In a Q&A format, we talk to the designers – and examine the creative thinking – behind some of Houzz’s most loveable rooms.
Bankson Design
Images by John Downs Photography.
Answers by Natasha Hodgson Banks, interior designer at Bankson Design.
Who lives here: A couple
Location: The Gap, Queensland
Room purpose and size: A guest ensuite with three doors (one to the guest bedroom, one to the hallway and one to the verandah) that doubles as a main guest bathroom when required
Bathroom size: Around 14 square metres
Approximate budget: AU$20,000
Interior design: Natasha Hodgson Banks, interior designer at Bankson Design
Builder: JCM Building Solutions
Before Photo
Bankson Design
The original bathroom.
What wasn’t working for the client?
The bathroom was dated and cluttered. And the shower screens were a chore.
What look and feel did they want?
A space with clean modern lines and a sense of drama.
What were their must-haves?
- A walk-in shower.
- Clean lines.
- Brave colour.
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Bankson Design
What was the brief?
- To renovate and modernise a 1980s peach-coloured bathroom.
- To rework the layout.
- With their grown-up children having left home, the owners wanted to use their space in a different way. As this large bathroom had two main doors (plus a verandah door) – one to the guest bedroom and one to the hallway – the dilemma was whether to keep the two-way access or close off the hallway door and make it exclusively an ensuite.
The decision was made to keep the hallway access for future resale, but to use it as an ensuite for now.
Before Photo
Bankson Design
The original bathroom.
What challenges did you work around?
- Having three doors and an L-shaped floor plan made working out the new layout difficult.
- Choosing one unbroken wall as a feature wall and deciding where to put the vanity for the greatest impact was tricky.
- The beams under the flooring made it difficult to work out the position of the bath.
- The verandah door limited our options.
Before Photo
Bankson Design
The floor plan before works.
Having an L-shaped layout with no symmetry made it difficult to centre the vanity and bath. The design therefore had to draw attention away from the problem.
We did this by installing an eye-catching feature wall behind the vanity in textured stone-look tiles, and by painting the wall around the bath a dramatic charcoal to make the elegant white tub stand out and to frame the view.
Bankson Design
The floor plan after works.
What was the starting point?
We wanted to connect this bathroom with the adjoining bedroom, which we did with colour.
We took our colour inspiration from the bold rug under the bed. We chose Porter’s Paints Long Island Grey to frame the bath and views.
Bankson Design
Where did most of the budget go?
Construction of new walls, quality fixtures and fittings, and fabulous tiles.
Where did you splurge?
We moved a few walls to allow for a larger shower and an in-wall toilet cistern. But it made a huge difference to the sense of space in the room. Also, the beautiful tiles from Concept Tiles.
Where did you save?
The plumbing fittings were basically in the correct position so there were no major changes to the pipework.
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Bankson Design
A new mirror reflects light and views into the bathroom.
Tell us about the mirror
One of the main parts of the brief was for a large, walk-in shower. To do this, we had to take space from a linen cupboard in the bathroom’s small hallway, which lost 150 millimetres of walking space. To disguise this, we hung an ornate gold mirror to reflect the view and open up the space visually.
Materials palette
- Large-format matt charcoal floor tiles (Double-Loaded Espresso porcelain floor tiles in Charcoal from Concept Tiles).
- Textured stone-look tiles with a subtle sparkle on the walls (Nordic Stone tiles from Concept Tiles).
Paint
- Porter’s Paints Long Island Grey.
Bankson Design
Key pieces of furniture and fittings
- Kado Lux freestanding bath.
- Issy Glide vanity.
- Teknobili Up wall basin mixer set in chrome.
- Solus mirror cabinet with strip lighting.
- Mizu Drift Hi-Rise shower set in chrome.
- Roca in-wall toilet from Reece.
- Metallic Bronze blinds from The Style Group.
Your turn
Are you as impressed with this design solution as we are? Tell us in the Comments below. And don’t forget to save your favourite images for inspiration, like this story and join the conversation.
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