The latest looks in high-end bathrooms and where to find them on the market
The bathroom may usually be the most overlooked room in the home for owners but, for buyers, it often comes in second only to the kitchen.
“It’s vital to have a well-functioning and good-looking bathroom in the home, particularly if you might want to attract overseas purchasers,” says Monika Tu of Black Diamondz Property Concierge.
“Most buyers will look at the kitchen first and then the bathroom. If that’s not up to scratch then they could be instantly turned off.
“Sometimes people have a fabulous home but forget all about the bathroom. When people come to inspect, however, or look at the images, they need to imagine themselves relaxing in a beautiful bathtub in there, or be surrounded by quality and luxury.”
Tu is currently selling a 473-square-metre, four-bedroom penthouse at St Leonard’s new tower The Landmark, at 5702/500 Pacific Highway, with a price guide of $18.5 million and, as you’d expect, the three bathrooms are all splendidly opulent.
The main en suite has heated marble floors, polished brass features, marble basins and fluted glass.
The building is recently completed, but with the interiors yet to be fully fitted out, buyers still have the chance to opt to change the tiling or colour scheme.
Bathrooms can be intensely personal, says interior designer Donna Allen of The Space Within.
She says so many people are now renovating that the trends in bathroom design are moving quickly. If people have the space, though, a handsome free-standing bath still rules supreme.
“The other thing we’re seeing increasing requests for is the smart Japanese toilet,” Allen says. “The seat lifts automatically and it cleans and dries and flushes and does everything you might ever need.
“Along with those, heated floors and towel rails are very popular, while there’s also a big demand for layered lighting to create lots of moods and different environments.
“Gone are the days of a couple of downlights – now we’re seeing recessed LED lighting, decorative pendants that add a touch of luxury and wall lights around vanity mirrors to create a jewellery effect, with dimmers and night lights.”
There are so many more kinds of tiles and venetian plasters now available for bathrooms, and sinks and tapware come in a much wider range of styles, colours and materials than before.
Designer Alex Stone of Revamper says vanity basins are in vogue in soft pastels, such as pinks, greens and beige, as well as matt finishes.
Coloured metal tapware in brass is also very fashionable, with brushed nickel, gunmetal tints and black also in big demand.
“The mid-century modern look is still on trend for bathrooms, and many still love the Hamptons look with lots of whites and greys, while it’s always good to keep a bathroom light and bright,” Stone says.
“We’re also seeing a lot of different textures coming in, with terrazzo floors and different laying patterns of tiles – not just vertically or horizontally, but in herringbone patterns or stacked in different formats and patterns. But it’s all about creating a serene and comfortable home getaway.”
The main bathroom of the four in a heritage six-bedroom Queenslander house for sale at Bangalow, near Byron Bay, is a good case in point. It has patterned custom handmade tiles on the floor, an old-fashioned clawfoot bath and pendant lights, with natural light streaming in from full-length glass looking out over lush plantings.
“When the owner renovated, she wanted the bathroom to be sympathetic to the style of the house and the area,” says sales agent Will Phillips of McGrath Byron Bay.
“She had a vision to create a room that felt like a luxurious day spa, surrounded by glass, vegetation and the rainforest.”
The house itself, on acreage at 20 Sunnycrest Lane and for sale with a price guide of $5 million, originally stood in North Queensland where it provided the setting for some of the scenes in the 1984 hit Australian movie The Coolangatta Gold. It was transported to Bangalow in 1989.
Often, if there’s space, it can also be desirable to have a main bedroom’s walk-in wardrobes leading to the bathroom, Stone says. “Of course, that all depends on space, but if they can be linked together, and you can go through a walk-in to the bathroom, that’s the most preferable of all.”
The layout of a three-bedroom contemporary home in Melbourne’s Toorak is a great example. Designed by David Edelman Architects, the main bedroom has an oversized walk-in dressing room, which continues to the most spacious of the three bathrooms.
“The bathroom is all marble with ceramic tiles on the splashback in the shower, with matt black surrounds, taps and shower rose which are all very much in vogue,” says RT Edgar Toorak agent Michael Ebeling. “And the dressing room off it is the best I have ever seen in my life.”
The house itself, at 1A Selwyn Court, has interiors by Anouche Design, gardens by Jack Merlo and is close to the village, schools and transport. It’s for sale with a price guide of $4.5 million to $4.95 million.
The bathroom is always an eye-catching feature, however. “People really want a seamless luxurious feel in that space,” Donna Allen says. “The use of marble and beautiful natural stone really helps create that.”
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