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10 Beautiful Rooms

Morning everyone and welcome to this week’s edition of 10 Beautiful Rooms. As usual there’s no overriding theme, just a collection of spaces that have caught my eye and which I thought you might enjoy and which might spark inspiration for your own homes.

burgundy and wood image via conran + partners
burgundy and wood image via conran + partners

Take this, for example, it’s an Art Deco waterfront bar in Copenhagen, refurbished by Conran + Partners. Now clearly, we can’t all be hanging wooden boats over our kitchen islands, but the colours of this are just divine. That deep burgundy colour with black accents and natural wood… As you will see below I am contemplating a green kitchen but then I see this colour again and I wonder….

The German Gymnasium by Conran +Partners
The German Gymnasium by Conran +Partners photography by a group including Marcus Peel, Paul Winch-Furness and Jean Cazals

And this must surely be the current contender for the bathroom of dreams. Yes marble and brass has been around for a while but make it feel fresh again with the addition of this fabulous circus wallpaper. I haven’t been able to track this paper down but if anyone knows then do tell us in the comments below.

coffee bar in boston showroom of waterworks.com
coffee bar in boston showroom of waterworks.com

This kitchen is in the Boston showroom of Waterworks and could totally be used as inspiration for a scheme at home. Tiling the island works really well if you don’t have to use it for storage (as I do) and I am increasingly taken with the idea of tiled walls in kitchens as well.

bathroom by tineke triggs of adlsf.com
bathroom by tineke triggs of adlsf.com

Back to bathrooms and proving once again that you can’t go wrong with a monochrome scheme as the base and then you can layer whatever other colours you fancy. I appreciate that just as we can’t all hang a boat over the island, nor can most of us fit a chaise longue into the bathroom but imagine a set of green towels instead. Or burgundy ones. Or terracotta… you get the idea.

black industrial style bathroom by Amy Wilson of thisstylerocks
black industrial style bathroom by Amy Wilson of @thisstylerocks

Talking of bathrooms this is fabulous by Amy Wilson of This Style Rocks and No House Rules. Also a monochrome scheme but perhaps more black that white. There is so much to love in this bathroom, which apparently isn’t even finished yet (you can see the wires hanging down which will have brass lights fitted as soon as Amy can get hold of her electrician), that I barely know where to start. The Crittall style shower enclosure , the black taps and the hexagonal tile splashback.

pink panellled bathroom of Katie Woods from @comedowntothewoods

But then there’s the bathroom of Katie Woods, of Come Down To The Woods, and co-founder of No House Rules (what is is about these women and bathrooms?). Dark panelling, patterned monochrome floor tiles and a pink bath in front of the window. This too is a bathroom of dreams. And don’t worry if your own bathrooms are small. Firstly – you can always use some pattern – sometimes a big, bold pattern will distract from the size and secondly just use the colours. Paint the ceiling pink if you haven’t room for a bath. Or add pink towels.

davonport kitchen in ekbb mag February issue

Now I was talking earlier about green kitchens. I’m definitely pondering whether this is the way forward. My current kitchen is painted in a dark blue black. It was meant to be very, very, very dark grey. But not quite black. It has come out a sort of navy blue. I love it. But now I wonder if I fancy it green. Or proper black? As I mentioned above I also love burgundy but somehow a burgundy kitchen doesn’t seem right. What do you think?

green kitchen by naked kitchens

This green and brass beauty by Naked Kitchens was the first one I saw and it is dreamy. The simplicity of the style with round holes for handles allows for a deeper, more unusual colour. Sadly I have no need of a splashback in mine but that is a colour combination that is fabulous with the pale marble worktop.

neptune green kitchen
neptune green kitchen 

Or perhaps this dark Neptune version is more to your taste. Acutally what I love here is the painted brick wall and I haven’t got one of those either but the overall effect is one I could happily do business with. Or what about this one by Plain English? I wouldn’t paint the walls dark so I suspect this is more the sort of effect I would end up with.

plain english osea kitchen green
plain english osea kitchen green

But maybe, just maybe, it’s not about the kitchen after all. Maybe what I actually want is to paint the sitting room dark green instead of dark grey. Oh living this fantasy decorating life can be quite hard work at times.

Kate Watson-Smyth

The author Kate Watson-Smyth

I’m a journalist who writes about interiors mainly for The Financial Times but I have also written regularly for The Independent and The Daily Mail. My house has been in Living Etc, HeartHome and featured in The Wall Street Journal & Corriere della Sera. I also run an interior styling consultancy Mad About Your House. Welcome to my Mad House.

6 Comments

  1. love the industrial bathroom, it is sinilar to my own ongoing,(it will get done eventually) project.

  2. Ps. I liked the green so much, I also painted the splashbacks in the same colour eggshell- inexpensive/ easy to clean/ paint over and looks great( I think!)

  3. Go green for your kitchen, Kate! I’ve never regretted the decision to have our inherited, cream B & Q units resprayed in Studio green by FAB and at your encouragement, painted the walls in pinky-grey PEIGNOIR! I still can’t believe they’re the same kitchen units- they look much more expensive than they were and I know it’s sad, but I often sit and admire them from the comfort of my sofa-6 months on- and realise it was the best decision we made when re decorating our house! Like you, I was inspired by the Naked kitchens units and Neptune.we had to work around an existing B & Q worktop(their ‘earthstone’ Range in coffee- not what I would have chosen) but I now like it because it looks so good with the Studio green and the wall colour- money well spent( and not too much of it either!) go green…you won’t regret it- have I convinced you yet?!

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