more wood and painted walls, rather than a full tiled wall. It's also about where you position things, and maybe making a feature of the bath and keeping everything else quite simple."

All about texture

The biggest change in bathrooms is the shift away from all-tiled spaces, to those incorporating other textures along with the tiles. Natural materials, like stone and timber, are giving bathrooms a warmer, more comfortable appeal, more in line with other living areas of the house.

Timber is being used on floors, in veneers on vanities and other storage joinery, and even on baths, such as Reece's Estella bath, with its pale, timber surround. While timber was previously a no-no for bathrooms because of its tendency to warp and soak up moisture, new technology makes it a safe bathroom option.

"We've developed a collection of bathroom furniture and have worked out how to use wood on horizontal surfaces," Genner says. "It's the selection of the veneer, and the process it goes through, but it means the benches are almost impervious to water."

For a modern look, go for creamy oaks, maples and walnuts.

"Walnut is very popular at the moment," Genner says. "It's got a dark, 'tiger' grain, very prominent."

Stone, both natural and reconstituted, such as CaesarStone, is also adding a new level of luxury to bathrooms, and is a popular choice on generously wide vanity tops.

"We're going back to limestones and travertines," Genner says.

Tiles are still a bathroom essential on walls and floors, but the trend is towards enormous, oversized tiles, giving a cleaner, more spacious look.

"There's a move away from mosaics, because they've really been done and because of the maintenance they need," interior designer Kara Shanahan, of KDS Design says. "Floor tiles are as big as 600 x 600 millimetres and wall tiles up to 400 x 700 millimetres."

Also popular in tiles are muted, decorative elements, such as a white-on-white pattern on a tile.

"There is a more decorative element in bathrooms," says Christo. "It could be a subtle embossing, a floral design on a tile, but keeping it white."

The focus on natural textures is also dictating the colour palette of modern bathrooms, with white and quiet neutrals the best option to complement stone and timber elements.

"And it's good to go with darker shades on floor tiles, because they don't show the dirt," Shanahan says.

Shapes and lines

When it comes to designs of basins and baths, there are no real rules. There's a breathtakingly beautiful selection of styles on offer, from clean, geometric shapes, to soft, organic ovals.

As a result, basins and baths have become the real showpiece of modern bathrooms, with elegant basins perched on top of vanities, and freestanding baths being placed in the centre of a room.

"We use a mixture of both square and circular shapes in basins and baths," Genner says. "We've just introduced an oval basin and people are going crazy for it."

Also regaining popularity is a more subtle approach to basins, with basins sunken below a stone vanity benchtop, or even carved out of the stone, in the form of a shallow wash-plane style.

"We like to keep those quite simple," Christo says. "We undermount the basins so they're more hidden away, or form them into the stone vanity."

The latest tapware also comes in a choice of soft curves, or more graphic, square shapes, plus gleaming chrome, or a quieter, satin finish.

Whatever the tap design, the focus is on tapware that blends into the overall bathroom and isn't too much of a feature. "The finer, more streamlined lines are definitely being seen in tapware, rather than chunky styles," Shanahan says.

Space out

The new move to luxury in bathrooms isn't just about extravagant fittings and fixtures. It's also about being generous with space. Wherever possible, people are devoting more space to bathrooms and designing them to be used by more than one person.

"Everything is wall-hung to create a sense of extra space," says Belinda Geels, Reece Showroom marketing coordinator. "Toilets are wall-hung and elegant, with in-wall, concealed cisterns; vanity units are wall-hung, with deep drawers for practicality."

A large floorspace is essential for one key trend in bathroom design - the freestanding bath. "The humble bath is no longer hidden away in a hob," Geels says. "It's now the centrepiece of the room."

An increasingly popular ingredient for many bathrooms, particularly en suite bathrooms, is the use of double fittings, so more than one person can comfortably use the bathroom at a time.

"There's been an increase in couples' bathrooms, with 'his' and 'hers' spaces, as well as shared spaces, and consumers are doubling up on everything if the room allows it," Geels says. "Double vanity, double basin, double shower, even a large freestanding bath with room for two. Showers are large and open, often with more than two ceiling-mounted large showerheads (that only use nine litres of water a minute)."

Open plan

We've embraced open-plan design in our living areas, with kitchens, lounge and dining areas now joining to form one huge living space in the modern home. Now, it seems we're extending the trend to open-plan bathrooms, particularly en suite bathrooms.

No longer just a tiny space tacked onto the master bedroom, enclosed by solid doors, en suite bathrooms are now a crucial element of the whole parents' retreat experience. En suite bathroom doors and walls have been swapped for wide openings connecting the main bedroom with the bathroom.

Elegant vanities, basins, frameless mirrors and even the bath, are often on show to the bedroom, with showers and toilets hidden discreetly behind a dividing screen or wall.

"I love it, as long as you conceal the nasty bits, the toilet and shower," Genner says. "It's the whole intimacy thing you're trying to create with a master bedroom or parents' retreat. You can make a beautiful setting with no walls, showing off beautiful joinery or a sculptural bath. You might have a screen wall that conceals the toilet, and on the front you might have the basin floating off it, and a little nib wall that hides the shower."

Where space and privacy allow, bathrooms are also being designed to connect more with the outdoors. Baths are positioned by oversized windows so you can enjoy a view while soaking. Glass doors are replacing windows, so you can open up a bathroom to a private courtyard or garden.

Storage heaven

Along with the luxury looks, functionality is even more important in modern bathrooms. When it comes to storage, new cabinetry designs offer clean lines and plenty of space to stash towels and bathroom essentials.

"People believe they need to have these big vanities a metre long that go from the bench all the way to ground, but that's just a poor use of space," Genner says. "I believe you can get enough out of a cupboard 200mm deep, or a full-length mirror with a cabinet behind it. Everything is where you need it."

Bathroom storage trends are following the lead set in kitchen design, with deep drawers offering far more space than traditional cupboards in the same sized cabinet.

Light the way

A key ingredient in a bathroom that's more a place to pamper and relax, not just a utilitarian workspace, is lighting. To create a modern look and mood, you need flexible lighting that offers practicality for bathing and dressing, but also softer lighting for ambience.

"Lighting's very important, and people don't really understand that," Shanahan says. "You want a glass mirror wall to wall, with wall sconce lighting, so the lighting just goes over the mirror."

The lighting needs to be designed so it can easily adapt to the bathroom's different uses.

"You need to separately switch things from a central switch panel, so you can independently switch on the shower light, or the bath," Genner says. "You can have lights underneath the basin for mood and atmosphere, and you need dimmers, so if you want to have a bath, you can set the lights to dim." Or simply light the candles and soak up the ambience.

Essential bathroom ingredients

TIMBER AND STONE Mix traditional tiles with natural or reconstituted stone vanity tops, and touches of timber in the cabinetry.

OVERSIZED TILES Stick to the clean lines of extra-large tiles (about 600 x 600mm for floors and walls).

SCULPTURAL FITTINGS Whether geometric squares or smooth circles or ovals, look for basins and baths with strong lines.

OPEN-PLAN EN SUITE BATHROOMS Open up the connection between the bedroom and en suite bathroom, showing off beautiful bathroom fittings through open doors, and using dividing walls to create private areas.

MOOD LIGHTING Use wall lights, under-vanity lighting and dimmers to create ambience and allow functionality.

© 2007 Sun Herald

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