THE PINK ENSUITE BATHROOM REVEAL

I’m back! Back in my happy place writing about our mammoth renovation project. It’s actually a year ago today that we got the keys to rat house, and now I’m here showing you another finished room.

Back in August I wrote a blog post about our en-suite bathroom plans which involved more of my favourites… pink, pink and er… more pink.

Well the time is now here for me to show you how close I got it to that infamous pink and white cad of my bathroom plans. I’ll let you be the judge of whether it looks like it…..

BEFORE

But first, here’s a little refresher for anyone who’s new to my blog. This room was part of the new extension plans on the 1st floor where we extended out by 3.75m, so once the cavity walls are taken into account this room is just over 3.5m long x 2.4m wide. The size is something I get asked a lot as we managed to fit a bath and a shower into this space and I’m pretty pleased that we were as it’s now my little sanctuary.

IN BETWEEN

AFTER

My aim for this bathroom was to create a fun ensuite that was a joint space for my husband and I to use. We have a main family bathroom which is accessed off the landing for guests, and is much more serious and grown up in style (which I’ll show you soon), but since this space leads on from our dressing room and master bedroom we wanted it to feel like it was an extension of our main living quarters.

Our pink and white ensuite bathroom. Products featured include : Kohler Brockway™ 3' Wall-mounted cast iron sink, 2 tap holes, Kohler Cléo Freestanding bath painted in Dulux fresh Plaster, Tiles are from Mosaic Factory , Toilet is Kohler ModernLife™ Close Coupled toilet pan Toilet , Mirror cabinet is from Amazon, Towel radiator from Burlington and the black shower enclosure is from Drenchshowers.

This is the view as you enter the bathroom from our dressing room. In hindsight this room could have been a bit smaller to make space for a larger dressing room, but instead I opted for a more opulent en-suite space. It’s been an exciting room to design as everything started from the Kohler Brockway™ wall mounted cast iron sink. I was instantly drawn to it for its design and functionality. Easy to clean, dual Triton taps so myself and Mr Houselust can have our own his and hers, it ticked all the boxes of what we were after.

And because it’s designed to be wall mounted and not have storage, I opted for a marble shelf to be attached to the wall beneath for towels and toilet rolls to bought an oval shape mirror cabinet from Amazon. It just goes to show you can still have storage without the sink having the traditional vanity unit beneath with a little imagination and a good bathroom cabinet.

Products featured include : Kohler Brockway™ 3' Wall-mounted cast iron sink, 2 tap holes, Kohler Cléo Freestanding bath painted in Dulux fresh Plaster, Tiles are from Mosaic Factory , Mirror cabinet is from Amazon, Towel radiator from Burlington and the wall lights are the FRIHULT from Ikea in black £25 each.

The black wall lights were a bargain find from Ikea (FRIHULT) and cost £25 each. Plus they’re IP44 rated so they were suitable to be in a bathroom which was a win win as personality I think theres a lack of nice bathroom lights around in the UK market.

Our pink and white ensuite bathroom. Products featured include : , Kohler Cléo Freestanding bath painted in Dulux fresh Plaster, Tiles are from Mosaic Factory , Toilet is Kohler ModernLife™ Close Coupled toilet pan Toilet , Kohler Standard 1400 x 800mm Rectangle Shower Tray £368 and black shower enclosure is from Drenchshowers.

I chose these Encaustic pink and white tiles which I like to think I designed myself. So hear me out… Mosaic factory have an online simulator where you can pick different colours and patterns and see them come to life on screen. After playing around with this and online and ordering some small colour samples, I settled on colours R (PINK) and B (the white). Now ask me in a couple of months how they wear and how you keep them clean, as I’ve never had encaustic tiles before.

For the shower I chose a very practical and lovely shower tray from Kohler. This is the Standard 1400 x 800mm Rectangle Shower Tray £368 and even has a gorgeous chrome trim around the waste which matches the bathroom brassware perfectly.

Products shown above: Kohler Artifacts Handshower £120, Kohler Artifacts Thermostatic Built-in Single Sequential Shower Valve with 2-way Diverter £700, Kohler Katalyst Traditional round rainhead 8" diameter £325 and Mosaic Factory encaustic tiles in colour R and B.

I’ve always wanted a hand shower in our shower. I never had one in our old house in either of our showers and I regretted not having one. There’s two reason for needing one… the first, which is the most practical is how handy it will be when I need to clean the bathroom. The second is for when I don’t want to wash my hair (and I guess it might be handy for your bits now and then).

