all that glitters

I thought you might like to take a little tour of an ensuite bathroom I designed recently. It was rather a pleasure, as my client wanted something with a bit of sparkle, which of course is a fun premise from which to create.

The bathroom was being newly built as part of an extension, so we had no existing plumbing layout to conform to, however there turned out to be obvious places for all the different elements in the room, once we’d allocated the shower area.

Whenever you’re thinking about a bathroom design, try and go for the largest possible shower space. It’s no fun bumping your elbows on the screen at every turn, or having to undertake extreme manoeuvres simply to apply your shampoo. The position of the doorway to this room carved out a clear area behind it for the shower to run along a side wall. After looking at a few walk-in screen options, and considering the splash potential, we decided to section off the whole thing with a flat sliding screen door.

Expand your showering horizons — give yourself some room

Once we had sorted out a location, we decided to line the shower area with some rather glamorous bronze-toned tiles from Walls and Floors. I don’t think this warm shade is in stock at the moment, but they’re from the Metalico range by Envy (their silver tile also looks rather glitzy, and for the dramatic, there’s a glamorous black one).

Warm tones in the walk-in shower/ Metalico Copper Tile

There is a huge range of prices for shower kits on the market. You don’t need to pay a great deal for something that looks impressive however. Keep to some simple guidelines and you can get the wow factor for less. Firstly, hidden workings can look swish, but tend to cost you more. The kits which have the workings (usually a horizontal bar) which control the thermostat on display are the most cost effective. Hidden workings need to be hidden, so often necessitate the creation of a false wall to hide them behind. And if things do go wrong further down the line, there’s a whole lot more excavation to get at them. Whereas if you need to replace your bar controls…. just swap them in for a new model. I often recommend clients to go to some of the trade-priced online stores for best deals on these. Plumbworld have often proved to offer a good selection. The one I sourced here is from Victoria Plum.

Singing in the rain shower: Aria round head riser shower kit from VictoriaPlum.com

One of the best way to dress your windows in a shower or bathroom is with a wood-effect blind. The material is a composite plastic created to look like a wood slat but with none of the inevitable warping or mould growth. These dark wood effect blinds from 247 blinds are inexpensive and can be rotated shut for total privacy, turned to allow the light to filter through, or even drawn up completely.

Ecowood Sumatra blinds from 247blinds.com

It’s always nice to fit in a little storage to a bathroom if you can. The space around a sink is obviously an ideal opportunity, and there are some lovely modular units out there in pretty much any colour or shade you could imagine to fit your look. We decided to go for a dark brown wood drawer unit, which looks neat against the white ceramic, and complements the copper-themed tiles. On the wall, a mirror can serve as the door to more shelf space, and this nifty cabinet also has a socket to plug in shaving equipment or toothbrushes. The lights running down each side are LED with a warm glow. Perfect for ambient lighting on those tough early mornings….

Odessa Wenge floor standing sink unit from Victoria Plum, and a mirrored wall cabinet with LED lighting from Illuminated Mirrors

Of course, the simplest splashback for your basin would be a couple of extras from the shower, but we wanted to liven up the look of the room, and found these delightful mosaic groups at Walls and Floors. Featuring hints of copper, greys and some jaunty patterns, these characterful tiles come as a set of 30cm-square designs which are ridiculously easy to fit. Two here span the width of the 60cm-wide basin.

Moroccan Riad mosaic tiles in Copper by Envy

With the subtle glitz from the tiles, we kept the walls white and used a light grey-brown wood effect vinyl plank for the flooring. Whilst brown is the dominant colour here, the room seems cheerful and fresh. Just a little glitter can make all the difference.

Let me know — what colour schemes would you consider for a bathroom? Do you prefer cool blues or natural tones of stone or wood? Some striking colour like green or red, or maybe a haven of grey? Do you like to add a touch of glamour in your fittings, or keep things muted?

pick and mix

One of the things I like the best about Ikea kitchens is the freedom to choose from all the different colours and textures to create something completely bespoke. That’s a luxury you don’t normally have at the budget-end of the interiors market.

Even if you’re limited on budget, a pick-and-mix system means that you can still show personality and creativity in your choices. There is really no excuse for putting together dull and uninspiring rooms.

What’s the bigger crime, Ed? Admitting to the existence of your second kitchen… or that it looks like this?

Recently, one of my clients was deciding between a Howdens Kitchen (which is sourced directly through your builder and not generally marketed or sold to the trade) and one from Ikea. We weighed up the pros and cons, but in the end the potential for choice and creative scope won through. I may write further about this decision process soon — it’s something I’ve worked through a few times with different people, with different outcomes. Anyway, we wanted something a bit individual for this kitchen design, and with a brief to create ‘something cool,’ I got going.

As you might be aware, Ikea has had a complete kitchen furniture upgrade – the trusty Faktum has been replaced by a more modern and flexible system called Metod.

Where do we start? Ikea’s new Metod system is like creating a Lego model

This means that the dimensions of the units now feel more boxy, the drawers are deeper, and your options for storage are more varied. You might like a sleek block of minimalist doors to hide your gadgets,

Behind closed doors: Ringhult doors reflect the light and hide the clutter

or to ditch the doors altogether and display all your kitchenware in neat shelves;

Horda blocks are basically cabinets without doors: stack them and fill them

to create the ultimate country-style kitchen complete with cornicing and wooden worktops,

Classic features here show off the more traditional look

or to play around with different textures and pattern.

Glossy red Ringhult makes a bold statement, while the geometric dimples on the Herrestad wall cabinets add to the glamour

First I looked at colours. My clients wanted something modern and sleek: they had been considering glossy cabinets and bright colours. However when we looked through inspiration sites like Houzz and Pinterest (really useful exercise — you can surprise yourself), we realised they actually gravitated most towards the greys and whites, with more natural tones and wood accents.

Ideal kitchen style for top budget — a good starting point/ Roundhouse kitchen featured on Houzz

Creative mix of colours, use of different materials/ Kitchen by Whitten Architects, featured on Houzz

So we played around with those shades, and came up with an inventive pairing from Ikea’s selection — Bodbyn Grey and Brokhult.

The Bodbyn range at Ikea comes in a few shades, one of which is a mid-grey. The doors are featured with a simple carved insert, Shaker-style. But you don’t have to recreate a farmhouse when you use it.

Stylisheve does Bodbyn grey. Pared down and modern

Chic grey Bodbyn nestles in this open plan apartment/ Pinterest page by Thomas Strubreiter https://uk.pinterest.com/thomasnordic

Ikea pairs its Bodbyn with chequerboard tiles and industrial style accessories

Get more bling with your Bodbyn: Ikea’s show kitchen sparkles

Brokhult is a wood effect finish with distinct striped markings: a little bit retro, unapologetically faux, with grey-hued tones and smooth texture.

Brokhult features smartly in this from Kitchens by Design LA

Skonahem puts Brokhult in a nautical, driftwood-type of role

I felt that putting these two together would warm up the potentially stark grey with a complementary wood accent. So I plumped for Bodbyn grey doors, with surrounds and end panels in Brokhult. One section of the room needed cupboards to surround the large American-style fridge. These cabinets in turn are wrapped around by the Brokhult, creating a neat stand-alone unit. I hope to get some photos of the finished room for you very soon, so you can see how well they work together.

Back in the design stage, having established the core colours and materials, we now had to draw together worktops, lighting, extra shelving, window coverings, flooring, taps, oven and splashback. I’ll take you through these next time — some beautiful products were bought and some careful decisions were made.

Until then, what are your thoughts on Metod? Have you installed this new style Ikea kitchen in your own home? What pick-and-mix successes have you had?