Our rest room is likely one of the most essential areas in our house, however we frequently neglect about it, says design knowledgeable Andrea Clewett. She shares how one can flip it right into a sanctuary for much less
The toilet is likely one of the most essential areas in a house, the place we begin the day and end it, winding down for mattress. It must be energising, with area for bottles and wonder merchandise, nicely ventilated in order that it smells contemporary, and that includes colors that assist us really feel completely satisfied and grounded.
But most UK bogs fall in need of this – they’re usually small areas and may really feel cramped, whereas insufficient air flow results in damp and mildew. Nevertheless it doesn’t should be this fashion, says design knowledgeable Andrea Clewett, co-founder of customized printed rest room bathe panels model Showerscape, which has labored with artists, motels and residential properties.
She says that the common-or-garden room as soon as used purely for freshening up is about to take centre stage as a house sanctuary – and there are straightforward methods we are able to all give our rest room a brand new, fashionable look with out spending a fortune. ‘It’s not about forking out on all the pieces,” she says.
“Small adjustments can have a huge impact. You need to make your rest room really feel high-quality, as that’s what makes it really feel luxurious with out the massive price ticket.” Right here Andrea highlights the place you’re going incorrect – and how one can rework your rest room into an area you gained’t need to go away.
Mistake…YOU ONLY HAVE ONE LIGHT
One of many largest rest room no-nos (after an avocado suite) is a single overhead mild, casting its stark glare throughout the room. “Don’t panic, you don’t should rewire the entire room, with some easy lighting methods you’ll be able to unfold a softer, hotter glow across the room,” says Andrea.
Go for an LED illuminated rest room cupboard to offer extra atmospheric low lighting while you need it and a few further oomph while you want vivid mild for making use of make-up or shaving.
LED strip lights present an additional supply of illumination over a mirror and in any coves and may are available in a number of types – they’re not the strip lights out of your childhood college bathrooms.
Mistake… IT FEELS SMALL AND POKEY
Few persons are fortunate sufficient to have a big rest room, so most of us should be intelligent with the area that now we have. “Meaning, not cluttering up surfaces and cabinets with toiletries, having cleansing provides taking on ground area and towels draped over all the pieces,” says Andrea.
“Opaque bathe curtains and frosted doorways additionally shrink the room by blocking your view of the bathe area past. And small tiles and many traces of grout make the partitions look cluttered.”
Strive selecting giant tiles to create a extra seamless floor or go for floor-to-ceiling options corresponding to a photographic panel in your bathe to attract the attention upwards, making the room appear taller. Strive a nature scene, a forest, a tranquil seaside, or an vintage fowl print.
“Utilizing giant prints in a small room may make the room really feel extra expansive and fewer cluttered, and it provides the phantasm of area and depth,” says Andrea. “A big mirror may virtually double your perceived sense of area, reflecting the wall or function reverse, or bouncing mild from a window again into the room.
Mistake… IT’S ALL WHITE
All too usually bogs look extra like an abattoir than a much-loved, much-used family area, with white tiles, white bathtub, sinks and bathrooms. Not solely will an all-white scheme make the room look nameless and unloved, but it surely’ll appear chilly and stark, even when the remainder of your own home is heat and alluring.
Andrea says: “Folks neglect the lavatory is the primary place you see within the morning and infrequently the final one you’re in earlier than mattress. It ought to really feel like a little bit sanctuary, not a scientific white field.” One of many largest rest room developments for 2026 is personalisation – turning them into zones of luxurious, rest and private expression.
So meaning selecting the options, colors and textures which might be best for you. A press release bathe panel immediately creates a one-of-a-kind look. Select a murals like an summary watercolour, or run an attention-grabbing peacock print behind your bathtub.
Mistake… IT’S CLUTTERED
A lot of litter makes a rest room really feel smaller, it additionally makes utilizing something barely nerve-racking as bottles teeter and topple on the sting of the bathtub or across the sink each time you progress. So search for models that double up as storage, corresponding to under-sink cupboards. Andrea says, “You don’t have to stay to a conventional rest room unit. We used a three-drawer bedside cupboard from Dunelm in a small Welsh cottage. Be sure you seal across the sink with silicone and oil the unit’s floor frequently. It’s sensible, appears to be like nice and provides you a great deal of storage. Likewise, previous sideboards or cupboards will be reworked into stylish vanities. It’s all about creativity, not value.”
Mistake… YOU DON’T HAVE ANY ACCESSORIES
To essentially give your rest room character and element that make you need to keep in there so long as attainable, select objects that actually make it a one-of-a-kind area. “Altering your equipment within the room could make an enormous distinction to the appear and feel of the area,” says Andrea.
Just a few nicely positioned candles will make your rest room really feel like a spa – one of many huge rest room developments for 2026. “Vegetation are superb in a moist atmosphere too. Boston ferns, spider crops, even small palms could make a rest room really feel like a tropical retreat,” says Andrea.
Swap previous door handles for brand spanking new brass, matte black or chrome ones. And add an announcement cleaning soap dispenser so the sink space appears to be like clear and luxe.
*For extra data, go to showerscape.co.uk




