Bathrooms are so often left looking flat and sterile. Matching white walls, white fixtures and only a contrasting floor seems to be the default design for Australian homes and considered the ‘safe’ option. Though most beautiful, timeless bathrooms don’t follow this format; they have texture, depth and warmth! This is usually achieved through an interior design technique called layering.
Layering works by using either harmonised or contrasting finishes at consecutive points through a space, drawing the eye in and creating a sense of depth for the onlooker. While the technique works best where there are different vertical planes or sections through a space, nib walls, archways, pop outs or cut outs, for example, you can also create the illusion of layers on a flat surface with clever placement of materials.
So how do I create layers in my space? Consider your bathroom space as more than just the floor and walls. Think about how you move through the space, is there the opportunity to add dimension? Can you pop out the wall at half height behind the vanity, toilet or bath? Is it possible and practical to divide the space at the shower entrance with a part wall or nib wall rather than a full shower screen? If you are tight on space already, you can create the illusion of layers by imagining the 3-dimensional partitions and then highlighting ‘foreground’ objects using brighter, bolder finishes and using more muted finishes on ‘background’ objects.
To use the layering technique in your bathroom design we recommend selecting 3-4 unique finishes, noting that 4 can start looking quite busy in a smaller space. These should include 2-3 tile finishes, your vanity finish and any other large surfaces outside of your sanitaryware and tapware.
Finishes can differ in colour or texture or a combination of both, for example it is possible to layer in all white by utilising different textures – large format white tiles on the walls with white penny rounds for the second layer and white marble for the third.
