Higlett House ensuite renovation reveal
My ensuite renovation is done and dusted! What was once a small pokey space, is now a spacious, light-filled sanctuary. Come and take a look inside.
Photography Coast Park Creative
Our home only has the one bathroom and it was a pretty small space measuring 1.8m wide x 2.1m long. It probably felt smaller thanks to the bathtub/shower combo that took up a lot of floor space and an awkward corner vanity. To make it bigger we stole some space from the hallway turning it into a 1.8m wide x 3.2m long space. Whilst it’s still the same width, the extra length meant we could reconfigure the layout, with it now feeling so much more open. We also have made this bathroom into an ensuite situated off the main bedroom by changing the door layout too, and will add another bathroom to the other side of the house when stage 2 of renovations begins.
BEFORE: Cramped and dated. This was actually the only bathroom in the house, which we have converted into the main bedroom’s ensuite - new floor plan below.
WALLS
I have always loved the look of VJ paneling in bathrooms and wanted to incorporate onto two of the walls in our bathroom. I have used Surround By Laminex Classic VJ 100 on the wall adjacent to the vanity (see picture below). The beauty of this product is that it can be used in wetrooms like laundries and bathrooms, although can’t be positioned in a ‘splash zone’, so opposite the open shower I had to use an exterior grade VJ from another company which looks identical. I painted the walls and ceiling in Tint Paint ‘So Fresh and So Clean’ wall paint. I was actually advised by Tint to use their wall paint on the ceiling too as it has more mould-resistant qualities which are perfect for bathrooms. I love the colour too - it’s a really crisp white that doesn’t throw any undertones of other colours like yellow or blue. If you’re looking for a true white white, this is it!
TILES
Because I had such a good experience with Tile Cloud on my last renovation, it was an easy choice for me to use their tiles again. They have a good range and I love that I can get samples delivered (very helpful for busy people)!
I kept the tile colour palette very light and white. I love the crispness of it and also the versatility. If I want to add colour I can do it through changing up the towels, flowers/foliage and other styling accessories.
I chose to do about 1/3 of the vanity wall in the Paddington white terrazzo-look tile, continuing it from the floor up one wall to create a feature. Not only that, it was for practical reasons, a larger tile is easier to clean (less grout) than the small matte white kit kats which sit above it. On the other shower wall I’ve gone for the Brushgrove matt white tile (300x600mm size) and combined with white grout it almost doesn’t look like individual tiles, but just a wall of plain white.
Fun fact, I initially chose white grout for the Brunswick kit kat tiles, but when the tiler started grouting they had mixed the grout the wrong consistency and had to scrape it out (thankfully it was just a small section). When I saw that small patch grouted white I knew I had made a big mistake, it just didn’t pop, so because they had to re-grout anyways I asked them to switch it out to light grey. Phew! The grout colour is Mapei ‘Silvery Grey’ for those wondering and I just love how it looks.
VANITY, MIRRORED CABINETS & BASINS
The hero of the room has to be the stunning ‘Waverley’ vanity in prime oak from ADP. As soon as you walk through the ensuite doors, it’s the very first thing you see, so it was important to pick something that looked amazing. It has a subtle ribbed profile on the vanity and gorgeous curved edges which I love and hope to continue throughout the rest of the house. I’d also like to add that ADP’s vanities and mirrored cabinets are made right here in Australia and the turnaround time was very quick. We had enough space to do a double size vanity in here (1500mm in length), and added two ‘Pill’ mirrored cabinets above, which created a wow statement. I wanted a simple matte white basin so chose the ‘Margot’ basins (also from ADP).
TAPWARE
Yabby is a newcomer on the tapware scene, making good quality tapware and hardware at affordable prices. I love the fact you can also order it on Tile Cloud’s website, so you can pretty much do most of your bathroom reno shopping on the one website. I chose Yabby’s brushed brass finish for all of the tapware and accessories (like towel hooks and toilet roll holder) which adds a lovely little touch of bling to the room. So far I’ve been impressed with the quality and would recommend.
I have mixed and matched within their range - for example I’ve used the progressive mixers in the shower area (because I like the simplicity of the round shape for the two sitting side by side), but then used their wall mixers on the vanity wall (I like the way the handles balance out the spout - again just personal preference). I like that you can mix it up but it all goes together.
WALL LIGHTS
One of my favourite details in the bathroom are these Lighting Republic ‘Orb’ mirror wall lights (medium) from Lighterior. They look just as good when they’re turned off as they do turned on. They add a little touch of mid-century charm too which was appropriate for our 1960s house.
For maximum effect, I’ve placed two on either side of the mirrored wall cabinets - I love the symmetry of them. When you walk in it’s one of the little details that makes a big impact!
DISCLOSURE I was kindly given free product by the following companies in exchange for coverage on the Adore blog and social media: Tile Cloud, Yabby, ADP, Lighterior, Surround By Laminex and Tint Paint. Please note all products and brands were hand selected by myself and products I would gladly use in my own home and recommend to others.