What is your concept of great bathroom design? Barbara Sallick, senior vice-president of luxury bath company Waterworks, helps you to define your ideas…

Q. If you are intending to redo your bathroom, where do you find design inspiration?
A. Inspiration can come from almost anywhere. A great place to start is browsing printed materials like books and magazines or online sources. There you will find a range of ideas on colours, fixtures, furniture and accessories. I have found that design inspirations are often discovered through travel — from visiting museums to staying in great hotels. And, of course, your own imagination can lead you to wonderful ideas.

Q. How do you go about bringing together the entire bathroom scheme – from sanitaryware to taps, showers and tiles?
A. It’s important to do your homework either online or in shops with the help of an experienced sales consultant. Gather your information, decide on your preferences (combined with your budget) and assemble your story board to make sure that the design scheme is coherent. While aesthetics drive many decisions, function (from the height of a counter to the layout of the room) is a critical consideration; the bath is the most permanent of installations and making changes is expensive and disruptive.

Q. Can you combine traditional and modern styles in bathroom design?
A. You can successfully combine traditional and modern styles if you do so thoughtfully and carefully. Avoid creating a random look by mixing and matching to the extreme. To create a coherent statement, there should be a theme–such as colour–that ties the elements together.

Q.When would you choose a freestanding bath?
A. A freestanding bath is like a piece of sculpture; the bathroom should be spacious enough to allow the bathtub to float in the space. Because a freestanding bathtub is not usually well-suited for showering, it is ideal to have a separate shower cubicle.

Q. What are the advantages of an inset bath?
A. The greatest advantage of an inset bath is that it can be used both for showering and soaking. For showering safety, you want to be sure the tub has a flat bottom. And for soaking, you should look for a tub that has the correct slope for your back and length for your legs. Another advantage of a bath that is enclosed on three sides is that it can have a deck and be clad in stone or tile as a decorative element.

Q. How can you add colour to a bathroom when sanitaryware is predominantly white?
A. There are many easy ways to add colour to the bathroom. Some of the most effective options include tile or stone, paint, textiles or wallpaper. If you are timid about using colour, you can do so in a fun-yet-cautious way by adding it as an accent on the shower floor. Also, you can add colour impact with classics; I love grays and navy for the bathroom.

Q. What type of stone is suitable for bathrooms?
A. Most stone is suitable for the bathroom. It is a natural material retrieved from quarries all over the world, so there are countless choices. You can use stone to create an understated backdrop or bold accents of pattern and color. Whether you use it for counters, walls or flooring, stone must be sealed regularly for proper maintenance.

Q. How do you add storage to bathrooms?
A. The best storage for the bathroom is designed into the plan of the room in the form of a closet or cabinets for towels, amenities that don’t fit in the medicine cabinet, toilet paper and, perhaps, your laundry basket. However, open shelves and beautiful baskets become great receptacles for bath-time necessities and look decorative as well.

Q.What are current trends in bathroom design?
A. Over the past few years, stone has become the most used material in the bathroom and currently there is great demand for gray stone and tile. I have noticed that powder rooms have become places for more bold decoration with patterned mosaic floors, wallpaper and unusual colour palettes in paint or tile.

Q. Why is Waterworks unique?
A. Waterworks defined and created the luxurious bathroom 37 years ago. Since then, we have been committed to design authenticity, beautiful materials and fine craftsmanship. We are experts at sensually and visually inspiring products that offer exquisite proportion, balance and scale. Our focus is to help designers and homeowners create the perfect bathroom with greater ease through our trusted products, complete showrooms and well-trained sales consultants.