Samuel Heath and the perfect bathroom

Is your bathroom looking old fashioned and stuck in a time warp? Help is at hand with Samuel Heath, experts in bathroom design. With nearly 200 years of manufacturing experience, producing high quality contemporary and classic bathroom fittings, they know a thing or two about bathroom design. We picked their brains to find out how deep their (luxury) bath of knowledge really is…

Image credit: Samuel Heath

What are Samuel Heath’s top tips for bathroom design?

• It’s always good to list what your priorities are for the bathroom and what’s most important to you. For example, if you prefer to bathe, then you may wish to optimise the space you have for the bath and work the design of the bathroom around this. Try to make a feature of this area by using either a striking freestanding bath with floor mounted bath taps or a contrasting tile to create a dramatic backdrop.

• Or is showering more your thing? Go for a large walk-in shower with the options of shower valves that can be combined with an overhead shower, a hand shower, and body jets for the ultimate experience.

• Always consider who’s using the bathroom. If children are using the room you may want to consider thermostatic shower valves with temperature override buttons like the ones that feature on our Xiara, Xenon and Fairfield valves.

• Treat taps and shower valves like jewellery. You can transform a very simple looking bathroom suite by using a well designed piece of brassware.

• Lighting makes a big difference to any room, be it ceiling mounted halogen lighting or subtle mood lighting using LED marker lights. But don’t go for symmetry – always position lights over areas where they will enhance and illuminate items such as a basin.

• Don’t be afraid to use large tiles in small bathrooms. The larger the tile the better, as the grout lines give the illusion of more space and give the bathroom a more simple look.

Image credit: Samuel Heath

How should you accessorise your bathroom?

The choice for bathroom accessories has grown so much over the years. Once purely functional, the choice of accessories is now endless.

Bathroom accessories should allow you to organise all your paraphernalia as well as bring personality to your bathroom, and you can be as expressive as you wish by using jeweled accessories. We recommend the Kevin McCloud collection by Samuel Heath which adds a touch of glamour to your room with mother of pearl accents.

How are bathrooms becoming more sustainable in design?

Living sustainably  is becoming increasingly important as we seek to preserve our precious resources and safeguard our planet for future generations.

Image credit: Samuel Heath

The bathroom is a key area where we can all make a difference by saving water and buying products which have been made in a more sustainable way. Simple changes in technology are now allowing us to shower with a reduced consumption of water; small devices such as flow limiters reduce water usage. The same is true for taps as they too can be fitted with flow limiters – Samuel Heath offer these options across our range and many can be used for high or low pressure systems.

Samuel Heath also take care to manufacture in the most sustainable way possible. We are reducing our own water and energy consumption year on year and we also use recycled brass material which retains its purity in the manufacturing process of all our products.

Three absolute no-no’s:

• Don’t cut corners when it comes to working fittings likes taps and shower valves. It is especially crucial to invest in such pieces when they are being installed into walls where pipe work won’t be easily accessible afterward.

• Don’t over clutter bathrooms. When the bathroom is nearing completion this is normally a good time to take a look at what space you have available to install accessories. Remember, less is more.

• Don’t treat a bathroom installation like a DIY project – always get a professional installation team involved. Samuel Heath work with premium showrooms who can offer a bespoke design and installation service.

Image credit: Samuel Heath

One thing you must remember…

Storage! No matter what size the room. Everybody utilises storage in a bathroom, be it a place to store small everyday items such as toothbrushes and toothpaste or bulkier items such as towels.

What is Samuel Heath’s most successful bathroom range and why?

Currently, our most successful bathroom range is our Fairfield collection. Although minimalist designs have been popular in the past we are finding that customers desire a softer feel in interiors.

From furniture to wall coverings, the current trend is to bring shape, colour and texture into our lives. Nostalgia has also become a strong influence in interiors – although not with the designs of yesterday but with more of a contemporary take on nostalgic designs.

Image credit: Samuel Heath

What’s your favourite bathroom design?

It is difficult to have one favourite bathroom when I see so many fantastic designs for wonderful hotels and private residence bathrooms which are truly beautiful! However, this bathroom (above) was designed by one of our customers, Ambiente Design in Bath, and captures what great design is all about.

While achieving a luxury ‘boutique’ hotel bathroom feel and real ‘wow factor’, the design is warm and welcoming too. The combination of classic and contemporary elements have been blended together very well resulting in a space which is eclectic yet stylish.

This was achieved by combining minimalist bathroom furniture with Samuel Heath’s basin and shower fittings. By choosing Samuel Heath’s classic Xenon range and the softer curves of the Fairfield collection, the hand-finished brassware becomes the central focus of the design creating an opulent yet classic setting with a modern, luxurious twist.

Liked this? Read about Samuel Heath’s bathroom trends only with mydeco.