2018 Bathroom Trends (Grand Designs) | Katie Treggiden Skip to content

2018 Bathroom Trends (Grand Designs)

This article was written 6 years ago.

All copy as provided to the publication.

Wall-to-wall pink tiles, a contemporary bath suite and clever storage have created a high-impact bathroom that works for two very different bathers.

  • Location: Forest Hill, London
  • Style of property: Victorian terraced-house
  • Length of project: 6 weeks
  • What they did: Ripped out and replaced the entire bathroom
  • Size: 6 sqm
  • Cost: £10,000

When interior designers and co-founders of [*]2LG Studio [2lgstudio.com] Jordan Cluroe and Russell Whitehead bought their house in Forest Hill they knew the bathroom would need a complete overhaul. ‘It was just so hideous,’ laughs Russell of a room that included a brown bath panel and white tiles with floral transfers, but no shower. ‘It was the first room we redesigned, but we couldn’t afford to make the changes straight away, so I spend two years crouching under a rubber shower hose attached to the taps. Jordan is a bath person, so he was fine!’

Installing recycled plastics in a bathroom

  • General cutting: Most saws can be used to cut panels but fine teeth are better, and we recommend using a wavy set or skip tooth to minimise friction. Circular saws and table saws are effective in giving you clean straight lines, and milling or routing with sharp tools can also be effective.
  • Tiles: Make sure that the surfaces you are applying plastic tiles to are completely clean, flat and dry. Rough up the gluing face with sand paper then use an epoxy or grab/mastic adhesive that is compatible with plastics to bond the pieces to the wall. You will need to seal the tiles’ edges with a caulk to prevent the water from getting behind the tiles.
  • Wall panels, bath panels and splash-backs: Plastic panels are an excellent alternative to tiles in bath and shower enclosures and much quicker to install. Drilling holes in the panel can be achieved with sharp drills compatible with plastics, withdrawing the drill regularly to ensure the plastic is not melting! The drilled panel can then be screwed directly onto the wall.
  • Flooring: Plastic can become slippery when wet, so we would not recommend it as a shower tray or bathroom flooring. If plastic flooring is essential for your design, consider applying slip resistant coatings or routing treads into the surface of the material to enhance grip.
  • Forming: Some bathroom designs will require curvature in the panel and plastic sheets can be heat-formed using basic moulding processes. Thinner panels are easier to mould – just ensure the temperature is consistent across the section to be bent. Lower temperatures applied over a longer period are most effective.

Rosalie McMillan, co-founder of Smile Plastics

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Katie Treggiden is also the founder and director of Making Design Circular — an international membership community and online learning platform for environmentally conscious designers, makers, artists and craftspeople.
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