In part 2 of this 3-part style guide, Helen Skelton and our creative team demonstrate how first-time buyers can “Get the Look” for less, with a warm and sophisticated ensuite bathroom.
If you’re a young adult striking out on your own, this bathroom style guide is all about you. Whether you’re still living at home after leaving uni or taking that first tentative step on the property ladder, Helen Skelton and our creative interior design team are here to help.
If you haven’t done so already, why not begin with Part 1 and work your way through, by clicking below.
In Part 2, we’ll be looking at a different style entirely—something a little more eclectic, rustic, and darker in tone—and demonstrating where you can save your hard-earned cash by working on certain elements yourself. Without further ado, let’s crack on…
Helen and I, along with our creative Victoria Plum team, are here to help you achieve your dream bathroom
Get the Look: Bathroom 2—Warm and Sophisticated
The second of our 3 bathroom designs has a slightly masculine feel to it, with a warm yet darker palette. Featuring an eclectic mix of contemporary and traditional products, the look is relaxing and sophisticated, with a subtle industrial edge—the perfect setting for any young adult making their way in the world. And, the one thing that is at the very heart of all our bathroom designs is the ability to make the look your own.
Sophisticated, warm and relaxing—take inspiration from our bathroom design
Some of the main things we’ve considered when designing this bathroom include:
- Ample room for everyday essentials, like razors, shaving gel, aftershave, etc.
- Creative storage spaces, including floating shelves, to help reduce clutter and provide a home for everything
- A large feature mirror—perfect for personal grooming and to help reflect light
- Dedicated space for laundry, clean towels and those all-important cleaning products
- Plants suitable for bathrooms—to improve air quality
Styling your bathroom
One of the best things to do, at the start of any new bathroom project, is to create a mood board, containing colours, patterns, products and even textures you love. Here’s one we made earlier…
A great starting point for your bathroom project: Your mood board will help guide you towards the right colours, products, patterns and textures
For a more rustic, masculine look, we’ve opted for darker tones, softened by natural wood finishes. This produces a warm, rich colour overall that feels very welcoming and relaxing. The eclectic mix of products blends traditional (like the vanity unit) with contemporary (like the toilet), giving certain elements a farmhouse feel, while black accents, in the form of the taps, shower and enclosure, add a touch of soft industrial styling—an enduringly-popular look.
Next, we’ll examine some of the individual products more closely, and show you where you could save cash by taking on certain jobs yourself.
Rustic farmhouse style vanity unit
To achieve an eclectic style, it’s first worth considering which parts of your bathroom will be traditional in style and which will be traditional. You could, potentially, choose a vintage-inspired toilet and basin pairing, however, in this instance, we’ve picked out the Dalston floorstanding vanity unit from The Bath Co.
This luxurious product features a rustic wood finish and opulent genuine marble countertop for that extra-special finishing touch. The darkness of the wood fits beautifully with the darker colour scheme, whilst bridging the gap between timeless and trend-led elements.
Of course, it’s not all about stunning looks! With a large cupboard area and 4 drawers, there’s plenty of room for all your bathroom essentials (see below). To keep things neat and tidy, we’ve gone one step further and purchased some plastic storage boxes. How’s that for organisation?
We used the following products:
Black accents for a soft industrial edge
Sitting midway between contemporary and traditional styling, the Lotherton matt black basin mixer tap from The Bath Co. is a great choice for an eclectic bathroom. A modern take on a classic design, the matt black finish fits perfectly with our other brassware choices (e.g the shower and enclosure), producing a subtle industrial look.
Fitting the tap is certainly something you can do yourself and, as the vanity unit is delivered pre-assembled, all your chosen Tradesperson will need to do is fit it in place and plumb it in.
Moving on to the walk in shower, we’ve provided continuity with an on-trend black-framed shower screen and black stone shower tray.
Quick and easy to clean, with no awkward hinges, rollers or moving parts, it’s a great choice for those who lead busy lives, where an invigorating shower is preferable to a lengthy soak in the bath.
And, to make your showering experience the best it can be, we’ve opted for the Spencer round black twin diverter valve shower set. Fitting seamlessly with our theme of black accents, this concealed valve shower system, with minimal external parts, is much easier to maintain than an exposed valve system.
We used the following products:
- The Bath Co. Lotherton matt black tall basin mixer tap
- Mode 8mm black framed wet room glass panel with black anti-slip tray
- Mode Spencer round black twin diverter valve shower set
Sophisticated storage to maximise space
One of the things you will need to think long and hard over is the amount of storage space you need in your bathroom—especially if you are sharing with a partner or housemate.
We’ve picked out a slimline storage unit which, at just 350mm wide and 330mm deep makes optimum use of precious floor space.
This type of bathroom furniture is ideal for all those bulkier items which you might want to keep hidden from view. Clean towels, toilet rolls, shaving kits and the like can all be stowed away ready for use.
If you have the occasional house guest (who you’d rather didn’t go rooting around in your cupboards), why not create your own clever toilet roll storage, like the one we created above. All you need is some suitable material, rudimentary sewing skills and a robe hook!