We opted for a ceiling mounted rainfall shower and chose the Kohler Katalyst Traditional round rainhead 8" diameter. We wanted an 8” so the pressure is still good, as bigger shower heads need more output to get the same coverage as an 8”, and this one gives the perfect pressure. I chose The Kohler Artifacts Thermostatic Built-in Single Sequential Shower Valve with 2-way Diverter as it has a traditional look. Plus with the two way diverter means I can easily switch between the rainhead shower or hand shower easily.

Did you notice my niche, by the way? Again this was something else which I’ve always wanted. The niche (aka the built in shelf) will come in super handy for holding our shampoo bottles, and stop the bottom of the shower tray getting cluttered and dirty,

You’ll notice with all these room reveals, I have done everything which I wished I’d had in our old house. If you can’t add these things when you do a full renovation, when else can you?

Products shown above: Kohler Artifacts Handshower £120, Kohler Artifacts Thermostatic Built-in Single Sequential Shower Valve with 2-way Diverter £700, Kohler Katalyst Traditional round rainhead 8" diameter £325 and Mosaic Factory encaustic tiles in colour R and B.

Our pink and white ensuite bathroom. Products featured include : Kohler Brockway™ 3' Wall-mounted cast iron sink, 2 tap holes, Kohler Cléo Freestanding bath painted in Dulux fresh Plaster, Tiles are from Mosaic Factory and Towel radiator from Burlington .

For the bathroom radiatior, I wanted an electric towel warmer which could be switched on whatever the weather. Again, this was a huge bug bear of mine in our old house when it was a boiling hot summers day, if the heating wasn’t on, then the towels couldn’t dry unless I took them outside. So this time I went for a tower warmer which is on a switched fused spur so I can turn it on and off when I want it on. This one is the cleaver towel warmer from Burlington and was the most affordable for what I was after - plus it matched the chrome Kohler brassware perfectly.

Toilet is Kohler ModernLife™ Close Coupled toilet pan Toilet and Kohler Composed Floorstanding bath & shower mixer £1,020

For the bath, we opted for a freestanding bath/ shower mixer tap - This is the composed floorstanding bath and shower mixer from Kohler. This is something I’m already regretting not choosing for our other bathroom too. They are so practical and even when they’re not on, the hand shower is perfectly positioned over the bath to catch any drips once its turned off.

As the toilet is on an outside wall, we had to go for a close coupled toilet. I chose the Kohler ModernLife™ Close Coupled toilet pan Toilet as it’s rimless, its great for keeping clean.

Our pink and white ensuite bathroom. Products featured include : Tiles are from Mosaic Factory , Kohler Standard 1400 x 800mm Rectangle Shower Tray £368, Kohler Artifacts Handshower £120, Kohler Artifacts Thermostatic Built-in Single Sequential Shower Valve with 2-way Diverter £700, Kohler Katalyst Traditional round rainhead 8" diameter

The only thing left for me to do now is choose what bath towels and bath mat to go for, and maybe a blind. Ooops, at least the windows are obscured glass to tie us over for a while. I’d love to know what style and colours you would add for the towels? Or shall I just go for the easy option and pick some pink ones?

Kohler Katalyst Traditional round rainhead 8" diameter

I’d also love to hear your thoughts on whether i’ve achieved a fun en-suite bathroom? I think this room has exceeded all my expectations and I love how its all turned out. The chrome brassware pops just beautifully against the pink and white tiles! I just hope I don’t ruin the tiles when I do the cleaning.

Any tips on looking after encaustic tiles are welcome!

Product list

1. Kohler Composed Floorstanding bath & shower mixer £1,020

2. Kohler ModernLife™ Close Coupled toilet pan Toilet £550

3. Kohler Standard 1400 x 800mm Rectangle Shower Tray £368

4. Kohler Brockway™ 3' Wall-mounted cast iron sink, 2 tap holes  £3,519 inclusive of the soap dispenser and taps (This is only available through the Kohler Experience Centre in Clerkenwell).

5. Kohler Artifacts Thermostatic Built-in Single Sequential Shower Valve with 2-way Diverter £700

6. Kohler Cléo Freestanding bath £2,992

7. Kohler Triton taps

8. Kohler Katalyst Traditional round rainhead 8" diameter £325

9. Kohler Artifacts Handshower £120

10. Kohler Components 610mm towel rail £84

11. Kohler Components pivoting toilet roll holder £63

12. Drench shower screen - Boarder

This post is part of a collaboration with Kohler UK. All thoughts and opinions are 100% my own.

