Inspired by the movie 'The Shape of Water', this moody luxe bathroom is everything its owners dreamed of

While they were delighted to received the keys to their first home, the owners of this detached 1950s period property in Bridgend, Wales were clear on something that needed to change. The bathroom.

‘The main bathroom was dull and grey and not our style at all,' recalls the owner, 'plus there were carpets in the bathrooms - that frankly gave me the ick!' 'Worst of all,' she says, 'there was no bath – I’m such a bath girl!’

There was also a smaller en suite off the guest bedroom that was equally uninspiring with no window with a red carpet to boot, so as far as they were concerned, it was a no-brainer to completely revamp both rooms.

They eventually decided to reconfigure the space by knocking through into the poky shower room, plus the old airing cupboard, to create one large, dreamy bathroom space. ‘I had a very specific brief – I knew I wanted a bottle-green bathroom with boudoir vibes and a statement dark wood vanity unit,’ she says. ‘The film The Shape of Water heavily influenced me, and I really love both the mid-century and art deco aesthetic; basically I wanted it very moody, but also luxe.’

The couple played with the layout on a 3D room visualiser and took their initial ideas to local firm The Tap End to discuss the project further. She fell in love with designer Zoe Curtis’ ideas instantly.

‘I knew as soon as we’d been to see them I didn’t want to get quotes from anywhere else,' recalls the owner. 'I loved the fact it was an all-female team and I could tell they really valued our custom and made us feel really special.'

Zoe from The Tap End took the couple's brief and made the wooden vanity the star of the show, opting for a custom-made design with a chunky tile countertop to preserve the wood. ‘The terrazzo was completely Zoe’s idea and I absolutely love it,' says the owner. 'I had no idea terrazzo existed until she introduced me to it.'

The bath was also a key part of the design and the owners opted for the largest one they could find for long, relaxing soaks, with a statement freestanding tap, plus a niche for their toiletries.

Overall, the project took around seven weeks and went a little over budget, but the owners believe it was worth every penny. ‘I would pay it 10 times over – I can’t describe how beautiful it is,’ she says. ‘Every single element is lovely and it’s so nice to be able to come home and unwind here after a long, stressful day – it’s done so much for mental health and wellbeing and it really is like living a dream.’

The moody luxe bathroom - the details...

‘The vanity was the starting point of the whole project,' recalls the owner. 'I showed our designer Zoe a picture of what I wanted and we opted for the darkest stain we could find.'

'I wanted it to look super seamless so we chose push-fit doors over handles and I hate mess. so all our toiletries and cleaning products are stashed here to avoid cluttering up the countertop. Originally I wanted a double vanity, but we saved some cash by going for one countertop basin.’

Here, the walls are painted in Invisible Green in Intelligent matt emulsion, £64 for 2.5ltr at Little Greene. The striking terrazzo tiles are Ca'Pietra's Rialto Terrazzo tiles in San Polo, £195 per sqm.

'We chose a wall-mounted mixer tap to keep the countertop clear and I wanted a brushed brass finish for all the hardware to help warm up the green bathroom scheme and to add a touch of art deco-inspired glamour.’

‘I wanted the bathroom to be clear from clutter, so we’ve stashed away most of our practical day-to-day toiletries and cleaning products in the vanity unit and put out a few pieces on display.’

Here, they have decanted their inexpensive plastic bottled hand soap into a refillable dispenser. For similar, try the GSrenyu Amber glass soap and shampoo dispensers, £10.99 for two, Amazon.

‘Originally we thought the bath should go under the window, but in hindsight, the bathroom layout would have been completely off – plus, we wanted a private shower and locating it anywhere else in the room wouldn’t have worked.'

'We also managed to cut the budget a little by only tiling half way up this wall, which initially was going to be completely tiled.’

‘I love having the niche above the bath for my toiletries, plus I like the fact the stud wall doubles up as a display shelf. The terrazzo backdrop to the niche is a nice detail that just adds that something extra and helps to break up the solid wall of green.’

‘I have a chronic illness and can’t always stand in the shower long, so our designer Zoe cleverly suggested the shower bench. I love how the dividing wall squares off the shower space nicely and keeps it private while the glass shower screen maintains the flow of the room and allows in extra light.'

'In all honesty, the rainshower is completely lovely but impractical for everyday showering so it’s helpful to have the hand-held shower too, especially for cleaning.’

‘The dividing wall between the shower and the vanity helps to divide the space both practically and aesthetically, and it also allowed us to build in two handy niches – my husband and I have got one each for all our shower products.’

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