Glamour and connection

Designed by Michelle Gillbanks, Kitchens By Design

Design brief

My professional homeowners, with adult children no longer living in the family home, came to me two years after I had completed their kitchen renovation, requesting I do the second most important room of their home – the master ensuite.

Their key emotive words when describing what they wanted their new bathroom to evoke were – elegance, luxury and escape. 

They also asked for it to be in keeping with the home’s character, but with much more glamour. 

Designed and built in Auckland in the 1950s, the home's traditional high battened ceilings, detailed scotia and skirtings, made it ripe for a total personalised overhaul.  

The wish list included:

• Space for both owners to use the bathroom at the same time.
• Storage for make-up, with an area for application.
• To semi-hide the toilet from the entry.
• Task lighting as well as ambient lighting.
• More space to store towels and personal items.

Design statement

This was a large space to work with.  

Considering the existing built-in bathtub hadn’t been used for 20 years, we decided that this was the first thing that had to go.  

This provided more space for much needed storage and countertops and the space now lent itself to having a full suite of amenities, including a double vanity, free standing tall storage unit with rubbish bins and a large shower.

The vanity has a lovely symmetry, with two beautiful geometric crystal brass framed hanging pendants.  

Intricate light play / brushed brass highlights

The pendants' LED light shines directly onto the top of the crystal, reflecting intricate patterns onto the walls, ceilings, and the two crisp white vessel basins.  

In addition, brushed brass wall mounted spouts and mixers add just the right amount of glimmer.  

The lighting plan also includes a LED strip on a sensor, inserted around the toekick, adding ambiance as well as practical illumination.  

The brushed brass look is continued into the rest of the bathroom, including on the finish of the three vertical heated towel rails, the shower slide with rain head, and lastly the reeded knobs on the vanity and tall cabinet.

Custom classic cabinetry 

Being custom made cabinetry, we were able to personalise the storage and overall layout to give both users their own space to groom.  

We also had fun with the traditional tall unit, designing a detailed cornice with up lighting, and large grooved tapered posts to ground it.  

In addition, we added a matching post detail at each end of the vanity to help make the space feel cohesive.

Italian tiles lead the colour scheme

The most striking design detail for my homeowners, was the selection of the floor-to-ceiling, large-format Italian tiles. 

These are a mix of black, brass and white and created an incredible artistic statement, which define the colour palette for the rest of the bathroom.  

Original scotia restored

The final detail in this renovation, was reinstating the original scotia, which flows through to the adjacent bedroom and the rest of the home.

All points considered

The final layout fulfilled all the owners' needs – from the makeup zone to the partially concealed toilet, ample storage in the deep vanity and tall cabinet, and plenty of much needed bench space and lighting.

Story by: Trendsideas