With a long history and culture of relaxation, Japanese bathroom design embraces minimalism to encourage natural tranquillity and zen. Balancing this traditional style in a modern home can be tough, but not impossible.
Today, we explore an example of contemporary Japanese bathroom design. Interior Designer Jacqueline Chen, from The Glade Design, takes us on a tour of Morecombe Home.
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Jaqueline Chen knew that her client loved Japanese bathroom design, but incorporating it in the right way could prove tricky.
“The client loved Japanese bathroom design, luckily enough, I am also a bit of a fan. We wanted to create a bathroom that is cool, calm and luxurious, without going over the top. Only the guests and a young teenager would use this space so we didn’t want anything too obvious that wouldn’t go with the architectural style of the house.
“It was important to me not to overdo the Japanese look. When talking about Japanese bathrooms, we can think of a wooden tub, concrete tiles, Japanese mosaic, crisp white basins and minimalist design. I only included some of these elements, such as the mosaic, white bath and basin… which I felt would create that same calmness and simplicity we see in Japanese bathroom design.”
There are many stunning features in this bathroom but we couldn’t stop being drawn to those dark green mosaic tiles.
“The dark green tile immediately drew my attention when I was doing research. When I found the tile in store, I knew ‘this is the one and they will love it!’. The tiles have some black spots on them so I knew they would look lovely with the black grout and vanity. This is how the black theme started,” explains Jaqueline.
“I needed the green tile to stand out, and brass tapware would do exactly that. Carrying it throughout the bathroom would have been too much, so I also used matte black tapware to tie in with the vanity. I think about tapware as jewellery, I wear a mix of gold and silver jewellery all the time and it works.
“People can be hesitant about dark bathrooms but this bathroom is oriented northwest so I knew the dark theme would work well. There’s plenty of natural light in here and too many cool colours would have felt bland.
“Even now, my favourite feature of this bathroom are those amazing green tiles. I love how the colour scheme turned out better than I could’ve imagined.”
Jacqueline shares some of her tips for designing a luxurious, beautiful and functional bathroom.
“Don’t rush it! If you can, take your time to do plenty of research by finding inspiration and locking in your style. I also suggest considering all possible layouts to work out the best placement for items in the space. Think about how people will use the space. Who will be using it? This will completely set the layout and limit the material selection,” says Jaqueline wisely.
“Pick a hero object! This could be a tile, tapware, stone top, or custom vanity. Do whatever possible to highlight the hero object as much as possible.
“The simpler design always wins the job! No matter what style or colour scheme, we all want to feel calm and relaxed in the bathroom. Don’t over complicate things, 2-3 tiles are usually enough. You shouldn’t feel the need to fill in every corner and cram everything together.
“Spend on things you will use daily. Tapware should always be of good quality and a reliable brand, especially an in-wall tap. If anything goes wrong it can be hard to fix.”
We know you’re going to ask so we got all the supplier details from Jacqueline!
Green tiles — Artedomus
Custom vanity — Seytim
Concrete basin — Nood.co
Tapware — ABI Interior
Smart Toilet — TOTO
Towel rail, toilet paper holder — Linear Standard
Photography — Flavia
Project design — Jacqueline Chen
We loved chatting with Jaqueline about her Morecombe bathroom project. You can find more from Jacqueline and The Glade Design on their website, or connect with them on Instagram and Facebook. Are you planning a bathroom reno? Did this room tour offer you the inspiration you were looking for? Let us know in the comment section below!
Find more room inspo here!
