Making a bathroom that's cosy as well as beautiful: 'Furnish a bathroom as you would any other room, to create a relaxing and inviting feel'

Bathrooms

Victoria Wormsley has added a decorative feel to the bathroom of her Hampshire home. She spoke to Amelia Thorpe.

When interior designer Victoria Wormsley annexed an adjacent room to create an en-suite for her bedroom, she was first focused on making it as comfortable as possible.

‘In a small bathroom, the fittings are typically arranged around the walls, but that doesn’t work in a larger room because of the enormous space left in the centre,’ explains Victoria. ‘Equally, you can feel rather vulnerable and exposed bathing in the middle of an empty space.’

The solution here was to bring the shower to the centre of one wall, rather than tucking it into a corner, so anchoring the freestanding bath and positioning it for the best views seen through the window.

The bath is the Paris tub from The Water Monopoly (www.thewatermonopoly.com), a generously proportioned reproduction of a 20th-century French fireclay design, chosen to suit both the size of the room and the period style of the house. A frameless glass screen prevents water splashing from the shower area and allows the beauty of the book-matched Carrara marble wall to be enjoyed.

‘I like to furnish a bathroom as I would any other room, to create a relaxing and inviting feel,’ continues Victoria, who added a richly coloured vintage Persian rug, upholstered chair and linen-silk mix curtains.

‘People sometimes worry about steam damage, but if the room is well ventilated, it is not usually an issue,’ she adds. Walls and the custom-made vanity and panelling, both designed by Victoria, are painted in a gentle, warm grey.

The antique prints are from Etalage (www.etalage.co.uk). ‘They date from 1828, the same age as the house, yet have a graphic, contemporary feel that I love,’ she explains. ‘They bring the room to life.’

French-Brooks Interiors — 020–7591 0165; www.french-brooks.com