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Image Credit Decor Pad
Our lifestyles in the pandemic era – from social distancing to working from home – have prompted us all to place new focus on health and wellbeing. And this heightened attention placed on how our bodies and minds react, particularly in the context of home and office – will have an impact long after the pandemic has gone.
Creating a home which stimulates and supports better wellbeing is a trend we expect to see grow in 2021. So this time on the Blog of Light, we’ll be discussing one way to adapt your bedroom into a spa-like sanctuary – specifically, by adding a feature bath to your master suite.
As you blend the bedroom and bathroom, you create an open plan space in which you’re only ever a few steps from a soak or snooze. We love this trend, no less because it reminds us of flying to a far flung locale (remember when we could do those things?), where upon check-in you open the door to your room to find a sumptuous freestanding bath gleaming from amid sumptuous decor.
Undertaking this project in your own home takes research and a good eye for design, and whether you’re getting a team of professionals in, or you’re searching for DIY solutions, thorough planning of the space before you begin helps to ensure a smooth and cost-effective build.
Here, we’ve collated a few tips on creating the ideal bed-bath open plan relaxation space…
First, position.
While you may be constrained by plumbing as to where the bath will be placed, positioning the bathtub as a focal point is key. Placing it near the windows, ie the source of natural light, will help to increase the sense of wellbeing, as looking out onto natural vistas helps us to recover more quickly from stress.
Most interiors experts will advise you to design the room around the existing floor space, dedicating the larger portion of the room to the bed, while apportioning the smaller section to the open plan bath area. Consider whether incorporating a “nib” wall such as one made of glass, or a three-quarter wall could help to separate the zones, or even serve as a headboard for the bed itself.
Image Credit - Kate Marker Interiors - Margaret Rajic Photography
Other techniques can be utilised to separate the spaces subtly, so as not to interrupt the visual flow between elements or to make the spaces appear to disparate in style. These include introducing floor tiles, introducing a palette of complementary hues, and balancing dark elements with artificial lighting and metallics to create a calming yet interesting space.
Delineating zones
While physical barriers from a sheer curtain to a wall to a raised platform can help you to separate the areas where you bathe and sleep, these zones can also be reinforced through lighting.
Some of the most successful refurbishments we’ve seen have featured a luminous pendant cluster installed in the bathroom area, while wall lights with similar shades or fixtures are installed bedside. This communicates that the bathroom area serves a particular purpose, while still linking it to the bedroom area. With our indoor/outdoor deck lighting we have also seen this used to great effect as the interior lighting is carried to the outside patio, for an even greater sense of flow between interior and exterior spaces.
Keep warm
Especially in the cold winter months, making your master “suite” as toasty and cosy as possible is certainly desirable. Warming features adding to the sense of luxury can include a heated drawer for towels as part of your storage solutions. This is beneficial if you’re opting for a modern and stylish radiator which you won’t want to cover with towels.
A well-positioned fireplace can be recessed into the wall or installed as a freestanding unit, this instantly creates a luxurious atmosphere. Ensure it’s positioned in the direction you’ll most likely be facing as you sit in the bath, as well as near the windows, so both views can be enjoyed at once.
This will certainly deliver that boutique hotel feel you’re after.
For more lighting commentary, design news and advice, follow Gwyn Carless at the Light Yard on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and/or LinkedIn. To speak directly with a member of the Gwyn Carless at the Light Yard team, call + 44 (0)330 223 3940.