If you are currently renovating a bathroom or ensuite and are faced with a myriad of choices and decisions about what fittings and products to choose for your bathroom, here’s some tips from three professionals that might help.

Step inside and see the products they’ve chosen for their own homes. You just might find all the hard work of selecting your bathroom fittings is done.

MEET THE BATHROOM RETAILER

Now if you source, recommend and sell product every day, my guess is you are going to end up quite particular in your choices – styling, product quality and performance are all going to come into play.

So when Alana Gray was re-doing her kid’s bathroom, she wanted to create:

• A bathroom that was stylish and affordable with
• Products that had a point of difference but were hardy for young children and reasonably timeless.

Alana sourced all of her tap ware, shower head, and bath filler spout from Phoenix. Why? Alana rates their offering of product styling, Australian design and quality as the strongest on the market, at a mid-level price point.

Alana is practical though and while the round shower rose is lovely, if you are trying to wash kid’s hair a hand shower makes everything so much easier (and a lot less damp). The hand shower was installed quite low - which works perfectly for little people today, but also makes cleaning the shower much easier for anyone. Alana chose one from the Methven range – the Krome series is available in matte black to tie in with all of the other fittings.

The freestanding bath means the bathroom is practical for getting kids clean day to day plus it’s a good size for the kids to play in. It's equally appealing to an adult who’s looking for a quiet space and there's plenty of room to stretch out. It’s made of cast stone, making it easy to clean and stain resistant, which are two very important qualities when you are a busy mum.

Being a family bathroom, it was important to make sure that there was adequate storage and bench space in the bathroom. So for the vanity, Alana chose a 1500mm wide double bowl Opulence vanity from ADP. The vanity was then teamed with a matching shaving cabinet from Timberline. Adding a towel ladder, robe hooks and towel rails (all finished in matching matte black) means that there is a spot for everything, and no excuse for the towels to end up on the floor.

Alana and her family are planning on staying in the home long term, so it made sense to invest in quality fittings that will last well for many years without needing maintenance or replacement.

If you are planning a ‘forever’ bathroom, here’s Alana’s list of the bathroom fittings she chose to achieve a great, lasting result.

MEET THE TILER

Craig Smith runs his own tiling business in Adelaide. Recently he, together with his wife, Kate, upgraded and updated his own ensuite. Now looking at some of Craig’s previous work we know that he’s a thoughtful guy – case in point – In a recent walk-in shower he tiled he added not one, but two recessed niches – one for all the shampoos and body wash, and the other a little lower down so that there was somewhere to balance while shaving your legs – very practical.

So in his own ensuite here’s the list of bathroom fittings Craig chose:

• Craig went for all Matte Black on his tap ware, shower head, and accessories.
• Given it’s a small space, Craig installed a walk-in shower, which is a really effective use of space.
• With the toilet, the choice of an in-wall cistern reduces the amount of floor space being taken up.
• He specifically selected the wall hung vanity to create the illusion of space. They chose to go floating because the more floors you see the bigger the room looks. The vanity is a beautiful color and really warms up the space. It’s topped with a stylish above counter basin.
• As you would expect the tiling is beautiful – Craig chose two different tiles – a textured white subway tile, and a concrete look warm grey tile.

The result is a great looking ensuite that would be a pleasure to start your day in, all achieved within a reasonable budget. Craig was careful in choosing bathroom products that delivered on both price and looks.

MEET THE INTERIOR DESIGNERS

One glance at this ensuite bathroom and you are struck by space and light. Mitch and Mark are Sydney based interior designers, who also renovate and resell properties on the side.

Their key goal with this property was to create a bathroom with broad appeal. Let’s run through what they put in and left out:

• The most striking feature of this bathroom is definitely the mirrored walls in the walk in shower. They just amplify and multiply the available light and perception of space in the bathroom.
• Including a free standing bath within the space is a really nice touch – and gives the space a sense of retreat, that comes even with just the thought of having a bath.
• They’ve chosen compact wall hung basins so that there is room for two of them – always handy during morning rush hour. There is good storage above the basins that is cleverly disguised in mirror fronted cabinets.
• The basins are fitted with matte black mixer taps and bottle traps which contrast well with all the white in the reflected space.
• And then the space is finished off with a statement shower in a brass finish.

The result is a simple but striking looking room, delivered on budget.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE PROFESSIONALS?

It’s so interesting to see three different bathrooms, with three different approaches, and the type of product being installed. Here are the tips we took from our three professionals:

• If you’ve got the space, definitely install double sinks or a double vanity – it just makes a kid’s bathroom or ensuite easier for everyone to use.
• Matte Black tap ware is it. There are lots of great brands out there, and at a variety of price points.
• Think about how you use your shower, and whether you need a hand shower as well as an overhead shower rose for convenience and practicality.
• Toilets – we don’t talk about these enough. Install an in-wall cistern makes such a big difference to the look of a bathroom and the amount of floor space a toilet takes up. Carom is a brand we all know, and there Invisi series toilets really set the bar.

Walk in Showers just work!!