Modern bathroom, old house - how to integrate?

[Nigel Watts]

A bathroom in an early Victorian house is about as anachronistic as you can get. One possible solution is to make it look Edwardian on the basis that that style more closely approximates the Victorian but decided on modern fittings, not least because my wife, who has been waiting for me to get this room done for the eleven years we have been in our house, is a shower person. (I prefer baths and am quite happy using the tiny bathroom at the very top of our house.)

My design has just been built, tiled and plumbed in by Barry, a very nice ex-policeman friend of my neighbour's father who is now a self employed builder. It's not 100% how I intended it to be, but it's very close:

The room is on the first floor and would have been a bedroom. Ceiling is quite high (10 foot six I think), mantlepiece appears to have been moved up from the ground floor at some point in the past and there is a pair of fitted cupboards probably adapted from an old stand-alone piece. The tiling is on an L-shaped stud and boarded construction of the same height as the cupboards. The long arm of the L is against the original wall opposite the chimney breast and houses the loo cistern and plumbing for the shower. Basin is on a virtually free-standing unit in front of the window (which will have doors and be painted).

The question now is how to decorate the room. I dont like the starkness of the white paint so am thinking of papering the walls in something like this:

The one of the right is the current favourite.

Cupboards in blue to match the tiles? Deep cream woodwork and cornice? Pale blue ceiling? Darkish, orange-brown lino floor? What about blinds/curtain? Suggestions please!

 

[AMc]

Your bathroom looks great. We had planned to paper a 'feature wall' in our master bathroom with a blue and white paper - I've been putting it off as I'm a bit concerned about how durable wall paper is in a bathroom and the wall includes the towel rail which could get a bit murky looking.
Anyone papered their bathroom?

 

[Moo]

We did, decades ago, with a Laura Ashley paper. I can't remember for certain, but it may have been one specially for bathrooms - we had to use a special ready-mixed adhesive for it.

 

[Matt Green]

Cupboards in blue to match the tiles? Deep cream woodwork and cornice? Pale blue ceiling? Darkish, orange-brown lino floor? What about blinds/curtain? Suggestions please!

Cupboards in blue to match the tiles, but I would be inclined to pick out the white beading on the doors and maybe the top moulding to match the white grouting opposite. A grey or blue Venetian blind above the sink matching either the tiles or the towel rail seems like it might work. I would keep the woodwork white, as the grout is white and it will frame the walls well and not look out of place in a modern or period setting. A 10' 6" high ceiling could be painted quite a dark colour, maybe even to match the tiles, or kept white? I'm not a massive fan of 'obvious' ceilings, equally I don't think there's cause to create the illusion of height!

I'd match the lino with the fireplace to make to like less of an unwanted gift and wallpaper with something orangey.


M.

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I like the modern interpretation of Edwardian, and the deep blue tiles are great. Whilst I understand what you mean about white walls looking stark, would you not consider a blue/ grey / silver slant on the paper that you have selected? The motifs are lovely and bold enough to balance the fittings etc, but the the colour contrast, to my mind, is perhaps not very restful-----

Perhaps also consider keeping the cupboards and woodwork in off white e.g Venetian White, ROJ.-- after all, the boldness of feature wall paper is enough in itself.

Chinoiserie and Toile de Jouey patterns are worth looking at for bathrooms.

 

[JoceAndChris]

How very exciting the bathroom is in! Your wife must be delighted.
Your decision to have a modern style fits perfectly with the ethos of the house I think, and although you know I'm addicted to old fashioned tubs, ornate mirrors and painted floors, I do think your bathroom looks lovely, very smart indeed and must be blissful to use. :mrgreen:
Love the choice of St Germain, we've got that in the music room and I don't tire of it. I think that orangey red against the blue will be glorious, and if I'm right in identifying the paper FnB's suggestion of "Matchstick", a deep cream, would be perfect. There are bold choices throughout your house and I love the jewel-like combination of colours that you use.
It's a large room so hopefully you'll get away with the wallpaper plus steam, if you are bathing upstairs that will reduce usage anyhow. Our music room St Germain has withstood the dampish winters here, when corners lift slightly I get out the Solvite border adhesive that I used in the print room, that sorts them.
Off to look for some fabric ideas!

 

[JoceAndChris]

If it was mine, I'd want to keep the status of the room high, with curtains or a blind in this:

http://www.fabricsandpapers.com/item/view/2235-soubise-velvet/category/velvet-curtain-fabric

But if you'd like to make it more homely looking the tickings in blue and cream are really sweet:
http://www.fabricsandpapers.com/category/view/stripe-curtain-fabric?p=10

It will be red, white, and blue- a lovely combination.

 

[Penners]

Nigel, in your photos I can't see any sign of an extractor fan. Is there one? If not, then I think I might share AMc's concerns about the durability of wallpaper in a steamy atmosphere.

I recently installed a new bathroom here, with a bath and a shower. It was quite noticeable how much steamier the room gets when the shower is used, as compared with the bath.

 

[Nigel Watts]

Nigel, in your photos I can't see any sign of an extractor fan. Is there one? If not, then I think I might share AMc's concerns about the durability of wallpaper in a steamy atmosphere.

I recently installed a new bathroom here, with a bath and a shower. It was quite noticeable how much steamier the room gets when the shower is used, as compared with the bath.

There is a fan but it's cunningly inset into the top of the cupboard nearest the outside wall, the rest of which houses hot water tanks and various other complicated bits of plumbing. I am hoping that with this and the height of the ceiling I wont get too much condensation, but before ordering the paper I will try it out!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

I am hoping that with this and the height of the ceiling I wont get too much condensation, but before ordering the paper I will try it out!

