My tadelakt bathroom renovation
I'm excited to share these pictures of my recent bathroom renovation with you. You may know if you follow me on Instagram that I've been *very* excited about this project! I'd spent a long time planning, pinning and saving, and it's been amazing to see it take shape. The previous bathroom was long untouched and badly in need of replacing, and we also decided to move the wall adjoining the bedroom behind to create a bigger room for our son (at nearly eleven, he really was getting way too big for his mini-sized bed!) - so it was quite a big project. Since we were designing the new bathroom from scratch rather than adapting what was there already, I wanted to take time to think through every detail, to be sure it would just right and that the space would really work. I knew I didn't want pattern, too much visual contrast, strong colours, or too many hard surfaces. What I did want was a peaceful, cocooning space which would feel like a sanctuary at home; a warm colour palette and soft textures; and the kinds of details you might usually find in a living space, like beautiful lighting and trailing plants. I chose tadelakt for its organic, tactile feel and its air of understated luxury, and was delighted to work with Tadelakt London to create this space. Come on in ...
I'd set my heart on tadelakt for the bathroom, for its minimal yet warm, wabi-sabi properties, and I couldn't be happier. I wanted a soft, barely-there plaster pink and I found just the colour in Little Greene's china clay mid, which Valentin at Tadelakt London colour-matched for me. The basin and taps are from Lusso Stone, the light from The Pendant Light Company, and the floor tiles from Fired Earth. The Victorian pine door (seen in the mirror) was a local skip find, which I had stripped and installed on a sliding track on the landing outside the bathroom. I worried a little that the shower wall to the right would intrude too much into the space - it's not a large room - but with its curve and smooth tadelakt finish, it's a beautiful feature and also, quite handily, means you don't see the loo when you walk into the room.
There's always fun to be had with reflections - and here, I enjoy how the landing wall and old school locker unit - as well as the trailing ivy on the shower wall - are reflected in the mirror. (The green wall is just a tester pot patch at present; I'm just waiting to find time to paint the whole landing!)
This cabinet from House Doctor (a lucky ebay find) sits perfectly above the loo and next to the curved shower wall. Disclaimer: although all of these items *do* live in the cabinet, I did remove a few less photogenic items that normally also live in here for the purposes of this photo! Photographic half-truths aside, I was a bit concerned that this beautiful cabinet would look a bit rubbish with all of our bits and bobs in here, but it really doesn't - it's lovely.
By replacing the inwards-opening door with a sliding one, we created just enough space for a walk-in shower. What a treat.
Quite early on in my planning, I decided I wanted plants trailing from the top of the shower enclosure (thank you Pinterest!). Oh, and as the usual shampoo and conditioner we buy just weren't pretty enough for this lovely niche shelf, I bought these recycled plastic bottles from Muji. Happy sigh.
Mirror from The Little House Shop
All about the curves.
We moved the bathroom wall to create more space in the bedroom behind, and as we now had less space, decided to replace the existing roll-top bath with this built-in one. And as well as saving on space it's actually a lot more comfortable.
The wall-mounted taps in brushed gold and basin were from Lusso Stone, as was the slimline "thinn" basin.
See how tactile the tadelakt finish is?
A neat little cupboard in the side of the bath works brilliantly for some extra storage.
I hope you've enjoyed the photos. Do please let me know in the comments below :)
