Want to get into a little decorating hot water? Then it is time to add style to your bathroom. The bathroom is often the smallest room in the house, but one where we spend a lot of private time and will be visited by almost every guest to our home.

The bathroom is your private sanctuary, a place to go to renew both our body and spirit. The bathroom of today should be luxurious, spa like, functional and efficient. Whether you are planning a weekend redecorating project or a complete bathroom renovation that finished space will be one of your most personally rewarding investments.

Big or small, the size of the bathroom does not matter. It is the style and personality that you create within the space. Start with style, are you drawn to a romantic French country look, traditional elegance or the simple clean lines of Zen? Once you have committed to a style, you are ready to begin the makeover. If the project entails a change or additional fixtures and amenities: sink, toilets, tub, steam-shower units or custom cabinets visit, supplier web sites, read trade magazines and tour showrooms and building centers. Do your research; quality-plumbing fixtures such as faucets and taps, and well designed storage space makes these daily efforts more enjoyable.

You have many options in style, products, finishes, price, and suppliers. Custom options are also available. They take a little extra effort in research; ingenuity and creativity but the results are well worth the effort. Hand made glass sinks, custom tiled shower units and antique chests transformed into sink cabinets are just a few of the options. Be creative.

Begin your bathroom makeover from the floor up. Since the bathroom is usually a smaller space compared to other rooms in the home it is often affordable to indulge in a few luxuries. Radiant heating under ceramic tiled floors is one of my favorite indulgences. Stepping from the shower or bath onto warm ceramics is heavenly. Luxurious chenille or thick terry bathmats are also luxurious indulgences for the feet. When selecting a mat for the floors remember your style. Sea grass or bamboo mats in the Zen styled bath, traditional patterned carpets for the elegant formal bath, plush faux sheepskin mats for the minimalist modern spa inspired bath. Think beyond the ‘traditional’ bath product scope. The bathroom is a room for living. It needs furniture and accessory items like all other living spaces.

Lighting in a bath is one of the most important design elements of the room. It is imperative to have good lighting for the functional aspects of the space: shaving and make-up application. Good grooming demands adequate light. Plan for lighting from above and from the sides of the mirror area. Mood lighting is also necessary for those quite times when we need comfort and tranquility. Put your overhead lights on a dimmer switch and be sure to accessorize with candlelight.

Changing the wall texture and colour is one of the easiest changes you can make in a room. In a small powder room go for drama, lots of wow power! Since this space is used, only for short functional visits, you can be especially daring and creative. The size of the space also allows us to use materials that may otherwise be prohibitive by budget: expensive wallpapers, custom painted faux walls or even fabric or metal paneled walls. Darker colours add personality and create impact.

A bathroom used for daily grooming, makeup application and shaving needs paint colour, to be carefully selected. We need skin colour to be as real as possible; so consider that wall colour will reflect onto your skin in the room. Neutrals, peach, mango, taupe, gray and soft yellows are good chooses to maintain ‘real’ skin tones. Use additional dramatic or vibrant colours as accents.

The next step in your bathroom makeover is the detailing. Small touches that provide efficient storage and feel of luxury. Is there room in your bath for a bench or chair? A ‘seat’ provides a place to sit and remove socks and shoes and a place to lay clothing. Think creative upholstery coverings for your seat; terry or chenille toweling, plush wild animal prints or Egyptian cottons.

If you enjoy lounging in the tub, but hate to miss the morning news, install a wall mounted television set or a shower radio. A clock is also an important and often over looked bathroom detail. How many times have we been in the tub or putting on our makeup while wondering how much time we have left before we must leave for work or, when the kids are do to arrive home? Warming drawers and heated towel bars are other pampering additions for the bath.

Indulging your scent sense is easy in the bath with baskets of scented soaps, sachets, bath crystals and oils. Natural sea sponges displayed on shelves, in baskets and bowls or laid to rest on the side of the tub are not only functional but also visually interesting. They also make great scent holders. Drop a few drops of your favorite scented oil directly onto the sponge for lingering aromatic effect.

Use baskets, glass shelves installed above the toilet, or wine bottle holders to store extra towels and bottles of shampoos, conditioners, and bath oils.

Create your own luxurious home spa with a little style, imagination, creativity and a few simply sensational ideas!

DESIGNER SECRETS

To make a room feel larger, choose a neutral color or match the wall colour with the colour of your window treatments, one may be a slightly deeper or lighter shade than the other but by using the same hue you will visually expand the space.

To help create a sense of tranquility in a space look at the sizes and shapes of your windows. If your room has windows with different shapes and sizes, start planning your drapery treatments with the largest window first. By using the same under treatment, such as a blind or sheer panel on all the windows you will create a sense of unity even if the sizes and shapes are irregular. Embellish the larger window, with more layered treatments, (think multiple layers of operable or non- operable panels and or valance and panel combinations) to create a sense of importance for this particular window. These treatments should be simplified on the smaller windows or eliminated all together.

COLOUR NOTES

The color Gray is known as the designer’s workhorse because there is always a tint, tone or shade that will work with any other color under the rainbow.

Gray is a serious color so it works well in a masculine or minimalist styled room. But just because gray is so serious doesn’t mean that it can’t be enhanced with accents of silver, gold, pewter, charcoal chenille’s and a variety of silks. Gray--it doesn’t seem to have a lot of personality, but when you team it up with textured fabrics, a black sculpted rug and shiny, glossy accessories; gray will make any room in your home or office simply sensational!