Guide to Designing and Buying a Bathroom

A Professional Designers Guide

Bathroom Furniture and Worktop Options

There is such a large range of furniture now available it is impossible without good advise to sort out the best option for the more bespoke solution. Ready made furniture is available from cheap as chips upto outragious. Styles choices are staggering from flat gloss doors up to Roccoco and Shabby chic. I have provided categories on most with links to good ranges and options.

Please click on company name links to view products

Built in modern bathroom furniture

Modern built- in furniture has a strong place in the bathroom market because of the logistical problems of hiding bathroom plumbing without it looking shoddy ie boxing in everywhere. A plinth height of 200mm allows for hiding soil pipes under the base units, but unfortunately looks ugly and out of proportion to the cabinet top height. I normally get my carcase manufacturer to construct a bathroom cabinet to my specification to get round this problem. Standard bathroom ranges can be limited in choice of carcase sizes and door design. The cost of improving this situation has been minimal to me, so there is no excuse for other bathroom suppliers to do likewise!

Built in traditional bathroom furniture

Built- in traditional furniture can look good if there is a good choice of finishing details like pillasters, legs and moulding details. I have been spoilt with my bespoke work where I can design any detail I need to finish off my furniture design. It is this design limitation with ready- made furniture and to- order furniture that makes me push harder to go the bespoke route to add some uniqueness to the scheme.

Freestanding modern bathroom furniture

Modern freestanding furniture is available from lots of retailers and distributers, and in more variety than standard built in furniture. It is A big task to look through every option when choosing your bathroom furniture so I have provided links to my favourites and I will as usual be adding more later.

Freestanding traditional bathroom furniture

Freestanding traditional furniture can be an excellent choice whether off the shelf or bespoke. It is important to buy good quality and sometimes can be a false economy buying ready made for this reason. I often find it easier to design and build what I need rather than buying something close. I still think it is good to look carefully in the ready made choices before building from scratch but i have wasted a lot of time doing so for top end schemes.

Off-the-ground modern bathroom furniture

This is my favourite section at the moment, with lots of nice design options open to me. I am finding my design brief leaning more towards off the ground freestanding furniture choices and have had to address the plumbing problems associated with it. Boxing in of pipework for soil and waste pipes can look particularly ugly and ruin a nice off the ground scheme . It is important to sort out pipe runs and plan this into your design. If you have to put in a false wall or panelled section with shelf then this is preferrable to boxing in with ply and tiling, in any combination. Basin wastes can be hidden in false walls if the wall is adapted and strengthened. Concealed wc cisterns need a depth of about 200mm to hide so set your false wall to allow for this.

Retro style bathroom furniture

This is a section for the design junkies who have an itch to reproduce a particular style statement from a particular period whether 50s, 70s or whatever floats their boat. This is possible by buying objects at auction or from antiques shops. It is also a style for eclectic mixes if you do not want to be a slave to one style. I have built items for customers when I couldn't find what I wanted and would suggest you get good design advise if you want new items.

Period style and bespoke bathroom furniture options

This is different from retro in that it is the faithful reproduction of furniture for period houses to look the same or to blend in with existing furniture styles. I have provided lots of furniture for the bespoke market for this purpose. Again the finishing details are essential to make this exercise worthwhile. There are many periods to copy but a good start is to research your house date and look at what is typical for that period and then work with this style to provide your unique version.

Minimalist bathroom furniture options

Minimalist design statements can be difficult to pull-off and should really be left to a good furniture designer. it is essential to get the balance right between material choices, textures and colours. Because there is not a lot going on it is easy to over-do it and feel that more is required. I would again suggest employing a good designer and leave be.

Out-there bathroom furniture designs

This is for the design junkies who need a fix! I have provided links to minimalist iconic furniture solutions and colourful eclectic Italian styles. I will add more in the near future.

Bathroom Fitted Furniture Door Style Options

I have provided a link here to my door and finishes options for bathroom furniture whether freestanding or built in. It is possible to order all of these options to any size and in a vast range of colours and wood finishes. The doors are shown as kitchen but can be ordered to bathroom heights as standard bespoke options.

