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Cool, calm and collected

Create space, style and serenity and transform your bathroom into the ultimate en-suite sanctuary

Bathrooms can often be treated as an afterthought in a busy home, a perfunctory space where we get ready for the day ahead or prepare for bed. But we’re missing a trick. Our bathrooms can become sanctuaries that can enhance our morning mood and bring a little relaxation into our lives.

She says: “I am interested in creating spaces that enhance daily rituals by making them enjoyable and effortless, and was inspired to create a fluid environment with a serene atmosphere that offers a pause before diving into daily activities.”

Interior designer Anjeli Placzek decided to create such a space in her en-suite bathroom. Anjeli began her career as a designer and art director at Kingston University with an Interior Design BA, followed by an MA Production Design for Film & TV and finally an MA Curating Contemporary Design with KU and the Design Museum.

Much careful consideration was given to the lighting, colour and texture. “Natural light falls beautifully through the glass in both directions, illuminated from the front and rear windows offering a soft haze each morning that I love to wake up to,” Anjeli explains. 

To help create an open-plan space and a smooth transition from the bedroom, the shower area features a minimal floor-to-ceiling sheet of glass that almost dissolves into the space and plays with light depending on the angle. A floor-to ceiling-mirror behind the floating sink units offers additional depth and light, and subtle sliding doors create privacy, diffusing the light so you can’t see what’s going on on the other side. 

The pale concrete and putty grey pallet is carried from the bedroom into the bathroom to offer a seamless connection, with changes in texture to mark the transition. The underfloor heated herringbone tiles in the bathroom are a combination of the greys found in the super-soft carpet, pale walls, silvery matt metal blinds and arabescato-inspired large porcelain tiles. The bathroom furniture is brushed steel in order to blend with the calm greys. A few touches including plants and natural objects, such as a branch and shells collected on holiday, offer a nod to nature.

To create your own Zen sanctuary, consider what your most calming experiences are,
be it at a spa, beach or elsewhere, says Anjeli, whose bathroom was inspired by the concrete and tiled patterns outside her grandmother’s house in Malaysia. “Select a few key elements that stand out in your memory and build a soft, stripped-back narrative surrounding that,” she says.