Sounds a bit uncomfortable to me Nigel, I have visions of you swinging from the high ceiling above a jet of steam-------

 

[Feltwell]

Our en-suite is a small room, containing a shower - it has 1 wall fully wallpapered and another 2 walls half-papered, the rest being tiled. That has survived 5 years without any paper peeling away, and whilst I always use the extractor fan when showering Mrs F frequently forgets (I suspect on purpose!)

Other than the fact that it's hideous (put up by previous owners), the wallpaper does not look to be anything special.

However, I'd be a mite concerned about putting paper directly above the shower cubicle. We really notice how much the cubicle seems to trap the heat & moisture of the shower, even though it's open topped with a good 3' gap to the ceiling. Odd I know, heat rises and all that, but you really notice the temperature difference in winter when you slide the door open at the end of your shower!

Looks like a lovely room Nigel. I'm just jealous - the worst room in our whole house is the family bathroom, it's very very narrow. The bath is a narrow one as well, alas I am not....... I can only lay in it with my shoulders twisted, not very relaxing!

 

[LadyArowana]

I like the idea of a feature wallpaper, the others have given lots of good suggestions too. The room is looking very smart already, you must be delighted..... or rather you wife must be delighted!

 

[Penners]

There is a fan

It'll be interesting to hear how you get on with your "test" showering, and its effects in terms of steam and condensation.

If your extractor fan is a fairly standard 100mm (nominal duct diameter) axial unit, then it will probably have an extraction rate of at least 15 litres/sec. This is the minimum required under the building regs. But if your bathroom floor area exceeds 3 m^2 then a more powerful fan may be required for effective extraction. You can certainly get these with a 100mm duct diameter, so you shouldn't have to undertake any surgery on the bathroom wall.

Does the fan come on automatically with the light, and does it have a run-on function? Or does it stop when you switch off the light?

 

[Nigel Watts]

The fan was fitted about seven years ago in anticipation of this room becoming a bathroom. We sacked the builders we had then and the room has been lying fallow ever since. The fan comes on with one of the lighting cicuits but goes off again immediately it is switched off. Can one buy a delay device to add to the circuit? Presumably the fan would need to have been wired with both a live and switched line otherwise there would be nothing to drive the fan when the power was switched off.

 

[Penners]

Quite right - a run-on fan is supplied with a switched live (from the light switch) and a separate continuous live. So its cable actually has three conductors (plus earth). I don't think you can convert your existing fan, but you can buy fans which incorporate run-on circuitry fairly inexpensively. If the electricity supply to the fan has only live, neutral and earth conductors, then you'll need to have it rewired to provide the continuous live.

Here's a typical timer fan. although I suspect you may find it advisable to fit a larger throughput model, while you're in the process of changing it (if you are!).

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/62530/Heating-Cooling/Extractor-Fans/Manrose-Gold-Long-Life-Axial-20W-Bathroom-Extractor-Fan-with-Timer

 

[AMc]

The most cost effective solution to the overrun is probably going to be a new fan. Fitting it would depend on having a permanent live as you suggest which may spoil your plans depending on how thorough they were. I would have expected a fan fitted that recently to have needed an overrun - it may be that it was miswired (as one of ours was).

We have 3 bathrooms - two with overun fans and one without. The electrician was happy to leave the non-overun fan as it was 'existing' despite the work being subject to building control approval and him replacing the lighting in that bathroom.

If it were me I would suck it and see before you go to the trouble of replacing the fan - you can always leave the lights on for a while unless you are in the habit of showering and leaving the house immediately in the morning.

I would also consider a switched, humidistat fan so it only runs when the light is turned on then stays running until the humidity is back to normal after the lights go out.

Also check the dB ratings - there are vast differences and not always big differences in cost.

 

[Nigel Watts]

The most cost effective solution to the overrun is probably going to be a new fan.

You havn't seen our fan. It is housed in a galvanized steel box nearly four feet long and incorporates a silencer to reduce the otherwise jet-taking-off roar. Looking at the leaflet tucked in next to it it seems that a delay circuit is available as a separate module.

 

[AMc]

You havn't seen our fan. It is housed in a galvanized steel box nearly four feet long and incorporates a silencer to reduce the otherwise jet-taking-off roar. Looking at the leaflet tucked in next to it it seems that a delay circuit is available as a separate module.

What kind of shower were you planning on having? :shock:

 

[Penners]

The most cost effective solution to the overrun is probably going to be a new fan.

You havn't seen our fan. It is housed in a galvanized steel box nearly four feet long and incorporates a silencer to reduce the otherwise jet-taking-off roar. Looking at the leaflet tucked in next to it it seems that a delay circuit is available as a separate module.

:shock:
I heard that they have already started dismantling the Nimrod fleet. It sounds as though one the engines has found a home.

 

[Nigel Watts]

The room has a large, plain modern cornice in the form of a simple cove. I am trying out some possible colours:

From left F&B Fowler Pink (too warm) then Ointment Pink (close to paper background) then Red Earth (close to paper patern) then Matchstick (the deep cream). Ceiling in Pale Powder.

I feel that the cornice should be paler on average than the paper, not darker, but on its own the Ointment Pink looked too weak. The Red Earth is better but too heavy. I have tried adding detail in the darker Red Earth to the Ointment Pink and quite like the result. (I did it freehand - I would need to make it neater, possibly with a stencil). Skirting in Red Earth perhaps? (Victorian decorating manuals say that you should use darker colours lower down). Door, architrave, glazing bars and window case all in Matchstick.