Hannah Ladic Photography
If you’re making a big statement in a bathroom – whether it be a glam bathtub, a wallpapered feature wall or a show-stopping light fitting, it’s important to get the balance right with other elements in the room.
There’s no doubt your statement piece should take centre stage but other decorative features in the space must provide a ‘supporting cast’ to allow it to shine. Back-ups singers, if you like, that reference the piece in terms of their style and finish.
“A statement pendant light will add a wow factor”
Aimee Tarulli, Archer Interiors
Let’s break down the design rules with a few examples.
1. Allow space around your feature piece
If there’s no actual space, choose neutral colours in finishes such as plain white tiling and grout. Choosing matte grey bathroom tiles against a copper bath should at least reflect the warm tones of the metal.
2. Reference the colour in other fixtures and finishes
Whether it’s a colour in the wallpaper pattern or a metallic in statement tapware, use the same in other areas of the room on a smaller scale. For example, a show-stopping copper bath might be echoed in copper tapware and perhaps a copper band or detail in the light fitting(s). A statement wallpaper colour should drive the choice of towels and vanity accessories.
3. Keep to a consistent style
A clawfoot bath or glass chandelier will inform the style of your vanity mirror, tapware and perhaps cabinetry. A sleek modern tub will need sleek lines echoed in shower glass, benchtops and wall-mounted vanity.
Without this cohesion, your statement feature will stand alone in terms of style and register incongruous with the rest of the room, so it’s all in the details. You might think your choice of grout insignificant, but getting it wrong starts you on a road away from the very item you want to shine.
In such a case it’s always helpful to refer back to your moodboard. Building a visual reference of all of these elements so that no matter how small a decision seems at first, ultimately your choices bring the whole room together seamlessly.
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