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Bathroom design makes a big impact

Display Room

Bright colours and an innovative tiling scheme create a big impact in this beautiful bathroom design.

Owners Bruce and Debbie didn't need any convincing to add some colour to their bathroom. "We didn't want any of those boring neutral tones; we were after a 'wow' factor," says Debbie. "Because there are no windows in either of those bathrooms they needed to have impact."

The main bathroom and toilet were the last in line for the renovation treatment by Jodie Carter Designs, who redesigned the entire house. "They wanted something very dramatic, as it's the guest bathroom and people have to walk past it to get to the living room at the other end of the hall," says Jodie Carter.

Originally, the couple had wanted some kind of artwork in the main bathroom, but after looking at a few options such as painted glass, they decided on a feature wall of tiles instead. "Bruce and Debbie showed me the kind of tiles they liked, and I did a few bathroom designs for them, using images I downloaded from the internet. They chose the ones they liked the most," says Jodie. "Once we got the feature wall sorted, it just flowed on from there."

Bruce and Debbie had some ideas for the layout of their new bathroom, including clean lines and a simple, practical bathroom design. They also wanted a slight Asian touch, which Jodie managed to incorporate with the striking red, black and white tiling scheme, reminiscent of a Japanese shoji screen. "There is a bit of red in our house, so the colour scheme does carry through," says Debbie.

The main bathroom was rearranged to create a more open plan and the old bath was ditched so they could fit in a large walk-in shower. Jodie moved the vanity to where the old shower was and wall mounted it to give a more spacious feeling to the room, with lighting underneath it adding a touch of pizzazz.

The renovation suffered a brief hiccup when it was discovered that some of the tiles in the feature-wall design were not available in Australia. "In Italy you can get these long strip tiles that go with the set, so I used them in my design, but we later found out that you can't get them here," says Jodie. With some running around, a suitable replacement was found, so the design didn't need to be altered.

The result is an amazing improvement on the old cramped and daggy bathroom. Gone are the orange tiles and brown glass shower enclosure and in their place is a stylish and vibrant design, held together by the innovative tiling scheme.

Jodie admits that the feature walls were definitely the most challenging part of the design, at least for the tiler. "I had to do very detailed tiling plans for him, using special computer software (CAD), and I know that gave him a bit of a headache. But I'm sure he's very proud of it now," she says.

As are Bruce and Debbie, who are awaiting their first guest to try it out.