Fancy a tour of this modern-rustic bathroom with a mix of traditional terracotta and marble tiles plus brushed gold fittings?

Lisa and Jamie Carter bought their Victorian home in Cobham, Surrey, in 2015. They knew they wanted to renovate the house, but in the end they took six years to develop the plans. The couple built a two-storey extension that complemented the fabric of the house, and they updated the bathrooms to make sure the home was perfect for everyday life.

After seeing Simply Bathroom’s Instagram projects, meeting the team and visiting some of their installations, Jamie and Lisa decided they were the perfect designers to create their four new bathrooms.

Here, Lisa explains how the renovation of this beautiful master bathroom came together…

The vision for the modern-rustic bathroom

We always wanted to create something bespoke, using materials we hadn’t often seen used together. Capturing the character of the house, we used the original sash windows as a focal point, but wanted to draw the eye to different materials, tones and textures.

We opted for brightly coloured basins, marble and terracotta tiles, brass accessories and a practical wooden cabinet. Simply Bathrooms really took our desires on board and were keen to create something they knew we’d love.

The renovation process

We knew we’d have to move out and stay somewhere close by, to ensure that we could manage the project daily. In total, we were out of our home for 12 months and two days. It was hard because the boys had to share a room, our dog was unsettled and our belongings were all in storage, but it was worth it.

We were really keen to incorporate terracotta in the design but a full-on rustic neutral wouldn’t have worked, so smaller, marble metro wall tiles were added to the design as they give it a more contemporary feel.

To add interest into the palette, we decided to blend traditional brushed brass hardware with much more modern, matt black fittings to mix things up.

One of the key features of the bathroom design is the use of brightly coloured basins. They were imported from China and add some colour without overpowering the whole design. This proved to be a cost-effective way for us to inject more personality into our project.

The ceilings are vaulted so we couldn’t use spot downlighting. It is naturally very bright, but we needed evening lighting and so we put fittings within alcoves around the WC and shower, as well as hidden lighting under the vanity unit.

Structural changes and challenges

The final re-work of the bathroom design improved the layout because the half-height boxing around the WC turned out to be really helpful. Because the bathroom has such high ceilings, the boxing helped to anchor everything, pulling the marble tiles across to the other wall and introducing a space for more decorative objects, so we could inject a little more personality.

We wanted the rustic-style terracotta floor tiles, but our designer Sophie said they were not compatible with a walk-in wetroom because they are too porous. So, rather than have a shower tray, we ran the marble wall tiling on to the floor area of the shower. We then built up a hotel-style tiled plinth with boxing around the shower to elevate it. It makes the marble tiling look like an integral part of the design.

Design: Simply Bathrooms | As originally told to: Ben Webb

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