Don’t overdo it when redecorating your bathroom

DON’T OVERDO IT WHEN REDECORATING YOUR BATHROOM

The bathroom and kitchen are the two rooms that many consider to be the crux of the value of real estate in Australia or New Zealand. How big your kitchen is and how many bathrooms you have can be the key to making or breaking a deal. In fact, two or more bathrooms was the minimum requirement for an Australian “dream home”, says a survey from the Real Estate Buyer’s Agents Association of Australia – clearly, they are incredibly important to the price you get for the property.

Obviously, you will want to ensure that these areas are looking their very best when that property inspection rolls around. However, because this is such an important piece of your property, you run the risk of overthinking or overdoing it when redecorating your bathroom.

So what’s the solution? How do you bring your bathroom up to the next level without tumbling over the top?

WORK WITH THE SMALL SPACE

Small spaces have a charm all their own when it comes to interior design, and it pays to ensure that you play to their strengths. Minimalism and simplicity is one option to go for, as architect Daniel Boddam describes.

“Simplicity works for any small space,” he said to Vogue Magazine.

“Reduce visual noise and clutter, streamline and modernise whilst still having personality and ambience.”

What does that translate to exactly? Rather than showy mosaics or flashy mirror frames, try something a little more demure, a little more balanced. Try paring back all the design features, revealing the very basics of the bathroom’s design. Work with the contours and angles of the surfaces themselves.

While pure minimalism dictates keeping the colours cool and calculated, you still want to retain some personality so that it doesn’t end up as a blank space in the minds of your buyers. Why not integrate some vegetation to bring out a lush green? It is in keeping with the simple aesthetic while also contributing a splash of colour to help solidify the room in your buyers’ minds.

BUT AVOID DRAWING ATTENTION TO THE SIZE

This may be the hardest part of the design, as it expects you to be able to bend the laws of physics – or at least of perception. This can be achieved in little ways – hanging art a little higher than eye level to give the impression of height, highlight different zones with different colours (but keep them simple), keep the area bright and minimise shadows.

These are just a few ways suggested by Jonathan Adler’s creative services manager Nicholas Obeid to keep you from drawing attention to a smaller bathroom.

It pays to ensure that your bathroom looks its best. Try these methods, and create some of your own too – after all, like Mr Boddam said, you still want the place to retain personality.