OUR RENOVATION JOURNEY : OUR PINK BURLINGTON CLOAKROOM

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** The Burlington Bathrooms products were all kindly gifted to me as part of a collaboration. All words and comments are 100% my own**

It feels like it was only yesterday that I was planning our downstairs cloakroom (I’m calling it a cloakroom, but really it’s just the cupboard under the stairs) ,and now the time is finally here for me to share what we did to this space.

Originally this space was a used as a pantry/ larder by the previous owner. We found lonely out of date tins of baked beans and boil in a bag rice which were left by the previous occupant. Our architect wanted us to build out onto the side of the property to maximise the space on the side of the house, and use this space as a cupboard for storage, but we really liked the idea of having the side access for our garden, and in the future we might build a garage, so it wasn’t really an option for us - although a wet room/ shower was super appealing.

This was the original cupboard space below. You’ll also see my husband demonstrating how this space could be used… ha!

Before Pictures of the downstairs larder cupboard under the stairs

The builders ended up knocking down the walls as they weren’t supported properly, and were in risk of collapsing, so we made the decision to knock them down and re shape the doorway. Plus this meant we could have a standard size door on it, unlike the cupboard door.

In between the Burlington ceramics arriving, our builders did the plumbing and turned the space into a temporary toilet for them so they didn’t have to use a porta-loo.

The builders temporary toilet under the stairs

Temporary toilet under the stairs

As I’ve said many times before (sorry if I sound like a broken record) our previous house never had a downstairs toilet, so having one at our beloved rat house was a top priority. We decided the cupboard under the stairs was just about big enough to house a toilet and basin, and I had my heart set on pink. The house originally had a downstairs toilet off the kitchen at the back, but this space was being swallowed up into our new kitchen so floor plan had to change.

I’m not sure where my pink obsession has come from, but I think lockdown has something to do with it. My interiors taste has changed dramatically. I want optimistic, happy colours. Colours that just make my heart sing, and pink to me now feels like a neutral and does exactly that.

I’ve been obsessed with coloured ceramics for a long time, ever since my great aunt Brenda had an avocado suite in her cottage bungalow, which even housed one of those little knitted dolly dresses over the loo roll, so having one in a space where people always say ‘you can have fun with your downstairs loo’ , made complete sense.

So when I heard that world renowned British bathroom brand ‘Burlington Bathrooms’ were releasing a Bespoke Burlington range of coloured ceramics, I knew it was fate and that now was the time to do it.

The Burlington Bespoke range consists of three different colours; Confetti Pink, Alaska Blue and Moon Grey, so naturally I was drawn to the Confetti Pink for its up lifting qualities.

To be honest I loved all the colours, but the Pink really wowed me and made me think how fun it will be for our guests to pop in there and get a little surprise. It really reminds me of the mid-century era, and the Confetti pink is the perfect balance between authentic traditional style and characterful contemporary design. I also discovered that Burlington Bathroom were releasing a Gold brassware collection at the same time, and you know how gold/ brass obsessed I am - I knew they would go together perfectly.

I chose the Bespoke Confetti Pink back to wall Pan which retails at £599, the Bespoke Confetti Pink Edwardian 51cm Cloakroom Basin £399 which is only 51cm wide so was perfect for this space - plus wall mounted meant it was out of the way - which is important for a small cloakroom space. For the gold accessories I chose the gold Basin plug and chain £39 , Gold cistern flush lever £25 , Gold traditional bottle trap £99 and the Burlington Claremont Regent Basin Tap 5" set £209.

Once I had decided on the pink ceramics I then got lost down a pinterest rabbit hole. In all honesty I struggled to find any modern bathrooms with coloured ceramics, all the images are of 1950’s- 70’s bathrooms with shag pile carpets on the floor and matching square tiles on the walls. I then stumbled across the most beautiful and appropriately named ‘Neapolitan’ ceramic hexagon stripe tiles in pink and white by Ca’Pietra. I loved the diversity of this tile as you can place it in different arrangements, and I knew it had to be stripes for a candy effect. I then chose a subtle large format marble tile for the floor- The Chelsea Porcelain in the 60 x 120 format which were also from Ca’Pietra so I would only have a couple of grout lines to help with dirt and cleaning.

This was the Moodboard

Burlington Moodboard
Burlington Bespoke Confetti Pink back to wall Pan and ‘Neapolitan’ ceramic hexagon stripe tiles in pink and white by Ca’Pietra and The Chelsea Porcelain in the 60 x 120 format marble look tiles which were also from Ca’Pietra for the floor.

Burlington Bespoke Confetti Pink back to wall Pan and ‘Neapolitan’ ceramic hexagon stripe tiles in pink and white by Ca’Pietra and The Chelsea Porcelain in the 60 x 120 format marble look tiles which were also from Ca’Pietra for the floor.

Luckily I had a a patient tiler and a plumber who were willing to take on the challenge of lining up 300+ hexagon stripe tiles in the four corners of the room to get the perfect continuous stripe pattern for me.

Once the room was complete I accessorised it with two Spark and Bell Opal flush wall lights which are £84 each, and a beautiful fine edge arch mirror from Heals which is £299 and a Brass shelf from Amazon which was £22.50.

I’m delighted with the outcome of this transformed larder cupboard into 60’s inspired downstairs loo. I’d love to know what you think?

Would you be tempted to add coloured ceramics into your bathroom? x