When it comes to bathrooms, there are so many options and ranges of surfaces and products you can select from - to create a style and look to suit you and your home. With all of your wall and flooring finishes, product selections and decor - you want to create something that is wholistic in its design and complementary. We like to start with a key feature or element and work from there, whether it be a feature tile, a sink vessel, or your tap ware For this bathroom, we first picked the Buddy X fittings in brushed brass. Once this was locked in, we selected our tiles, sink, lighting and remaining elements to work with this.

We often find the difference between a good bathroom and a great bathroom is the attention to detail. There are many factors to consider in this space, and if you can wrap your head around all of it and visualise the space, you can be confident not to overlook these details. From practical elements, such as placement of your shower mixer (so you can turn it on without getting wet), heights of fittings so they function and look proportionally correct, where you will put your shampoo, to setting out and aligning different sized tiles.

Bathrooms can be beautiful spaces and deserve to be, given they are a high use room for house occupants and visitors. But a beautiful space does not need to overlook practical elements. A good bathroom also needs to function and meet the needs of who will use it. For us, we focus on maximising space within our bathroom by getting the layout right. Make sure there is plenty of storage for all of the essentials, so we don’t have to leave these out on a benchtop or on the side of the bath lip. Ensure there is considered lighting and heating. And use well placed mirrors to emphasise space and reflect light.

With a bathroom, more so than any other space, a change once you have started is most likely going to cost you. Work hard to plan your design and layout before you start, then lock it in. Create a detailed schedule with input and agreement from your tradespeople, making sure they are available and committed to your timeframes (as well as confirming the costs to avoid a budget surprise). Get your fittings on site and available from the start of your project to help it run smoothly. And keep in mind any changes will likely mean rework (and $), and have unexpected flow-on effects to your schedule.

A bathroom is not the room you want to have to redo in a few years due to products breaking, design being outdated, or worse - a leak. Bathrooms are high use spaces which get exposed to a lot of water (we have seen firsthand the evidence of a water leak behind a shower). Our recommendation, is when it comes to fittings, workmanship, and your design - make sure it’s going to last the distance.

Alice and Caleb of Pearson + Projects wanted to incorporate some classic villa charm into the bathroom of their 1910’s Richmond villa, a project as part of their renovation road trip. The Buddy X collection in brushed brass was the perfect solution - the living finish means it will age beautifully over time, in keeping with the homes heritage. Combined with the Concrete Nation vessel basin in Deep Ocean, the result is a modern, on trend bathroom with a nod to the villa’s past.