Leopard towels from Anthropologie .

OUR RENO JOURNEY: OUR TREX DECK AND OUR TREX PRO FITTER

**This post is sponsored by Trex decking. I have received gifted decking, and have written an honest account of the decking and labour received for fitting. All comments and thoughts are 100% my own. **

It’s been six weeks since we had our Trex decking fitted at the bottom of our garden in anticipation of us moving in VERY soon. Yes guys, the count down is on. Next time I post about this decking you will hopefully see me lounging on it in our garden furniture which has been locked away in a storage unit for the past year! Maybe you’ll even catch me with a glass of something bubbly down there.

I knew I wanted to build a deck at the bottom of our garden to potentialise on those late summer evenings lounging and getting the north facing beams on our faces. I also knew I wanted it to be a composite deck.

Having had a wooden deck at our old house, I know the difference, and I also know that wooden decks don’t last as long.

Our old decking was only 5 years old when we sold the house, and it was already in need of repair and constant maintenance- being jet washed and stained each year to protect it. So, I knew this time since it’s our forever family home I wanted the decking to last and have the longevity.

I also loved the sound of how little maintenance is required. Not that I’m lazy, but with a toddler and a full time job, not to mention my love of writing about our renovation and interiors in general means I have very little free time to sit down and stain deck boards each summer.

I chose Trex ‘Calm Water’ from the Trex Enhance Naturals collection as it’s a beautiful grey textured composite deck which looks dark, sleek and modern and requires very little maintenance. Once I was decided on the Calm Water Trex Enhance decking, I then had a (socially distanced) consultation meeting with Steve to discuss the plans for the decking. It was Steve who suggested building a flower bed on the end of the deck out of the Calm Water Trex Enhance Naturals collection composite decking. I loved the idea of the flower bed being sunken into the deck, but still having a raised, defined edge so it looked like a flower bed. Being built in the decking also gave it a streamlined, modern look.

THE SUNKEN FLOWER BED - BY BUILT WITH TREX ENHANCE DECKING IN CALM WATER

Steve from Living Landscapes also suggested a few other ideas for another phase of the garden possibly for next year. Suggestions like adding a pergola above half the decking, and adding a hammock in between the pergola so I can lounge in my sun trap (the garden is north facing and the decking is located at the back of the garden for maximum sun potential!). EEEEeeek watch out for next year!

Inspiration for Next year to build a Pergola above the decking, and to hang a hammock or swing chair outside

Image via Pinterest.

Finding Steve from Living Landscapes (a Trex Pro builder) was super easy as Trex has an easy search bar at the top of their web page where you can search via your postcode. If you want to find out who your local Trex pro builder might be you can click here.

I cannot tell you how thrilled I was with his workmanship and his ideas for our deck, and how inspiring I found his ideas. He also reassured me that adding a pergola in the future wouldn’t affect the Trex Enhance boards which I already have and that it can be easily done by taking the boards off, digging and fitting the posts with concrete, and then re fitting the Trex Decking boards back on top, just with new cuts for the Pergola posts.

Steve from Living Landscapes hard at work cutting the Trex Decking.

Steve from Living Landscapes hard at work building the Trex decking frame

Not only is composite decking hardwearing, but it will also evolve and transition with my future garden plans which makes it a fantastic investment piece for my garden.

And look at this vision… we’re almost in guys…

OUR RENO JOURNEY: THE FRONT DOOR HAS BEEN UPGRADED!

* * The Banham locks were kindly gifted to me, with no obligation to post. All opinions and views are 100% my own.**

They say a person makes up their mind up about a house, before they’ve even set foot in inside. It’s all about the curb appeal apparently… Well if that was case, then I certainly wouldn’t have bought our dear old ‘rat house’.

The front door was the original dating back to the 1930’s ‘Arts and Crafts’ era, and I’m pretty sure that if it had been looked after properly then it would still look beautiful now. Sadly this wasn’t the case for us, as this door was rotten, bitten (the previous owners dogs had bitten the door frame) and it still hummed as sweetly as it did on the first day we viewed the house, as it did on the day it got ripped out. A smell I’ll be glad to forget - think dogs urine saliva and rats all combined.

