Category Archives: Design inspiration

Love creating show-stopping rooms for your home? Read on to hear all about little interior tips and tricks that can make a big impact, visually.

This confident trend is all about showing personality and adding style statements in your bathroom to bring wow factor and pizzazz. Being one of the smallest rooms in the home where you spend the least amount of time means that it can pay off to be a little more daring when it comes to decoration. Why not create a bathroom that will turn heads and provide a talking point for guests?

Here are a few ways to embrace the trend of big impact bathrooms that deliver brilliant design as well as functionality. – Sometimes the smallest switches can create the biggest style transformations.

Colour crush

One of the easiest and most impactful ways to add impact to a bathroom design, is with colour. Colour helps ignite emotions and the senses and can transform an interior almost instantly.

So, what are the most effective ways to bring a little hue boost to your bathroom?

Bathroom paint is a cheap and easily changeable way of adding an instant colour hit, whereas colourful tiles provide a solution with greater longevity. Whichever option you select to add colour to your bathroom, the principles on how to use colour are always the same.

When it comes to using colour, creating one colourful feature wall will always provide a pop, and helps create a focal point in a room by drawing the eye.

Alternatively, applying colour to just the bottom half of the bathroom walls can help ground the room but also by sticking with white at the top, the room remains bright and airy. – Perfect for more compact spaces. Choose stronger colour saturations if you want to go bigger and bolder or stick to pastels and more muted tones for a more subtle effect.

Popular bathroom colours for this year include all manner of nature inspired greens such as Olive, Leaf and Eucalyptus. Strong colour choices can still create a calming and restful space when used as part of a harmonious scheme.

Earthy tones are big news this year, particularly when used in combination together. Terracotta, muted pinks, and greige/creams have replaced the classic grey and white coupling that has been so popular in recent years. These warmer colours help create cosier, welcoming, and friendly bathrooms, further supporting the notion of moving away from the cool, clinical design of years gone by.

Deep and dark hues such as navy, peacock and charcoal are also popular and add instant drama to a space. Contrary to popular belief, dark colours can be used successfully in smaller rooms, and particularly so when fully colour drenching the space, resulting in an enveloping of colour. – Get the look by using the same or similar tones across the floor, walls, and ceiling.

For colour confidence that is a little more subtle yet still creates a bold scheme, select strong blue hues as highlights to an otherwise neutral space.

Other than on the walls and floor, an alternative way to attract attention with colour in a bathroom is through the selection of painted furniture.

Bold and beautiful vanity units can really enhance a bathroom and create a distinctively styled space. For a DIY update, use matte furniture paint to revamp your units, and source interesting handles to replace standard ones.

Mirror, mirror…

From pill shaped to circular, and demisting technology to colour-changing ambient lighting, mirrors are no longer just for reflections. They are also a sure-fire way of finishing off a bold bathroom scheme with enhanced design.

To create a bold and boundless appeal in your bathroom, look for statement mirrors that have added features and extras to add additional wow factor and update functionality.

Pretty in Print

Surface prints are a brilliant way to create a bold bathroom that oozes both style and personality.

The great thing about using them, is that you can introduce prints in a cost-effective and minimal way if you want to test just a little boldness before committing.

One way of doing this is to select statement patterned tiles to cover just one feature wall, or splashback. Then pull in the colours with towels and accessories to create a cohesive room scheme. Highly patterned tiles have been popular for a few years now, with the trends emerging for 2022 focussed on soft geometrics and all over finishes such as marble, terrazzo, and wood.

Another, more cost-effective way to add print to your bathroom design, is to introduce small bursts of pattern through accessories like towels, window treatments, accessories, and plant pots.

Or for something a little more illustrative, consider selecting statement wallpaper or artwork. When it comes to bold bathroom wallpapers, it’s really a case of anything goes. Big pattern trends for 2022 include jungle/tropical prints, large florals and all over prints featuring animals.

Top Tip! – When using wallpaper in the bathroom, it is best to avoid close proximity to bathing areas, but just in case of any splashes, you can also use a thin layer of decorator’s varnish on top to help prevent stains, water damage, peeling paper and mould growth.

Wonderful windows

Window treatments such as curtains and blinds are often a last-minute consideration, particularly in bathrooms, but a bold roller blind or artfully draped curtain panel can really help frame a bathroom window and add another layer of interest to the room.

If opting for curtains, consider light-weight fabrics that are flowing and hang nicely. From a practical sense, they should be easy to move along the pole to aid fresh air flow into the room.

In recent years, wooden shutters have been popular in the bathroom for a modern finish. Consider bringing strong colours through onto these by painting to tie them in with other accessories in the room such as towels and accessories.

Beautiful basins

This year, ornate and perfectly patterned basins have been gaining popularity as an instant way of creating an outstanding bathroom space by changing just one element of the overall design.

From block-coloured basins, through to those with intricate detailing, a bold basin is a sure-fire way to add instant impact in a bathroom, no matter the size.

For a clean, minimal look, try colour-blocking with a simple basin design in a saturated colour.

For a more maximalist style, choose hand painted basins that create a show stopping focal point. For extra style-stake points, select printed wallpapers to complete the look for an eclectic and bohemian feel.

Pleasing panelling

Adding architectural details such as interesting architrave or panelling can really uplevel a bathroom design.

Traditional panelling painted in a bold hue will create a timeless yet contemporary backdrop for your bathroom suite. Suitable for any home, but especially effective in period properties and country style interiors, classic panelling adds an element of luxury and homeliness.

If the idea of panelling is a little too classic for your own tastes, consider fluted or ridged panels for a more modern aesthetic. Vertical ridges on the wall really help add texture and interest to more clinical spaces such as bathrooms. They also break up substantial amounts of wall space for a more homely feel.