Design ideas from a stylist’s bathroom makeover

Moving into a circa-1940s cottage while seven months pregnant with their second child, Pele Findson and husband Chris Oppenheim knew they had to act fast when it came to updating the home’s kitchen and bathroom.

While the couple plan to eventually extend the two-bedroom, one-bathroom postwar austerity cottage in Menora, they initially decided to tackle the two hardest working — and most run-down — rooms.

“The kitchen and bathroom were last renovated in the late 50s/early 60s, making them more than 50 years old, so it was a priority to update these spaces as soon as possible,” Ms Findson says.

After a “cheap and cheerful” three-day kitchen reno — a temporary update to tide them over until they extend — they turned their attention to the bathroom.

“The bathroom was a mishmash of custard yellow, brown mosaic and apple green tiles,” Ms Findson says. “Everything worked though.”

As well as adding a toilet (originally the home’s only toilet was located outside the laundry), Ms Findson, an interior stylist, says her vision for the new bathroom was for an earthy space with a soft colour palette and matte finishes.

“I wanted it to feel open and airy, almost like a wet room,” she says.

“Longer term, this will be our kids’ bathroom but for the next couple of years it needs to serve us as a one-bathroom family. So while storage, safety and a bath were important — I wanted it to be a space I’d really love spending time in, too.”

The entire room was gutted, including replacing the floor, ceiling, wiring and plumbing, and the floor plan reconfigured.

“It had a typical layout for the home’s vintage,” she says.

“There was a built-in bath and a shower tucked behind the door. A tiled brick wall separated the two, making the room feel darker and smaller than it really was, and a vanity under the window.

“The room isn’t huge — it’s 2m x 3m — but I really wanted to keep the bath and shower separate and still have room for a toilet. So figuring out the layout was the first step.

“I think we’ve really made the most of the space. It feels and looks so much larger.”

The bath was moved to the other side of the bathroom, the vanity unit centred on the main wall, the shower moved to sit opposite the bath and a toilet added in the shower’s place.

“The new layout means both the bath and shower are next to the window, which has a sunny outlook and frosted film on its lower half for privacy,” Ms Findson says.

Highlights include a custom marri timber vanity from Raw Edge, and Mutina Tratti wall tiles in the shower recess.

The tiles, along with the concrete aggregate-look floor tiles, are paired with simple large-format matt-white wall tiles.

Ms Findson says she loves the new-look bathroom.

“It’s a fairly neutral space that’s a little bit earthy and a little bit luxe.”