Mix and Match Bathroom Suites
If you're fed up of being sold matching sets for your home and want to break the mould, step away from the norm, and create a bathroom to your own tastes - don't be scared! Eclectic style is increasingly popular in bathrooms: designers are aiming here for a cohesive look, concentrating on colour, texture and/or shape to bring a style theme to a room.
Coordination is avoided, however: matching ranges of furniture or sanitaryware are not looked upon favourably.
If you feel this may be your look, read on...
Budding interior designers will have the confidence in their own vision to go their own way - but if this is your first time, it's OK to take baby steps.
1.
Choose pieces that complement each other.
They don't have to 'go' and they don't have to have the same detailing - they just need to look right.
So a close coupled toilet with a modern push button and a period style washstand aren't necessarily mutually exclusive - choose a toilet that has some detailing on it, some edging on the cistern or round the base, that gives a nod back to the past.
This will bring the piece in line with your traditionally styled washstand enough to look good.
You don't need to go the whole hog and spend a fortune on a toilet with a high-level cistern and pull chain.
2.
The exception can prove the rule.
You can put a traditional claw-footed cast iron bath in the centre of a defiantly contemporary bathroom - doing something like this plays with our preconceived notions about what is 'right' and looks all the better for it.
Don't go over the top, though: adding a different style to your room with every piece of bathroom furniture and sanitaryware you install will leave you with a room that looks as if it was designed by a committee.
3.
If you're not buying all your sanitaryware from the same range, don't pick from ranges that are too similar.
Buying two pieces of bathroom furniture that differ only slightly makes it look like you made a mistake when you placed the order; choosing styles or finishes that are obviously different means you're making a statement.
4.
Don't feel you have to buy everything from new.
Visiting auctions and second hand outlets means that your bathroom fittings will have their own style and history.
If you choose items that you love, they're more likely to look good together.
Take photos of items you already have with you when you shop, to remind you of any style details and shades of colour that you might otherwise remember wrongly.
Coordination is avoided, however: matching ranges of furniture or sanitaryware are not looked upon favourably.
If you feel this may be your look, read on...
Budding interior designers will have the confidence in their own vision to go their own way - but if this is your first time, it's OK to take baby steps.
1.
Choose pieces that complement each other.
They don't have to 'go' and they don't have to have the same detailing - they just need to look right.
So a close coupled toilet with a modern push button and a period style washstand aren't necessarily mutually exclusive - choose a toilet that has some detailing on it, some edging on the cistern or round the base, that gives a nod back to the past.
This will bring the piece in line with your traditionally styled washstand enough to look good.
You don't need to go the whole hog and spend a fortune on a toilet with a high-level cistern and pull chain.
2.
The exception can prove the rule.
You can put a traditional claw-footed cast iron bath in the centre of a defiantly contemporary bathroom - doing something like this plays with our preconceived notions about what is 'right' and looks all the better for it.
Don't go over the top, though: adding a different style to your room with every piece of bathroom furniture and sanitaryware you install will leave you with a room that looks as if it was designed by a committee.
3.
If you're not buying all your sanitaryware from the same range, don't pick from ranges that are too similar.
Buying two pieces of bathroom furniture that differ only slightly makes it look like you made a mistake when you placed the order; choosing styles or finishes that are obviously different means you're making a statement.
4.
Don't feel you have to buy everything from new.
Visiting auctions and second hand outlets means that your bathroom fittings will have their own style and history.
If you choose items that you love, they're more likely to look good together.
Take photos of items you already have with you when you shop, to remind you of any style details and shades of colour that you might otherwise remember wrongly.
Source...