Bathroom Design Trends 2014
We reveal the bathroom design trends for 2014. From large luxury spa inspired bathrooms to funky cloak rooms, read our guide to creating your own fabulous bathroom.
Colour, shape and material trends
Colour, curves and natural materials are key trends for both bathroom and interior design this year. Deep blue and rich purple accent colours set against soft neutral shades of cream and grey will prove popular. As will curved bathroom furniture, patterned tiles, frameless showers, wetrooms and innovative bathroom lighting.
Monochrome and geometric patterns are set to make a big impact as they are suited to both modern and vintage bathrooms. Tiles will be the popular choice for prints although wall paper, combined with classic pieces of lounge furniture may also make an appearance in large luxury bathrooms. Vintage and particularly the 1920’s continue to be popular influences on design in general, from fashion and weddings to furniture and interiors.
Natural materials such as wood and stone have replaced the high gloss finishes that have defined bathrooms for a number of years. Designers are now incorporating soft curves and a broader range of materials including matt and brushed finishes for taps, tiles and solid surface products combined with natural materials such as Oak, Walnut and Cherry timbers with marble, granite and limestone.
Wood flooring is proving to be very fashionable of recent and as a result a wide range of very convincing wood effect porcelain tiles can be purchased. Furthermore, as a consequence of advances in manufacturing techniques, and digital printing technology, equally convincing porcelain reproductions of natural stone are readily available. These new ultra-thin, generally less than 5mm in thickness, porcelain tiles are also available in giant sizes up to 1800 x 900mm from brands such as Porcel-Thin, reducing visible grout lines and providing the appearance of large stone slabs without the associated weight and cost.
Furniture, taps and freestanding baths
Straight edges and sharply defined corners are giving way to curves. This is indicative of a softer and more luxurious design direction for both bathrooms and interiors in general. Curved bathroom cabinets, stone worktops with radius corners, curvaceous freestanding baths and stone polymer moulded sinks are the order of the day.
While tap designers continue to become ever more adventurous, with products often resembling small sculptures, materials have not altered much for decades. Well that seems to be changing, while chrome will continue to be a popular choice stainless steel, brushed nickel, and matt finish taps, shower valves and heads are now offered by mainstream luxury brands. Crosswater has recently launched the Mike Pro collection in brushed stainless and European brands such as Tremmee and Hansgrohe have offered matt and brushed finishes for some time.
Shiny high gloss cabinets and minimalism have given way to book matched Oak, Walnut and Cherry wooden bathroom furniture combined with marble, granite or quartz worktops. Solid surface materials are growing in popularity, available in both gloss and cool matt finishes, not to mention a wide variety of colours and stone finishes. These hardwearing and innovative stone polymer materials can be moulded to produce complex and beautiful products such as egg shaped freestanding baths, elegant worktops featuring integral sinks, shower trays or even whole wetroom floors.
The increasing popularity of showering has resulted in the bath being seen less as a purely functional feature of our bathrooms and more as a luxury design statement. This is especially true for larger bathrooms, both modern and traditional, where large freestanding baths, combined with floor mounted taps, are now commonly placed at the centre of the design, like a piece of classical furniture, creating a real sense of occasion and turning a long hot soak into a luxury spa experience.
Shower enclosure, tray and wetroom trends
The trend for frameless shower enclosures with wide expanses of thick glass will continue, as will the growth in popularity of the wetroom. A frameless glass shower enclosure is equally suited to both ultra-modern and vintage style bathrooms, the choice of tiles and shower head defining the overall appearance. Combine with bevel edge brick tiles and a large decorative rain shower head for a period look or brightly coloured mosaics and brushed stainless shower controls and ceiling mounted drench shower head for an ultra-modern luxury shower.
Coloured and stone effect shower trays will continue to be popular in 2014. Low profile trays of between 30 and 45mm have be widely available for some years but the latest products from manufacturers such as Fiora and JT take the humble show tray to a new level. Trays can now be manufactured in a wide range of colours and stone effects and even bespoke shapes and sizes due to advances materials and processes. This has made the shower tray a viable and stylish alternative to a wetroom, in fact the same materials can even be used for cladding the walls of your shower.
Wetrooms continue to be popular, with well-developed kits available from a wide variety of specialists and mainstream bathroom brands it is easier and cheaper than ever to create a fabulous shower room with the feel of a luxury hotel or spar. Combine with a large frameless glass shower enclosure and twin rainfall shower heads for the ultimate luxury showering experience.
Gadgets, gizmos and lighting
Digital showers will be a big trend in 2014. That is not to say that the technology is particularly new but it is developing and growing in popularity. Rather than simply controlling the temperature and settings of your shower via a wall mounted control panel, systems such as Digital by Crosswater allow the shower and bath to be controlled remotely with an app on a smart phone or tablet. Have tea in bed while your bath fills remotely!
LED lighting has facilitated a whole range of new bathroom design possibilities. The small bulb size, range of colours and low voltage requirement make them perfect for creating lighting effects of variable colour and intensity while being cheaper to run and safe for installation in wet areas such as the floor of a wetroom. Combine with electronic lighting control, from a wall panel or smart phone app, for selectable focussed and mood lighting effects.
Further bathroom gadget highlights, if not trends, include toilets with a washing and drying facility, such as the Aqua Clean by Geberit, a 70 inch full HD wet television from Aqua Vision that doubles as bathroom mirror or the Dyson bathroom tap that not only washes but dries your hands with a 400 psi jet of air.
With such a wide variety of products to choose from and choices to make, planning and designing your next bathroom can be a bewildering and stressful experience. That is why Room H2O provides a full virtual bathroom design service which allows our customers to see full colour renderings of their bathroom, including colours schemes, products and tiles before they decide to buy. Why not chat to one of our expert bathroom designers and let them work with to create the bathroom you always dreamed of.
Contact our Dorset bathroom design team on 01929 551963 or wareham@roomh2o.co.uk