Here in Bristol we’re not quite at more-bathrooms-than-bedrooms madness just yet, but we may well get there. Fresh ideas and eco-friendly upgrades are revolutionising how we view these most practical of sanctuaries, making them the most desired room in the house.
By Kirsty Lake
Watch the fancier American property shows – Selling Sunset, Million Dollar Listing – and you can hardly help but notice a deranged trend become increasingly prominent: houses with more bathrooms than bedrooms. (I don’t think I dreamt one beachfront monstrosity with four beds to nine baths, and a two-to-one bathroom to bedroom ratio has certainly marched from the bizarre to the vaguely unusual to the utterly unremarkable in lickety-split time.) Though this trend is most common in Los Angeles – Harry and Meghan’s Montecito pad reportedly has nine bedrooms and 16 bathrooms – it’s spreading to the rest of us too. Many luxury London and New York developments have a minimum one-to-one bedroom-to-bathroom ratio, and some rock two full bathrooms for each master suite.
An extreme love of the bathroom isn’t new, of course, but it’s getting wilder – and weirder. Until the ’60s, one bathroom was considered enough for virtually any house; by the ’70s, two was the dream; and this century two-plus has become standard. As much about privacy, isolation and territory as cleanliness, your own bathroom has become a much-coveted escape from partners and family – indeed, the ideal home has gone from his and hers sinks to his and hers bathrooms, plus his and hers wardrobes, and (ideally) his and hers dressing rooms too, all as part of the main suite. And that’s not all: beyond this, you’ll need further en-suites, a family bathroom for the rest of the house, and anywhere people get wet or sweaty (a gym, a sauna, a pool) will need its own bathroom too. Ludicrous though it sounds, it becomes easy to see where Meghan’s 16 bathrooms – or Ben Affleck’s 17 – came from.
All this is well outside the realms of 99.9% of us, of course, and comes not without in-built problems – and they’re rarely just plumbing-related (though this can be, of course, a major issue). Bathrooms cost a lot, so incorporating more adds plenty to the bottom line of a refurb, and they can seem samey; nobody wants to feel like they’re living in a Ripples showroom, after all. Imagination is needed to make sure you’re not just plopping identical hotel-style cubes hither and thither across the house.
Not that we’re totally sniffy about the hotel feel. Indeed, the demand for more and more bathrooms actually seems to come from the hotel experience as much as anything – we’ve become spoiled by the idea of an always-clean, always-tidy, absolutely-yours space for your absolutions. Spend enough time in such places and you’ll start to realise, hey, maybe I don’t want to waste my life waiting my turn at the sink each morning? The slippery slope to infinite bathrooms begins…
Case study: Victorian villa bathroom
The Grade II listed Victorian villa bathroom you see opposite, part of a local project we completed last year, revolves around two things: making the most of the bath itself – not always an essential in these days of extra-wide showers and wet rooms, but something the clients loved – and providing enough floor space for other bits and bobs of furniture. Putting a chair next to the bath – somewhere to temporarily hold clothes, perhaps, or relax upon while drawing a bath – was another dream of theirs, and as well as being practical added to the sense of tranquility somehow.
Many bathrooms are smallish rectangles, but not this one; it had some size, having once been a bedroom, but was an awkward space, with three different floor levels and a large wall running right through the centre of it, creating awkward pockets and enclosed areas. Removing this wall increased the usable floor space dramatically, but came with assorted new problems. As so often, the biggest challenge revolved around the existing soil pipe location – right in the middle of the room, which dictated the loo position and the need for some sort of internal wall, though not necessarily the one we’d started with. To get around this, we tucked a small cubicle on one side of the room for the WC, the sides of which also enclosed the shower and provided a backdrop to the bespoke painted bath.
That this was a listed building added to the complications, of course, but we leaned into that fact hard, retaining existing features like the shallow period cupboard and fireplace, while taking the floor down to just two levels and even adding additional panelling to enhance the traditional feel. Of course, contrasting the new with the old is a tried-and-tested winner in the interior design game, so we complemented the retained features with a contemporary bespoke floating vanity, complete with concealed drawers and walnut dowel details. The warm tones this introduced worked beautifully with fittings in a nickel finish (from Samuel Heath’s Classic Forme collection) and the dominant paint colour, Farrow and Ball’s silvery Light Blue No.22.
All washed up
A few thoughts, additions and design ideas to help refresh your bathroom without the worry of it feeling dated once the year is out
Demister mirrors
These are a dream: a cost-effective way to make your bathroom more usable, as they eliminate the pain of the mirror fogging up. They should be wired with the main lights, so they work during periods of showering.
Raised floor levels
Particularly suits a tall-ceilinged Georgian house, as you won’t notice the loss of height and the raised floor level (just 20cm or so should do it) will accommodate all unsightly pipework, and maybe underfloor heating too, allowing you to keep your bathroom scheme beautifully simple.
Clever electrics
One simple addition – courtesy lighting on a PIR motion sensor – allows you to use the loo in the night without having to make that most unwelcome of decisions: turn on the main light, which will wake you up properly, or fumble about hopefully in the dark.
Playful tiling
There are so many amazing options these days there’s little excuse for picking something ugly or (almost as bad!) dull. A playful hand with these cold, hard surfaces goes a long way, with mixing gloss and matt textures a sure-fire hit, as is carefully combining tiles in a range of shapes and sizes.
Ambient lighting
You want your bathroom to be one of the most relaxing places in your house, so the lighting is as important here as it is anywhere. Wall lights can create the right soothing ambience for relaxing in the bath, while spots allow you to see yourself in the mirror properly.
Want the look?
Accessible items from our Victoria villa’s bathroom
- North Haven basketweave niche tiles by Fired Earth, £199.20 per sq metre; artisanofdevizes.com
- Aliseo marble honed finish large format tiles by Artisan of Devizes, £127.50 per sq metre (610x 610mm); artisanofdevizes.com
- Cuba Porcelain Iberia feature tiles by Artisan of Devizes, £73.50 per sq metre; artisanofdevizes.com
- Bonheur ceramic white shower tiles by Artisan of Devizes, £75.20 per sq metre; artisanofdevizes.com
- Toulouse 1500 bath by Victoria + Albert, bespoke colour from £3,800; vandabaths.com
- Dover large tail sconce wall light in burnished silver leaf with linen shade by Visual Comforts, £409 www.visualcomforts.co.uk
Image Credits: See published article
Magazine Published by Media Clash, Bristol Life
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