Bathroom Worktops

Countertop choices in the lower price brackets can be quite limited in choice, whilst solid surfaces can vary dramatically in price, so require a thorough examination to work out what your budget will allow. Laminate has a life span that can be a day upto 30 years. If you damage laminate with a sharp object then it is unsightly and spoilt. Composite stone tops are repairable and can be refinished. granite can sometimes be repolished. I would recommend not skimping on your countertops and try to stretch to a composite type at least if you are looking for looks and long term practical usage.

Laminate worktops

High pressure laminate worktops with a chipboard base in 28-30mm are very popular and available in hundreds of colours and textures. The quality is again governed by price and is more relevant to the base board and the edge finishing. Water runs under the front edge, so drip grooves and underlapping of the laminate edging prevents the water damaging the worktop. Thickness of laminate on the worktop can effect its durability, so check this when buying, even though most are a similar specification and price.

Gloss laminate worktops

Looks good for not very long ! Not a worktop I would recommend for heavy use. It seems to scratch more and show up badly in bright light but is being updated with more durable options.

Wood edged laminate worktops

A more traditional worktop look but still available, and more expensive looking than pencil edged laminate with wood type bathrooms. If the worktop is manufactured in factory machined conditions, then it is more durable than fabricated on site, and requires good clamping and the right type of glue. Quite often these precautions are ignored and the top fails.

Fabricated laminate worktops

This method is rarely used and one of the more interesting options for individual design because the laminate is thicker and has more choice of colours and textures. The worktop requires laminate in sheet form and preferably a ply base board. Fabrication is best undertaken by expert fabricators.

Wood staved or Bespoke wood worktops

Hardwood tops are available in many woods and varying stripwood thicknesses (staves). Wider staves are more costly but look better ie 50mm upwards. Thicknesses are generally 40mm and 30mm but other thicknesses can be fabricated by fixing a thicker hardwood edge to the front edge. Not really a worktop I use actively in bathrooms, but has its place in bespoke traditional freestanding and built in pieces, ideally made to order rather than staved..

Composite type worktops in polyester or acrylic

Composite stone dust and acrylic or polyester worktops are available from many manufacturers in lots of colours and textures. Corian is the most well known and respected and my first option when budget allows. It is also a similar price to competitors who offer a similar choice of colours. I have looked at many other suppliers and found the noticably cheaper to have a more limited choice of colours and fabrication options, so if you are on a more limited budget then expect less choice. I have fitted a number of bathrooms with cheaper composite tops and found this to be a more satisfactory option, even with limited colours, than using laminate, and the initual extra cost worthwhile for long term projects, so look carefully before commiting.

Corian colour chart

Composite acrylic or polyester onto chipboard base worktops

5mm Composite type material onto 25mm chipboard is a satisfactory price step from laminate, and can be joined with matching glue and edging to give a seamless look. It is a cheaper price compared to fully fabricated composite options, but with the limited colour choices, so can be boring for designers on more design based schemes.

Man-made stone worktops

Silestone provide a very good choice of man-made stone worktops and are one to look at for choice of colour and texture. Again there are many other manufacturers and the choice is good, but price again effects choice of colours when cheaper. The stain resistance and resistance to fracture are better than granite and the solid colours look stunning with more modern designs.

quartz stone worktops

A recent introduction to man-made stone with quartz crystals to add interest and strength.

Granite worktops

The most popular choice for traditional kitchens and modern alike, if the budget allows ! Has become accessible to more customers because of cheaper imports and internet retailers. Edge options are limited on solid 30mm thick tops, and can be pricy if you want something more individual. 40mm and thicker are edged 20mm, and can look unconvincing in certain styles. Colour options are much more varied if you source through importers such as Pisanis at Matlock, Derbyshire. An eye-opener if bored by your local kitchen companies samples, or choices.

Marble worktops

This is an option to be careful with. Marble is softer more porous and easier to fracture than granite or man-made stone worktops. The choice of colours are very good, but granite is more practical.

Special granite finish worktops

This catergory covers un-polished granite, and bush hammered, aswell as other special effects which are stunning, but generally these worktops are harder to maintain in normal use.