Latest trends, innovations in luxury bathroom design
Credit to Author: Mary Beth Roberts| Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2019 14:24:58 +0000
Nowhere is form and function more important than in the bathroom. A luxurious ambience relies on design that soothes the senses with a mix of materials, textures, layers of light and clutter-free spaces.
Luxury begins with ensuring everything has a place, says Shelley Scales, principal at Shelley Scales Design Associates.
As bathrooms, particularly ensuites, become personal zones to refresh and relax, every aspect needs to look beautiful and be nice to touch, she says, adding, “Every detail needs to be considered from shelving and storage for towels to lighting and practical things like a place for garbage.”
Blu Bathworks founder and designer Michael Gottschalk agrees. He points to the vanities in his range where he uses a drawer-within-a-drawer design to maximize storage. The ubiquitous two-door cabinet often results in a jumble of hard-to-reach items, but the Blu Bathworks vanities allow the storage to be functional and effectively organized, he says.
While the Blu Bathworks range leans to a modern style, Gottschalk notes when it comes down to it, material choices and design are a personal preference.
The Blu Bathworks Blue Stone freestanding tub in a concrete matte finish is the centrepiece of this ensuite bathroom.
Kalu Interiors principal Aleem Kassam says at one time classic design was considered luxurious; now, any style can be described as luxurious because it’s not necessarily what is in the space, but how it feels.
While marble has traditionally been a favourite choice for high-end bathrooms, Kassam says superior-quality porcelain tiles have replaced marble in many applications because they replicate the look without the maintenance natural stone requires.
While colour choices are important, texture shares top-billing, he adds. To ensure a visual balance he suggests contrasting polished surfaces like walls, floors and countertops with matte finishes.
Designed by Aleem Kassam at Kalu Interiors, the black matte wall-mounted shower body jets, an over-sized rain shower head and a hand-held wand give this luxe shower a contemporary look.
In his own bathroom, Kassam used black matte porcelain tiles in a strip that runs the length of the room and up the wall. It breaks up the polished surfaces and juxtapose a contemporary wow factor against the more traditional look of marble. He then repeated the colour—and the texture—by opting for a black vanity and a honed countertop and backsplash.
Contemporary black matte faucets and fixtures are popular and provide an alternative to textures like chrome, but often require replacing the sparkle usually provided by that polished metal finish. One way to add some shimmer to the space, Kassam says, is with glass shelves, glistening metal accents on lighting and styling with a tray of items like apothecary bottles.
Designed by Kalu Interiors’ Aleem Kassam, this ensuite’s dramatic look relies on the interaction between colour and texture. Black matte tiles are juxtaposed against the lighter marble-look porcelain tiles while the colour and texture is also repeated on the vanity with its black honed granite countertop and backsplash.
Geele Soroka, principal and senior interior designer of Sublime Interior Design, agrees that every bathroom needs a little bling. In a recent project, she selected sinks with a mirrored finish and added mirrors to the doors of the vanity to enliven the space and indulge the client’s love of Art Deco style.
Choosing foundation products—such as sinks, tubs and shower base—with a common design quality makes for a cohesive design. Gottschalk says the Blu Bathworks line, manufactured in Burnaby, allows a designer to choose products “with the same DNA and esthetic” to comfortably align in the space.
Scales says repeating shapes is a subtle way to make the space feel cohesive and continuous. She used that process in the award-winning design of a luxury ensuite in Victoria’s Oak Bay neighbourhood, where the octagonal base of the gooseneck faucet she selected from the Henry Collection inspired the custom-designed base of the vanities and was repeated in the backplate of the sconces.
The Loft tub, designed by Michael S. Smith for Kallista, takes pride of place in this Oak Bay bathroom designed by Shelley Scales Design Associates. Tile rugs in a basket-weave mosaic pattern enhance the room’s black-and-white palette.
Working with the client’s preference for a luxury English cottage esthetic and a black-and-white palette, Scales maximized both colours by creating striking tile rugs on the floor of the 220-square-foot bathroom using a basket weave mosaic tile edged with a black pencil tile from Ann Sacks. The balance of the floor comprises white porcelain tiles laid on the diagonal.
But Scales recently took custom one step further when she couldn’t find the perfect sink. Constrained by limited space, she custom-designed a trough sink for two with waterfall wall-mount faucets. “This enabled the couple to each have drawers in the vanity with ample countertop space while sharing the sink in the centre,” she says.
With more attention on the bathroom as a sanctuary and a place to de-stress after a busy day, Kassam says good lighting is essential. “You can create a space with beautiful finishes, but if it’s not illuminated correctly with different levels of lighting then you’re losing some of that luxury,” he says.
Marble mosaic tiles on the floor and wall of this spacious bathroom are the basis of its old-world charm. Combined with the functionality of modern fixtures such the steam shower, the mirrored sinks and the soft sculptural lines of the freestanding tub,it makes for an elegant and sophisticated place to relax and refresh.
A combination of light sources like recessed lights, chandeliers, sconces, under-cabinet and adequate illumination for grooming is the basis of a good lighting plan.
But Kassam cautions that choosing the right light is all important. “It shouldn’t be too cool—a 4,000-Kelvin can produce a cold and clinical light—or too warm, which has a yellow tone,” he says. (He suggests a crisp 3,000 K.) “A well-lit space improves one’s mood and gets you ready to tackle the day.”
While steam showers are becoming a must-have in many luxury bathrooms, the free-standing tub maintains its appeal. In addition to fulfilling the obvious functional need, it adds a touch of glamour and a sculptural element.
Soroka says the curved lines of an oval tub add a sense of femininity and softness to a space that otherwise has many hard edges and straight lines. “That seems appropriate since tubs are generally favoured by women while men often concentrate on showers,” she adds.
Medicine cabinets are also being upgraded or supplemented, says Soroka. “Expensive creams and lotions—as well as medicines—need to be stored in a cool space,” she adds. Adding refrigerated bathroom cabinets like those from Biszet, which offer three different zones, each with its own temperature setting, could be the new must-have feature in luxury bathrooms.