And while we’re talking about creative storage, another quick and easy solution you can install yourself, is a shower shelf. It’s the perfect place to keep shampoo, shower gel and all those other showering essentials close at hand.
We used the following products:
- Orchard Elsdon stone grey tall storage unit
- Accents Deacon matt black robe hook
- Accents Mono black 600mm bathroom shelf
Choosing striking walls and floors
To achieve this striking yet sophisticated look, we’ve been both careful and creative with our choice of bathroom wall and floor coverings.
For a more masculine look and feel, we’ve gone with darker, stone-effect wall tiles around the shower area (an area in which you could save cash by doing the tiling yourself), balanced by low-maintenance wood-effect flooring and wooden slat wall panelling away from splash zones. Whilst the panels look amazing, there are ways you can fake the look for less with either shower wall panels (see our video below on how to fit them) or wallpaper. To keep things warm and welcoming, we chose to paint some of the wall space in a burnt orange. This brings real depth and a bright, bold aspect to the bathroom.
We used the following products:
- Calcolo Fuji glazed porcelain wall and floor tiles 615mm x 308mm
- Calcolo Nipigon amber oak chevron water resistant laminate flooring 8mm
Easy clean hygiene
When you've got a busy lifestyle, one thing you certainly won't want to spend your precious time on is cleaning your bathroom. That's why we've designed this bathroom with easy maintenance in mind. Take our choice of toilet, for example. This highly contemporary design is fully shrouded (meaning it can be positioned flush to the wall, with the waste pipe concealed) ensuring there are no awkward dust traps or hard-to-reach areas where grime can accumulate.
One other easy-clean feature of this super modern toilet is the hygienic rimless bowl design, which means bacteria and germs have nowhere to hide. Throw in an eco-friendly dual flush for good measure and you have yourself a true time and money-saving convenience!
While some level of regular cleaning is an inevitability, it always helps to keep some cleaning products on hand. For just such an occasion, we've included this neat little basket (which you can make yourself or purchase for next to nothing) where you can keep bleach, household cleaners, sponges and rubber gloves—ideal if an unexpected house guest drops by!
We used the following products:
Keep things warm and welcoming with your final touches
Ensuring your bathroom is nice and warm, especially during those chilly British winters, is a key consideration. One thing you'll need to work out is your required BTU output, which you can easily work out by watching the video below. Once you have that figure, you can go about choosing your bathroom heating.
To make optimum use of space, we’ve opted for a vertical radiator in anthracite grey. This dark, almost black, shade fits perfectly with the other black accents found in our bathroom.
In much the same fashion, we’ve picked out a highly contemporary black bathroom mirror, complete with stylish leather strap design, LED surround and demister, so there’s no hanging around straight after your shower.
While we’ve mainly accessorised with ready-made products, this bathroom is all about making the look your own and saving money where you can. So why not consider crafting some of the accessories and storage yourself? For example, you could create your very own towel holder and shelf using a repurposed fruit crate (see below). It’s another nice little DIY trick that lends itself perfectly to the overall look and feel of this bathroom.
We used the following products:
- The Heating Co. Salvador anthracite grey double vertical radiator
- Accents Renaissance bathroom accessories
Get the Look in a small bathroom or cloakroom
Love this style but wondering how it might work in a downstairs toilet or small cloakroom? Well, we’ve done all the big thinking for you.
Whilst the warming colour palette has been retained, the sophisticated look can be easily achieved by swapping out bulkier furniture in favour of a space-saving, yet equally stylish countertop basin and shelf.
The basin itself is made from genuine marble for an opulent appearance that simply feels high in quality, and we’ve accompanied this with a black high rise mixer tap, to continue the black metallic theme.
We used the following products:
- Mode Hale white and grey marble countertop basin 430mm
- Mode Orion chestnut wall hung countertop basin shelf
- Mode Calatrava matt black high rise basin mixer tap
- Accents Deacon matt black towel ring
Helen Skelton's bathroom ideas for young people—Part 3
We hope you’ve been inspired to #GetTheLook! Why not head to Part 3 now and discover another amazing style! Simply click below.
#GetTheLook and #VPShareYourStyle
No matter where you are on your home improvement journey, at Victoria Plum you’ll discover all the inspiration you need for your bathroom project. Head to our #GetTheLook page, where you’ll find loads of different style guides, from timeless and traditional to on-trend and contemporary. Simply click below.
And, once you’ve created your dream bathroom, don’t keep it to yourself! Why not #ShareYourStyle with us and your fellow Victoria Plum customers? Simply follow @VictoriaPlumUK on Instagram or X and tag us in to any photos of your bathroom using the hashtag #VPShareYourStyle.
Check out just some of the creative bathrooms our customers have shared over the years.
Helen Skelton’s bathroom ideas
As a busy mum of 4, Helen Skelton knows just how important a bathroom can be for the health and happiness of her family. Take a look at some of the other #GetTheLook style guides Helen helped create:
