"Making a Splash!" Lessons from a London Bathroom Design Professional

"Making a Splash!" Lessons from a London Bathroom Design

Professional.Identifying Bathroom Problems

This blog posting is the first in a series of eight about a certain bathroom design project I worked on in Central London about a year ago. I've blogged about this remarkable London bathroom renovation before, but with this new series I will deep-dive into the details on a few different "lessons learned" from the experience! Thanks for joining me!

This particular bathroom design project was huge in scope - 100% of the bathroom needed to be redesigned. The client complained that the original seemed too aged and cramped - completely incompatible with his busy modern London lifestyle. As soon as I visited the bathroom to offer our signature free no-obligation consultation I was struck by the massive possibilities that this interior space offered. I made a list in my head: on the left was "drab" (old!) and on the right was "fab" (magic that we were going to create!). Read the next blog to find out what we did next for this exciting bathroom design effort.

Shells, but not Seashells!

I tell my clients all the time about the importance of the "shell" for any major bathroom design project. By this I mean the walls, floors, doors, etc. - everything that is on the periphery and that forms the "foundation" for any real interior design work. This bathroom design project in London began with removal of 100% of the existing tiles from the room. Sometimes we had to dig many tiles deep - my skilled London-based renovations crew had to roll up their sleeves and get to work pronto! While this was happening, my designer flair kicked into high gear and I began to think of all sorts of ways to max out the potential of the rather cramped space and difficult nooks and corners for this London bathroom design. Read the next blog in this series to learn what happened!

Beautifying the Envelope and Installing Lights

I asked my team to renew the plasterwork as a key first step in this London bathroom design project. We used pricey but fabulous angle beads for a close-cut, fresh appearance on the corners that really added dynamic flair to this slightly dated interior. I was delighted to be able to sink the ceiling down by a few centimetres in order to incorporate beautiful recessed illuminator units. We used LED-based options for this bathroom design to reduce the eco-footprint. I made sure to position the lights just perfectly in order to guarantee a subtle downward wash of illumination, sure to enhance the beauty of any Londoner that looks in this mirror! This fabulous approach guarantees that any lines and wrinkles fade completely. It's my philosophy that your bathroom design should always help you look your very best!

Making Cramped Look Spacious

I required that my team work with high energy to address a pressing problem: an old-style radiator was impairing my London bathroom design antennae and could never have been compatible with the smooth, sophisticated, contemporary feel that my client craved. I insisted that it be removed and taken away for recycling pronto. But what to do about the consequent lack of warmth? Every bathroom design needs to have what I call a "coziness factor" - nothing worse than getting up during a London winter and feeling the chill of an underheated bathroom! The answer for this particular bathroom design was an underfloor thermal system. I used fabulous ultra-large 60cm square tiles to make the floor area seem expansive while also vastly reducing the groutwork linecount.