It wasn’t solid wood- a wooden veneer to look like solid oak. We only knew this as another neighbour thought theirs was solid wood until they chopped it up. The annoying thing was we didn’t just need a new door, but an entire door frame and side glass. The glass was single glazed with a lattice lead pattern and it gave us zero security and protection. In fact I was always scared the glass would pop out the frame every-time we closed the front door - whoops. I can safely say that now it’s been ripped out. Not to mention the side panels of glass being clear, offering no privacy.

The original door also had heavy thick bolts on the back, but they were pretty useless unless you were inside the house, so basically it all had to go.

The original Front door - Inside and out

I started researching doors and locks and had my heart set on a traditional 1930’s front door. The estate where our house is located is full of 1930’s properties and lots of them have original stained glass doors, so I knew it would still blend in with the period of the house and not upset our fellow neighbours.

Our builders recommended a carpenter in Portugal who could make us a new oak door and frame and ship it to the UK, which we decided to do as it was the most affordable option for us, and it would give us the flexibility to have exactly what we wanted. I then found a local guy who would make the stained glass.

Because of the glass rebates, we ended up having to double glaze the stained glass - so effectively they’re actually triple glazed as the stained glass roundel had to be sealed and encapsulated into double glazed units. I didn’t think I’d like it, but I can still see the texture clearly and the light still hits them perfectly through the hallway. Plus, this makes them tougher, safer and more energy efficient.

Now the locks- Sweet mother of Jesus the locks. I have lusted after Banham locks for so long. I know that must sound crazy, but I am very particular about details and have been fascinated by these locks ever since I first spotted them on a beautiful pink door in London.

So whats so great about Banham locks, I hear you ask…. except for the fact that they look super pretty, Banham locks are also protected by patent and have a unique Key Registration system offering audited, controlled security. The locks are also un-pickable and un-copyable (without permission and a code). They’re also bloody sexy locks and also only require one key for both locks! No more thumbling around like a school caretaker for that second key. Basically if Carlsberg did locks, it would be these… as they say!
I went for the Banham L2000 night latch, the Banham M2002 deadlock, the small letter plate and letterbox protector all in polished brass 🔐 🖤. I honestly couldn’t love a set of locks anymore.

The Banham Nightlatch L2000 in polished Brass £262.80

Banham M2002 Deadlock in Polished brass £252.

They also have a nifty feature which means you can double lock the night latch before you leave the house, so that if anyone tried to break the glass and reach in, the night latch would still lock. You just turn your key clockwise to the 6pm position and back to 3pm and voila, walk out and you know that it is locked from the inside and out!

The Banham Letter plate in polished brass £246

and the

Banham letter box protector in polished brass £194.40

For the door furniture I chose the matching polished brass letter box from Banham which was £246, and the matching Banham letter box protector in polished brass which was £194.40.

This sturdy piece of solid brass deters any potential thief’s being able to reach through the letter box to open the locks.

My new black oak 1930’s style front door with Banham L2000 Night Latch and Banham M2002 Deadlock in Polished Brass.

From the inside- my new 1930’s style front door with Banham L2000 Night Latch and Banham M2002 Deadlock in Polished Brass.

Banham M2002 Deadlock in Polished Brass £252.

Banham L2000 Night Latch £262.80

Can you tell I’m passionate about locks? For me its all about the detail, but you can’t ever compromise your safety and with these locks you wont ever need to.

OUR RENOVATION JOURNEY : OUR PINK BURLINGTON CLOAKROOM

** 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

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.

Bespoke Confetti Pink Back-to-wall Pan £599

Bespoke Confetti Pink Edwardian 51cm Cloakroom Basin £399

Gold Basin Plug & Chain £39

Gold Cistern Flush Lever £25

Burlington Gold bottle trap £99

Claremont Regent Basin Tap 5" £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 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.

Burlington Bespoke Confetti Pink Edwardian 51cm Cloakroom Basin £399, Burlington gold Basin plug and chain £39 , Burlington gold cistern flush lever £25 , Burlington gold traditional bottle trap £99 and the Burlington Claremont Regent Basin Tap 5" set £209. fine edge arch mirror from Heals which is £299, ‘Neapolitan’ ceramic hexagon stripe tiles in pink and white by Ca’Pietra, Spark and Bell Opal flush wall lights which are £84 each. Brass shelf from Amazon £22.50.

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