Flora Soames is on a mission to encourage more and more of us to embrace the concept of the decorated bathroom.
I spend a lot of time in my bathroom — specifically, in the bath. Not being a shower person, I find that a bath is ideal for winding down after a long day. It’s where I do some of my best thinking. When it comes to decorating bathrooms, I’m drawn to childhood memories. As a young child, bath-rooms are where you tend to spend time with your parents, have scraps with your brothers and sisters and hold important conversations about the day that has passed. The memories are (almost all) magical. My childhood bathroom in Norfolk was filled with characterful details: a series of illustrations decorated the wall above the bath, mounted on orange towelling. The bath itself was turquoise enamel.
Subconsciously, these memories have informed the approach I take to designing bathrooms in adulthood. First and foremost, despite being a functional room, it doesn’t have to be decorated in a perfunctory way. It should be wonderfully spoiling and can be decadent. The American decorator Nancy Lancaster is credited with spearheading this approach in English interiors. Before she arrived and tore up the decorating rulebook, guests in country houses had to set off, sponge bag in hand, to find a lino-floored room located somewhere down a corridor and heated by a single-bar radiator. Following her insistence for comfort first, bathrooms started to adjoin their accompanying bedrooms and were decorated like small sitting rooms, with pattern at the heart of them, artwork, blowsy fabrics at the windows and somewhere comfortable to sit.
A bath in an alcove creates an intimate feel. Credit: Paul Massey/House and Garden
Cecil Beaton believed it was important to live surrounded by what you like, so why should bathrooms be any different? Decoratively, I like to take a ‘more is more’ approach. The first bathroom shown here was designed for a busy family of six in a house designed by Quinlan Terry in the 1970s. It has the best out-look of all the rooms, overlooking the park beyond, with the bath positioned to take advantage of these views.
It’s the picture hang that underlines the bathroom-as-family-room approach, as well as the assorted bookshelves, cupboards and wallpaper. Many people worry about books and wallpaper in a bathroom, but it simply needs plenty of ventilation. We also put a protective varnish on our hand-blocked wallpaper designs, which helps. I also love having an armchair next to the bath, which makes it a place for everyone to come together.
The bath alcove in the second scheme has a sense of theatricality that I like to introduce to bathrooms; somewhere slightly decadent that encourages one to luxuriate a little longer. Out of sight is another alcove for a shower that, despite not being visible here, is a firm fixture in my designs and as chic to decorate in its own right. The marble splashback plays to the shape of the opening, as well as the original Edwardian bath fittings.
My instinct was to keep adding layers to this room. The blind, slipper chair and alcove are in my Dahlias design, whereas the auction-sourced wall sconces were originally intended for the drawing room, until they found a home here. The spotted voile curtains were spontaneously rescued from an old tester bed. I often include a little stool or a fabric skirt around the sink to add softness in contrast to the hard surfaces. Do consider the lighting, too: wall lights at face height are much more flattering than those fitted overhead.
Flora Soames — 01747 445650; www.florasoames.com
