SarahBeenySpringIssue2017 - 167

BAT H R O O M M A K E O V E R ▲
renovations by previous owners,
the couple set about looking for
companies that could provide
products in authentic Victorian styles.

A LOW-LEVEL TOILET
WITH A HANDLE FLUSH
IS AN ELEGANT CHOICE

REAL DEAL

Before

needed both bathrooms
in good shape, especially
having just moved
from a house with two
large bathrooms.'
Beige wall tiles coupled
with a brown ﬂoor gave
the upstairs bathroom a
dark and dingy feel. The
long, narrow space had the
toilet sandwiched between the
wall and the bath's shower screen,
and a mirrored medicine cabinet
hung incongruously over the toilet.
Sarah, a TV script editor, and
Richard, a tug master (someone
who assists with the berthing of
ships), decided they could make
better use of the space by installing
a luxurious corner bath at the end
of the room. This would free up space
to site the toilet in a more practical

'We trawled the internet for ideas,
looking for "Victorian bathrooms"
and "Victorian tiles" in particular,'
explains Sarah. 'We came across a tile
company called
Original Style,
and discovered its
Artworks Collection.
'Before making
any decisions,
we wanted to see
the tiles in real
life. Fortunately,
our local retailer,
Decoramic Tile Centre
in Rochester, is an
Original Style supplier.
'For the upstairs
bathroom walls, we

WORDS: CATHERINE FRANCIS, PHOTOGRAPHY: MARTYN HICKS, FOR STOCKISTS: SEE PG 289

THE TOILET, SINK AND SHOWER WERE SO
CLOSE YOU COULD SIT ON THE LOO, WASH
YOUR HANDS AND SHOWER SIMULTANEOUSLY

Before

THE UPSTAIRS
BATHROOM
WAS CRAMPED
AND DREARY

position by the sink. They settled on
a monochrome colour scheme, with
Victorian-style ﬁxtures and lighting.
'Our plan for the upstairs bathroom
was inspired by classical Victorian
black-and-white tiling I'd seen in a
friend's bathroom,' says Sarah.

SPACE MAKER

'We also had to consider the size of
the space, so we opted for light colours
with a simple design so as not to
overpower the area.'
Downstairs, the wet room required
a more radical reworking to create a
larger, more practical space with a
toilet, sink and large walk-in shower.
'Everything was crammed into a
space half the size it is now, leaving a
void area in the old back door porch
entrance, which had been blocked up,'
says Sarah. 'We wanted to keep the
original entrance, so we decided to
take oﬀ the door between the porch
and the wet room, to open up the
space, and replace the old back door
with a reclaimed one. I also planned a
full-length wall mirror to reﬂect light
and give the illusion of greater space.'
Keen to restore the character and
charm that had been lost during

chose white metro bevelled edge wall
tiles. In the downstairs shower room,
we went for brick tiles in porcelain
from the Winchester Tile Company
(part of Original Style).
'And for the ﬂoors of both our
bathrooms, we settled on classic
octagon and dot mosaic shapes.'
The couple visited a salvage yard
in Strood, where they sourced a
wooden door to ﬁt the original frame
of the back door, and then turned
their attention to ﬁnding ﬁxtures
and ﬁttings in keeping with the
style of their home.
'Rochester-based Swanway
Plumbing & Heating Supplies
suggested the Burlington range,
which includes sinks, toilets and
cisterns that ﬁt the dimensions and
style of our bathrooms,' says Sarah.
'The upstairs radiator is also from
Swanway, and is a rather unusual
sail shape in a dark charcoal colour.
'We didn't want to put a modern
chrome radiator in this room, but
there wasn't space for a Victorian
radiator. This sail-shaped one ﬁts
neatly on the wall next to the bath.'
The lighting came from Angelo's
Lighting in Turnpike Lane, north >

www.athomemagazine.co.uk MAY 2017 | 167
http://www.athomemagazine.co.uk
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