The Room I Relax In

In the colder months, nothing is more indulgent than a hot bath in the evening. I could stay in there for hours- bubbles, books, glass of red- and when Honor is asleep then I do just that. Our Master Bathroom is the room I relax in; it was such a light and spacious room when we moved in so I was really excited to decorate it.

Initially, the bathroom had a lino floor and a step up to the loo. As with elsewhere in the house, we pulled up the floor, laid reclaimed wooden floorboards and also removed the step so that the room was all on one level- no tripping over in the night! When we bought the house there was a big double cubicle shower; by making it a little smaller we had a bit more room to put in an antique chair and pot cupboard. Some decor really warms up the space and gives it texture.

The walls are Ball Green (No.75) by Farrow & Ball which I adore. For the windows, I really experimented with colours and had a blind made up in a mustard corduroy by Rose Uniacke. It was an idea I wasn’t sure would work, but it goes so well with the green and makes the bathroom so cosy. We moved the bath itself to sit centrally under the window which makes the whole room more symmetrical and balanced. I’m a huge believer in things being spatially proportioned.

If you follow me @louiseroehome you’ll have seen the story of the vanity unit! I knew I wanted a Victorian style but couldn’t find one I liked. After a lot of searching I decided to make it myself. I found a very cheap antique chest (I went for as cheap as possible as I felt so guilty taking the top off it) and then Mackenzie and I spent a rainy evening measuring and marking out where the basins would go with tracing paper. For the shelving we used a honed London Grey stone which was cut by Caesarstone into the perfect Victorian silhouette. Once I found the right taps to go through the under shelf, it was complete. Such a fun little project and it’s my favourite part of the whole room.

One thing I’ve learnt whilst doing up this house is that you can have as many things planned in your head as you like but there will always be bigger and better ideas that come along. It’s all part of the fun of having ideas and seeing them come to life. My Bathroom mirror was going to be a beautiful wicker mirror that I’d found on Etsy but during one of my perusals on Love Antiques I found this wonderful chinoiserie mirror. It was part of a pair so I put one above my new vanity unit and one in my Dressing Room. The colours go perfectly with my mustard blind and it just goes to show that even if you have the perfect item for the perfect place, stumbling across something else may make you change your mind.

The wall sconces and the pendant light are from Pooky and the print of Kew Gardens is from Print Club London who make limited edition prints for all types of interiors. The rug was actually from our kitchen in LA; a really fun way to give new life to existing belongings is to look at what you have and try them in new spaces.

I used the leftover stone from Caesarstone to make a little shelf for all my face oils and perfumes and fixed it with brass brackets. I love old apothecary bottles and this shelf is full of all my favourite ones. Now it’s time for a bath in the room I relax in…