Transforming a dark windowless bathroom
ad/pr product: This blog post contains products that were gifted but all views are my own.
Like many home projects, the journey to a new bathroom downstairs felt like a very long one. We lived with a carpeted (yes, that’s right, carpet) bathroom for 2 and a half years in a dark and miserable space with a cramped layout and a toilet that never wanted to flush. Then the project itself took over six months due to various reasons including suddenly realising our bathroom upstairs was leaking also (reveal for that one coming soon,) and our contractor booked in for the job became very poorly and ending up in hospital the week before he was set to start the work.
Anyway, to say we are loving it now it is finished is an understatement, and every now and then you will find me just standing in there, pinching myself that this room is actually in our home. I have never had a bathroom so fancy, and believe me when I say I do not take it for granted. From the gorgeous textured encaustic tile to the brass fittings, wet room style floor, and toilet that actually flushes, it now feels like a warm and welcoming space to enjoy rather than somewhere we went out of necessity.
As a lover of vintage and used furniture, I find bathrooms can sometimes feel cold and clinical as I prefer rooms to have elements of age or character reflected in them. This can be hard to achieve in a bathroom, where, on the most part, items need to be new and of course, due to the nature of their purpose, in hard and often ‘cold’ appearing materials. This is why the characteristics of an encaustic tile have appealed to me for so long. In particular, the two I chose from Maitland and Poate, which are handmade and the colours are hand-poured in their workshop in Spain. Every tile is unique and every surface unique, and the imperfections make them just perfect for an aged ‘always been here’ feel.
As encaustic tiles are porous we needed to seal them first so they don’t soak in any dirt, grease or marks from the adhesive/grout. With three young children, and this being our only bathroom downstairs, we wanted them to be super hardwearing so we sealed them six times before laying them, and then once again once they had been grouted and cleaned. The sealer is just a water like liquid that is quick and easy to roll on and the difference in the absorption of the tiles surface is incredible.
Meanwhile, I took a lot of joy in ripping out the disgusting carpet we inherited from the previous owners (who knows how long it had been there,) and removing the old tile and bathroom furniture. Thankfully we didn’t find another shower behind this shower like the one upstairs, and it was a relatively simple task. I initially wanted to remove the wall the sink sits on, to gain some more space, but unfortunately it wasn’t possible as it holds the waste pipe which goes up to the loft directly above and there was no way of having this moved. So we stuck with the same layout as before, but created some wooden boxing to hide the cistern with a ‘back to the wall’ toilet instead. We also moved the door to swing outwards rather than into the bathroom, creating more space as you walk in.
The Moodboard
Checkerboard tile: Cake in Stone and Deep Green by Maitland and Poate; Wall Light from Corston Architectural; Mirror from R2 Bathrooms; Shower from R2 Bathrooms; Toilet from R2 Bathrooms; Taps from R2 Bathrooms; Basin Unit from R2 Bathrooms; Terracotta tile ‘Arcilla’ by Maitland and Poate; Bath Mat from Anthropologie
The Before and Afters!
I hope you’ll agree it’s quite a transformation! The beams were sandblasted as one of the first jobs we completed throughout the house in February 2021. The door originally opened into the bathroom which made it feel very cramped as it would knock into the toilet when opening. Now the door opens outwards, towards the toy room, the bathroom feels so much more spacious (even if it is still quite little!)
I found it hard to settle on a colour for the walls as the room doesn’t get any natural light. I wanted it to still feel bright so I picked out an off-white that matches the stone colour on the checkerboard tiles. I absolutely love how these tiles are the star of the show, with the terracotta floor tile and brass accents adding some beautiful warmth to the scheme.
The Detail
We have had the tiles in place for six weeks now with daily use in the bathroom and I was worried they would stain easily, however so far they’ve been fine! To maintain them I can clean with a natural stone cleaner from Eco Protec and then, every now and then, mop them after a clean with another coat of the sealer to maintain that protective barrier on the tiles.
As our house is 400 years old, the house predates tiles so we unfortunately don’t have any original tiles or even an era of tile that we can look to for direct inspiration. Unless we went for reclaimed (of which Maitland and Poate have a beautiful collection), I think encaustic tile is an amazing option in a period property as it combines more modern designs with that natural aged look making them appear timeless.
Tiles were provided as a Pr Product from Maitland and Poate. The wall tiles are Cake in Stone and Deep Green. The floor tiles are the Arcilla tile.
Let me know what you think and if you have any questions in the comments below!
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