Before & After: A dated bathroom transformed into a luxury wet room

Carolyn Bailey

23 November 2024 at 6:10 am·3-min read

bathroom showing walk in shower basin mirror and floating shelves — Before & After: A bathroom with luxe touches ADAM CARTER

A small, dated bathroom has been updated into a stylish wet room with handy storage and luxe touches. Homeowners Katerina and Mark swapped the bathtub for a sleek walk-in shower and the bulky basin for a slim wood vanity and countertop basin, which have helped transform the bathroom in their home in Highbury, north London.

Before

'The house has a single small bathroom that looked even smaller with a bathtub and a bulky basin,' says Katerina. 'The layout of the room was fine, but there was very little storage space.'

white bathtub tiled wall and toiletries — Before: The bathtub felt like it had been squeezed into the room and there was no storage spaceADAM CARTER

What kind of look did you want?

KD: Our aim was to make the bathroom look more elegant and feel spacious. We decided to have a wet room and add luxe touches with brushed brass finishes. Also, we were inspired by Farrow & Ball's Setting Plaster shade and wanted to use it on the walls and ceiling to give an illusion of extra height.

a wall hung toilet wooden vanity unit with countertop basin plus floating shelves and a round gilt edged mirror — Floating wooden shelves create a streamlined, minimalist lookADAM CARTER

How did you get started?

KD: As we had a fairly good idea of what we wanted, we created a Pinterest collection of images for reference and found specific photos for the tiles, the wet room, the basin and cabinet. Then we went to Ripples with a drawn layout of the existing room and its dimensions to start the conversation and see what was feasible.

countertop basin and compact wood vanity unit with toiletries — A countertop basin and compact vanity look smart and make the most of the spaceADAM CARTER

Were there any particular challenges?

KD: The main one was the size of the bathroom, which is only about 2 x 1.8m. We wanted to fit everything in and feel comfortable, not cramped.

You had certain priorities in mind...

KD: We were keen to have underfloor heating, a heated mirror, an overhead and hand-held shower, more storage space and alcove shelving in the shower.

white herringbone tiled shower wall with two cubby holes for essential toiletries — Built-in cubby holes are ideal for keeping essentials on handADAM CARTER

Now it’s done, what do you like most?

KD: Our finished bathroom is exactly what we wanted and has been designed to perfection. The tiles laid in a herringbone pattern look great and the quality of the fixtures and fittings is excellent.