The Servants Bathroom

We thought we would compile a little blog discussing what we used in the bathroom and why…

Let’s first start by accepting that a cottage that is 300 years old never had a bathroom, that luxury was a much later addition. We could however source references of early bathrooms with period details, and were able to introduce these touches into our new bathroom. 

We started by working on the shell of the space. We like to enhance the existing architecture and restore materials that would have been used all those years ago in the rooms within our estate. We cleaned the wooden beams on the ceilings, we did this by using soapy warm water, you would be amazed how quickly the water got dirty. 

We also restored the exposed beams in the one wall, taking care to strip them of paint, we then plastered the room with a lime plaster to celebrate the original architecture and quirks of the room.

As we like our comfort we installed underfloor heating, as we love to have a bit of warmth underfoot. Initially we wanted to install a wet room system for the shower, however after thinking about maintenance and ease of cleaning we decided on a very large shower tray, Dean worked out what the build up would be with the under floor heating and the marble tiles so the shower tray was flush with the floor, it wasn’t easy but it was definitely worth it, even after going safe and having a shower tray we still tanked the whole bathroom just to air on the side of caution.

It was then time to decide on what tiling we were going to use, not only for the floor but also for the walls within the shower. We personally love natural materials and decided to use mosaic marble flooring and big 61x 30.5 marble tiles for the walls. We also added the additional details of a marble skirting and a dado detail which we feel elevated the finish and we mustn’t forget about the amount of times that Borja broke the last piece of dado to install! 

We know these materials aren’t cheap, however we are in a mindset that we want to do it once and ensure it stands the test of time, with style and durability.

For us, we found that traditional ceramics and brassware from Burlington were the perfect fit for our space. The clean lines and elegant details inspired by the bygone eras ensured the ceramics blended beautifully into our classic bathroom scheme.

We chose to have a very large single basin, the Edwardian 120cm Basin with Chrome Wash Stand. We loved the striking design of it, but equally we wanted to have enough surface space to display skin care products and work with bathroom needs. We were originally keen for a mixer tap design, however on reflection, we decided we’d prefer separate hot and cold taps and fittings that balanced well with the elongated basin; we settled on the Kensington 3 Tap Hole Mixer with Pop-up Waste with a black accent to add contrast. This black colour is then picked up in the cast iron effect radiator we used as that supplementary source of heat. You can never be too warm right?

As a contrast to the beautiful traditional beams on the ceiling we decided to use a modern directional spot lights, we couldn’t be happier. They take no focus from the beauty of the beams and it also allowed us to control what areas we would like to highlight within the space… Perfect!

For this bathroom we decided to only have a shower, we don’t have time for baths anymore – we’re too busy renovating! However we chose a really large showerhead and a matching black handset, holder and hose so that it paired perfectly with the basin brassware. 

To complete the room we hung some old paintings to add a little traditional touch, we also got reclaimed old stools which we love that there aren’t two the same and they are handy to put the towels on top. Ensuring we had a nice mix of modern and traditional elements.

We feel this is the best bathroom that we have completed to date, it has an incredible feel to it.

Below are a couple of before and afters of the space :)