Utopia Kitchen and Bathroom

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UTOPIA

KITCHEN& BATHROOM Inside

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L OVES... S TYLE | D ESIGN | T RENDS

OF S E PAG EAL R ES M O H

Lifestyle kitchens

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£4.75 JUNE 2015

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APPLIANCES / BASINS DESIGNER COLLECTION TECHNOLOGY / ISLANDS SURFACES / BATHS SMALL BATHROOMS 06

9 771753 968053

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REAL HOME

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JE SUIS UN ROCK STAR

Glamorous, dramatic, spacious, contemporary and with a massive wow factor -- nothing less would suffice for a Leicestershire couple who wanted the kind of bathroom that the stars of the music business would feel at home in

THE owners

Sara Bray and her husband Stewart are both logistics directors, but when it came to refurbishing their Leicestershire home they decided they really wanted to live like rock stars.

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The focus was on creating an environment that was luxurious and glamorous.

Because the room was 3.6m high, the feature wall from Dreamwall helped to make the space feel cosier, as well as providing the backdrop for the massive walk-through shower. The lighting, at skirting board level, changes colour for different moods

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oubling the size of their 1960s home with an extension gave Stewart and Sara Bray room for a massive new master bedroom and ensuite bathroom, totalling 60 square metres, alongside five other bedrooms, a gym and a hot tub. They called in interior designer Lisa Melvin to help make the most of the massive space.

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“We chose Lisa because of her level of expertise, taste and professionalism,” explains Sara.

“I particularly liked Lisa’s passion for every aspect of the design, right through to the finishing touches, and also her honest opinion. The concept was to create a minimalist, cutting-edge, sleek modern space with maximum impact and wow factor – we called it our ‘rock star’ bathroom!”

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There wasn’t quite a rock star budget however, which meant an extra challenge for Lisa: “I wanted a wow factor for the 3.6m-high wall behind the bath, either textured or a light effect.

Initially I thought about a fibre optic wall or a wall of real slate, but the budget wouldn’t stretch.

Instead I sought out a product called Dreamwall which mixes real stone with polyurethane to create a light-weight, hard-wearing and waterproof textured finish. It worked out really well.”

Lisa didn’t give up on her idea of light effects, and instead introduced colour-changing LED lighting set into a channel between the wall and the skirting board. “I had designed that detail years ago, but had never had the opportunity of using it,” says Lisa. “You can create different ambiances in the room – the clients love it with the lights all red.”

The very dark colours would only work with such a generous space – the large expanse of white ceiling and the Velux window that lets in sunlight and moonlight keep it from becoming too dark. “I wanted to keep it minimalist,” says Lisa. “It’s a really big space but it feels cosy when you are in it.” Sara is delighted with the result: “It absolutely delivered on every aspect of the vision we had,” she says. “I love the whole package, I can’t pick a single favourite item, without the whole design it wouldn’t have achieved our vision.”

THE designer

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“If you have a bathroom with a large footprint and super high ceilings, you can afford to be as dramatic as you wish with the colour, using different textures throughout but following the same colour scheme. Although initially you have to pay for the knowledge of a specialist bathroom designer, your budget will go further using their expertise.” Lisa Melvin, director, Lisa Melvin Design

The supersized walk-through shower features a Raindance shower system from Hansgrohe for a powerful and invigorating morning wake-up, while the Graphite porcelain tiles on the side walls and Silver Moon mosaic on the floor are easy on the eye. The feature chrome finish radiator and towel warmer is ‘Chime’ from Bisque

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77 The wall-hung vanity unit is the Quartet from Hudson Reed. It comes as a complete set, including the basin, drawers and three-panelled mirrored bathroom cabinet. With a minimalist bathroom design there needs to be plenty of space to store towels and toiletries to avoid any hint of clutter that would spoil the clean lines of the design

THE details

Bathroom design by Lisa Melvin, director, Lisa Melvin Design lisamelvindesign.co.uk Waters Baths of Ashbourne Brook2 acrylic freestanding bath watersbaths.co.uk Hansgrohe Metris bath filler, Raindance shower system, Metris basin taps, all in chrome hansgrohe.co.uk Hudson Reed Quartet unit with basin, storage drawer and mirror cabinet hudsonreed.co.uk Duravit Starck 3 WC duravit.co.uk Impey Aquadec Easy Fit floor former impeyshowers.com Dreamwall Emphasis cladding panel dreamwall.co.uk Gallery Showroom porcelain Graphite floor and wall tiles, Silver Moon mosaic on shower floor, Onyx Apollo Negro mosaic around WC galleryshowroom.co.uk Bisque Chime radiator/towel warmer in chrome finish bisque.co.uk

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Dark tones are well suited to spacious environments, here they have been used extensively, including on the walls and floor. The freestanding Brook2 bath adds a luxurious touch while also working in harmony with the white ceiling to keep the room from becoming too dark

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UTOPIA

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As featured in Utopia Kitchen & Bathroom magazine June 2015 l utopiamag.co.uk Please ensure that the publication, issue date and website are fully referenced when using this pdf

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