If modern life is leaving you feeling a little disillusioned, maybe it’s time to reacquaint yourself with mother nature? In this bathroom style guide, I’ll show you how to get the most out of organic colours, textures and materials, to create a bathroom in which you can tune out, relax and be mindful.
With our everyday lives becoming ever more stressful, we now have a greater awareness of self-care and mental wellbeing. Indeed, many of us are now turning to our home environments in a bid to create a soothing and calming place to unwind. Out of all the rooms in our home, it is, of course, our bathroom which is the key to achieving this.
As we’ve already seen with some of our most popular bathroom designs, like Refined Rustic and Lagom, less really is more when it comes to planning your perfect space. With mindfulness and relaxation major influences on your bathroom layout, we’re now seeing a shift towards a more minimalist, uncluttered style, rather than an excessive amount of possessions and accessories, complete with “Natural Elements”, which is what we’ve named this latest look.
Discover more style from these shores as we celebrate The Great British Bathroom.
What is the look?
Natural Elements is all about bringing all those organic materials normally found in the outside world into your home, with brick, slate, wood, stone and marble, along with matt surfaces, giving your bathroom a more natural look and feel.
Of course, many of these materials can prove expensive or impractical when planning your bathroom, so I’ll give you some neat tips on how you can fake it, yet still produce a space that is incredibly stylish.
In this 4-part guide, I’ll show you 3 different ways in which you can achieve a natural look, starting with a more reserved, neutral approach. In part 2, we’ll take a look at a warmer, designer approach, whilst in part 3, we’ll discover a much bolder, darker setting. Part 4 serves as a buying guide, so you can see exactly which products we used and get the look yourself.
Natural Elements
In part 1 of this style guide, I’ll demonstrate how to create a Natural Elements bathroom that features a neutral colour scheme, with a pared-back, minimalist theme.
This sits neatly with recent interior design trends that promote mindfulness and a simpler way of living, which is expressed neatly by the Swedish term “Lagom”. It’s soft, soothing and provides a more sympathetic backdrop to your bathing experience.
Handy hint: Discover “Lagom”, the latest Scandi interior design trend.
When planning a bathroom, I simply love to create a mood board with all the colours, materials and designs I like. It really helps bring this theme to life.
Get the look
Now you’ve started to get a feel for the type of bathroom we’re trying to create, here are some of my own top tips to help you on your way.
Choose light wood finishes
Our bathroom colour scheme is calming and neutral, with plenty of white space which promotes a relaxed, almost rustic feel. To keep with this theme, make sure you choose light wood finishes. We’ve achieved this through our choice of bathroom furniture, shower wall panels and accessories.
We specifically chose matching vanity units and a wall cabinet which feature a white finish with light oak effect fascias. Made from moisture-resistant engineered wood, they are ideal for this setting.
Of course, exposed wood isn’t best suited to the splash zones within your bathroom, so we’ve gone for wood effect shower wall panels, made from hardwearing laminate with a plywood core. This provides a watertight surface that is easy to clean, whilst fitting seamlessly with the light wood theme.
We also introduced bamboo wood to our bathroom design with handy wall towel storage, a duck board and a stool which doubles up as storage for the bath.
Less is more when it comes accessories
One of the key messages of the “Lagom” way of living is choosing just the right amount of items for your space. So, instead of an excessive number of products, think long and hard about your accessories and keep things simple and sophisticated.
In our bathroom, we’ve chosen a matching set of white marble effect accessories to add more natural elements to the design.
The minimalist approach means surfaces should remain uninterrupted, which is where the storage units come into their own. Use them to store away all those toiletries and cleaning products when not in use. Those items which you need on a regular basis can be stored neatly in a wire wall basket or displayed within the wall cabinet.
Choose contemporary style elements
This bathroom is contemporary in style, so you should select items which reflect this. Toilets and basins with clean lines and unfussy design are ideal.
If you are picking a bath, look for something without ornate detailing. If you opt for a shower enclosure, go for a walk in design with a low profile tray. This will keep your space feeling open, light and spacious.
Accessorise with waterfall taps, which produce a calming cascade of water into your basin or bath.
Handy hint: Find out which 5 questions you should ask before buying a shower enclosure or bath
Shop the look
You can now discover all the products used in our Natural Elements bathrooms and shop the look by clicking on the banner below.
More Natural Elements
If this bathroom style isn’t quite what you’re after, never fear! In part 2, I’ll show you how to take a more designer approach (see below). Simply click on the image below to continue reading. I hope you’ll be suitably inspired to “Get the Look”.
The Great British Bathroom
From the tiniest downstairs cloakroom to the biggest master bathroom, we’re celebrating The Great British bathroom in all its glorious guises! Why not discover all our fascinating ideas and create a Great British Bathroom of your own? Simply click on the image below.
