6 Bathroom Trends That Are Here To Stay & How You Can Create The Look In Your Own Home

As we are now well over half-way through 2018, it is interesting to look back at the key trends predicted at the start of the year to see what has moved over from being seen as a 'trend', to cementing itself as a key way to successfully design your interior scheme. What on-trend design looks have moved away from being 'fashionable,' to now be seen as classic, sophisticated interior design? Today I want to delve into recently popular bathroom styes that I love and I think have longevity. I'm delighted to be collaborating on this post with bathroom specialists Kohler (who I also love!), looking to how you can create these gorgeous design schemes in your own home with their range of taps, sinks, baths and other fixtures and fittings.

Modern and edgy, black in your bathroom need not mean a dark space or an overall industrial look. Instead, keep your scheme mainly white and add in thin black lines and/or black fixtures and fittings. The black draws the eye and makes your fixtures the statement, rather than the colour/decor of the walls. Keep styling to a minimum - cosmetic products should be in matching black bottles and stick to monochrome for towels and other finishing touches.

Kohler's 'Components' range of taps in a black colourway are perfect for adding that sleek black detail in a bathroom interior. Pair Components with Kohler's crisp whites basins and toilets for contrast. For showering, the Shift handheld shower comes in black and chrome, or the 'Awaken' shower head is completely matt black. The dark bronze of Kohler's 'Levity' shower door provides a key black frame to add that extra dimension to the build up of thin black lines on white.

*The Components range of taps in black by Kohler. See them in Kohler's London Clerkenwell showroom.*

Gold & marble - once only found in large, ostentatious stately homes - has been re-imagined for contemporary living. The array of good quality look-alike marble tiles now available means that the average bathroom can combine the winning team of gold and marble to create something really special. For me, it is Kohler's Purist range in polished brass that really works best with marble. I love it and would kill to have the full range in my bathroom!

*Kohler's Purist 2 Handle 3 Hole Tap in Polished brass.*

For a really luxe touch to a marble & gold bathroom, how about this Persia on Conical Bell vessel basin? Although not cheap at around £1600, this sink is constructed of vitreous china and is the perfect artistic statement with its gold drainer and an intricate brass detailing:

Persia on Conical Bell vessel basin kohler.jpg

Once all the high-end interior designers start using pink in the bathroom, you know it will trickle down to the mainstream. Pink in the bathroom is still a brave and bold choice, but if you take the leap you will not regret it and everyone you know will be insanely jealous of your pastel-pink palace. The use of pink in interiors has been around a good few years now and although it was considered a trend, every year it shows no sign of falling to the wayside, in fact it just keeps getting stronger. We started with blush pink (or 'Millennial Pink' as it became to be known), then moved to more salmon shades, now it's all about ice-cream tones. Whatever shade of pink you choose, it can be complemented with fixtures and fittings by Kohler. I am particularly drawn to the wide range of unusual shaped baths Kohler have to offer and think if you are going to go all-out on a pink bathroom, throwing in a fab freestanding bath like the Abrazo Lithocast would take a pink bathroom to another level.

Circles are everywhere in interiors. This is most obvious through the surge in popularity of round-shaped mirrors. Flick through the interior mags or browse Instagram and you'll find circular mirrors over fireplaces, as large statement mirrors in hallways, as well as in bathrooms. A circular shape is very pleasing on the eye and creates a dramatic effect in an interior scheme without being overly imposing. As well, or instead of a large round mirror in a bathroom, add in circular basin, a circular bath, or a large round shower head with accompanying circular mixer.

Kohler's Countertop Mica Round Basin is perfect for subtly adding in circles to your bathroom scheme. For larger bathrooms that want to make more of a statement, then the Affetto Lithocast Affetto Lithocast freestanding bath may just be for you:

Wallpaper in the bathroom can be a cheap way to make your bathroom dramatically individual. The smaller the bathroom the bolder you can be with wallpaper design, so it makes it a perfect choice for a small toilet where there is no steam from the bath or shower. However, if you have a larger bathroom which is well ventilated, then you can still wallpaper it. I would advise using a decorators varnish over the top of the paper to protect it from any splashes of water. A good idea is to have tongue & groove or a half-tiled wall around a shower, sink or bath as this means you can still have wallpaper without the concern of water splashes.

Bathrooms adorned in wallpaper are not shy bathrooms, therefore I think it is important to not dum-down the design by sticking to generic fixtures and fittings. Instead, emphasize your walls by picking out key colours from the paper and matching it to your fixtures. A wallpaper with a copper shimmer works perfectly with Kohler's Components Ombre tap in a rose gold to titanium colourway:

There has been a lot of talk and advice given within the interiors world about making your ceiling the '5th wall.' You create a 5th wall with your ceiling by painting it in a colour that's not the standard white, or by wallpapering it. However, another way to add a '5th wall' in a bathroom (which is less daring but has just as much impact) is to add in a patterned floor using tiles. Really cool floor tiles with a heavy pattern will carry a bathroom scheme and you just need to make sure you add in the right fixtures, fittings and decor to complement the tiles. If you add patterned tiles to the floor of your bathroom, make sure that your sink and your toilet are wall-hung so not to hide the floor or minimise the impact of the tiles. This Reach Double Basin by Kohler allows you to have a double sink without requiring a vanity unit. While this Reach Compact Wall Hung Toilet Pan lets you see more of your floor than your toilet bowl!

* This post is a paid collaboration with Kohler, yet in no way have Kohler influenced this post. All mood boards and products selected have been created and chosen by me. All thoughts, opinions and design advice in this post are my own. Thank you to Kohler for collaborating with me on this post!

IMAGE CREDITS: Mood boards: by Melanie Lissack Interiors featuring cut outs of images owned by Kohler. Black Lines (clockwise from left): No Glitter No Glory, Living Tomorrow NL, Nichba Design, Deuce Cities Henhouse featuring the Kohler Brockway Sink, Nichba Design, Gold & Marble (clockwise from top left): Studio McGee featuring Kohler Purist Taps, Rikki Snyder for Elle Decor featuring Kohler purist Taps, Kohler, Image taken from the book 'The Art Of Interior Design' by Kelly Hoppen, The Karbon tap by Kohler, Caballero. Pink (clockwise from top left): Kohler, Saile toilet by Kohler, Rebecca Judd, 2LG Studio, Photography by Dean Bradley & design by Dan Gayfer. Circles (clockwise from left): Sarah Sherman Samuel featuring Kohler wall-mounted Purist taps, Bliss At Home featuring Kohler Purist taps and Conical Bell Sink, Kohler, Veil Lighted Suite by Kohler by Melanie Lissack Interiors. Wallpaper (clockwise from left): Images 1 & 2 not found - please contact me if you are the owner, Stephanie Gamble Interiors, Kohler. Patterned Tiles (clockwise from top left): Capree Kimball, Kohler Purist Shower Head & Mixer, Emily Henderson, Harper Home Company.