Serving the Purpose in Style — Creating a Cool But Functional Bathroom

My bathroom counter always has wildflowers in the summer

In recent years the bathroom has been transformed from a functional and essential part of any home to a contemporary, stylish room in which the homeowner can relax and lock out the stresses of day-to-day life. This makes designing your perfect bathroom an enjoyable challenge, particularly so in achieving the balance between style and practicality. Before embarking upon any renovation project, you should certainly explore the wide variety of fixtures and fittings available to gain an understanding of the final look that you wish to achieve.

Styling the bathroom

Despite usually being the smallest room in your property, the bathroom can ooze style through a careful choice of fixtures and fittings. It’s hardly surprising that this room is playing an increasingly important role in securing house sales. A wide range of styles are available, from Edwardian and Victorian-inspired designs to contemporary bathrooms with soft lighting and clean lines. Whichever design you choose — and this will often be heavily influenced by your personal taste — it’s important to also think about who will be using the bathroom and how often. A family bathroom will require additional storage space, so good bathroom furniture is required. If you have children, you should think about fittings which are more resistant to wear and tear too. A small bathroom will benefit from some creativity in planning to ensure all space is used effectively.

Storing in style

All bathrooms require storage for everyday fundamentals and can be useful for helping to reduce clutter and giving an impression of space. Bathroom furniture that combines functionality and style, such as a vanity unit on which the sink is mounted, maximizes the available space, provides valuable storage for small, unsightly items such as bottles, and can be blended in with your chosen style. Another option is the use of narrow depth mirrored cabinets that enable you to store your bathroom necessities without compromising on wall space; these also incorporate large mirrors to create an illusion of space and light and are particularly useful in smaller bathrooms.

Aiming for luxury

For the ultimate in style, you could turn your bathroom into a mini-spa with some carefully chosen luxury accessories, like heated towel rails, soft spotlights, underfloor heating or scented candles. These will add greatly to the sense of style, transforming your bathroom into a place where you can truly relax and wash away the stresses of daily living.

Functionality and style are not, in fact, the polar opposites many people believe and a blend can be achieved for an affordable price – but you must plan and research thoroughly to perfect a vision for your bathroom and then make good on it.