I know I know, possibly the longest wait for a bathroom makeover reveal ever! Our bathroom is finally ‘finished’ – as finished as a room ever can be, anyway. After a year and a half without a shower or sink our ideas evolved and took flight. We always wanted to create a tranquil space where we could relax after sometimes chaotic days but didn’t at first plan to paint our walls (and ceiling!) black. This is how it all unravelled – a place to inhale, exhale and let the peacefulness in here soothe the senses. Here are the before and during, ready now for a bit of a picture fest?! 
This room has taken an age with general hold-ups due to our own work schedules and a few plumbing trials and delays. It is a patchwork of things we bought, lots of things we salvaged or made by hand ourselves and a few gifted fixtures and additions too. I will pop a list of sources at the bottom that might be helpful, anything with a * will denote something that was kindly given to us. If I forget anything (highly likely) and you’d like to know about it, just ping me a message and I will let you know where something is from.
Where to begin? We love the mood and darkness in here, at night we can sink into the bath with the windows open and feel at one with the night air. In the day the sun filters in through the frosted glass and reflects the gold and white highlights of the vases, pots, frames and decorations.
The colour throughout is Farrow and Ball Off Black, we used Modern Emulsion for the walls and ceiling and Estate Eggshell for the wooden panelling – (made from upcycled doors that we rescued from a house that was being knocked down in our village)!
We both love incense and candles and the plumes of smoke form magical patterns against their dark backdrop. This bath (found on eBay years ago and kept in the garage) is so huge and luxurious – so luxurious in truth that we only use it once a month (if that) due to the water consumption. It also makes a great holding area to pop lots of our plants when we are on a watering mission.
Dean made the sink stand from an Elm offcut we picked up at a local reclaimed wood workshop, we added legs discovered at a salvage yard and I made the curtains from untreated organic cotton muslin.
The hazy light is perfect for our collection of ferns and the odd low light surviving cactus.
We raised the bath up with two halves of a driftwood plank, handily found at the local beach, after a storm.
The shelving on the shower side is made from one offcut from the sink stand (top) and (bottom) a slice of the eucalyptus tree that fell down in our back garden a few years ago!
The generous peeps at Christy kindly gave us the cosiest bale of towels and we have been holding on to them for months so they could be christened when the room was finally finished. They are super soft and we chose Flint from the Harrogate range, the colour goes with the walls perfectly and they are so darn snuggly! 
Rather obsessed with our oversize bottles of La Eva Rosēum Face and Body Wash and Lotion.
As it is so dark in here we added as many mirrors as we dare and lots of pictures with glass from around the house to reflect beams of light and make this feel like a room – not just a bathroom.
The toilet roll storage is a slouchy tote bag we picked up in SF! There is too much water flying about on the floor (as the shower is directly opposite and Dean is like a dog splashing about, ha!) to use a floor loo roll holder and one of the cats would probably end up sleeping in a basket.
The plants on these shelves love a humid steaming when one of us is showering.
Dean found this old door on the same building site as the doors we used for panelling behind the bath and the lovely demolition peeps said we could take that too. We do love to turn someone else’s trash into our treasure.
Below the fisherman’s lantern is intended for an outside porch, so it is watertight and safe to use in here – we are still yet to put up the over sink light – (always one last thing), the roof is so full of stuff that needs to be sorted and building materials that the electrician cannot get to the wiring!
We can’t thank Mira and Mandarin stone enough as they were very generous and gave us the amazing mixer shower and all the beautiful tiles that make this bathroom function and feel amazing! We have been holding both their products hostage for over a year as this renovation has taken what seems like forever to unravel.
We were going to have a wet room but I wasn’t quite prepared to be clearing up water for longer then necessary, so we decided on as large an enclosure as we could fit in what is quite a small room. The shower tray is 800mm by 1200mm and with the huge clear glass panel and walk-in, open end, it feels roomy and not shut away. This also means you see the whole room when you walk in which gives an airiness even though every surface is painted black.
We have been waiting for the perfect spot to hang this cupboard for over fifteen years and finally, it is having its day. I love being able to hide all our toothbrushes and other bathroom essentials inside it, at last.
This vase stole my heart in a retro shop in Brighton a few months back, I stuck a sprig of gold grass inside to add warmth and a flash of metallic alongside some of our collected crystals. 
The towel rail is a flash of light in the dark spot under the window, you’ll notice we had no loyalty to any one metal type here, mixing gold, gilt, chrome and visible copper work with flashes of bronze and antique brass too!
Candles and incense are bath time essentials and the bath rack made form another found driftwood plank is a great rustic platform for our burning altar, we light incense in here most evenings as the bathroom is south facing with great light and the windows are always open, so the breeze sends the smoke and scent out the door and into the hallway.
After so long without the convenience of all this, we really do appreciate it every day, last winter without a sink or shower was pretty crazy, you forget how quick and convenient it is to jump up in the morning and properly wake up in the shower even for a couple of minutes.
The handmade curtains around the sink hide a multitude of cleaning products and other bathroom paraphernalia that is uneasy on the eye! We popped up a shelf under there for bubble bath and shampoo whilst it’s not in use and all that jazz. This is definitely the tidiest bathroom we have ever owned.
We added found items and junk shop art along the shelves, I love the way the colour pops out from the darkness. Black walls also make a great background for plants, each frond and leaf is visible and highlighted.
Tranquil and soothing, we really do feel calmed after a shower or bath in here. It has been such a fun space to create and use and even the cats enjoy a steamy few minutes sitting on one of the shelves whilst we are in the shower. so, I can happily report the whole family is loving it in here!
I couldn’t resist adding a few treats, like seasonal flowers from our garden and this scented botanical candle from Ovate by natural perfumer Lvnea, below. It is called – Vespertine – after a flower that only blooms at night, the time when this bathroom really feels magical.
I hope you enjoyed a walk with me around this tiny room we love so much, as promised – here is a list of lovely suppliers! Next up a trip around Sweden then the full kitchen reveal! phew, thanks for hanging in here with me, it has been another crazy twelve months ;)
Items we Bought
Paint – Farrow and Ball Off Black – Modern Emulsion and Estate Eggshell for the woodwork
Bath – secondhand found on eBay
Sink – new found on eBay
Sink legs from a local salvage yard
Over sink cupboard – nabbed at a table sale fifteen years ago!
Organic cotton muslin – under sink curtain fabric – Green Fibres
Bristan Renaissance taps bath and sink – new found on eBay
Rectangular Shower Tray – Victoria Plum
Toilet – Victoria Plum
Winchester Heated Towel Rail – Victoria Plum
Vintage wooden shelves – local junk shop
Antique Brass Candleholders – Rowen and Wren
Lighting already had and (not yet up) – Urban Cottage Industries
Gifted Items*
La Maison Noir Decor wall tiles and grout* – Mandarin Stone
Nero Riven Slate floor tiles and grout* – Mandarin Stone
Glass Shower divider Panel* – Mira
Realm Mixer Shower* – Mira
Harrogate Towels and Bathmat * – Christy
Found and salvaged items
Bath caddy – homemade in minutes from found driftwood
Hidden bracket shelving – made from offcuts from sink counter and a felled tree
Wooden panelling upcylced from old 1930’s doors
Large Mirror – found on the street!
Pictures collected over time from a local junk shops
