Australian House & Garden — June 2017

AUSTRALIAN HOUSE & GARDEN | 153

The brief When transforming the main bathroom in

her Perth home, interior designer and stylist Jo Carmichael

of Texture Tone Design had a clear goal: “I wanted to create

a room that had plenty of character, felt fresh and functional,

and wouldn’t cost a fortune,” she says. The bathroom is in

an upstairs, attic-style extension to the original 1960s home

and offers the family of four abundant space. “We have a

generous bath, views over the trees and a walk-in shower.”

FIXTURES

Elegant above-counter basin,

$251, The Sink Warehouse;

sinkwarehouse.com.au.

Customised console (vanity),

$1000, Trish’s Place; (08) 9328

8111 or trishsplace.com.au.

Vintage mirror. Custom-made

towel rail, $1100 (see below).

Caroma Cube 1600mm

back-to-wall bath, $2382,

Bunnings; (03) 8831 9777

or bunnings.com.au.

Abey Fontana horizontal

shower, $289, White Bathroom

Co; (02) 9967 4488 or

whitebathroom.com.au.

Krome three-function hand

shower, $209, ABL Tile

& Bathroom Centre;

abltilecentre.com.au.

Encaustic cement tiles,

$198/m2, M2 Tiles; (08) 9384

8111 or tileboutique.com.au.

Texture Tone Design,

Fremantle, WA;

0415 474 410

or texturetone

design.com.au.

The design approach

Creativity and thriftiness have delivered great outcomes in this bathroom. It’s shared

by everyone in the house, so it made sense for Jo to design two doors into the room,

one from the main bedroom and the other from the hallway leading to her daughters’

bedroom. She decided early on to give the space a furnished look. “I spotted the

console table at a vintage furniture store that was selling off stock so I was able to put

those savings into having it customised with a zinc top,” says Jo. Anchoring the room

are handmade encaustic floor tiles that, in return for yearly sealing, offer a traditional

pattern and gorgeous matt finish. Jo also made savings in other areas. “The basin is

a second so it’s slightly imperfect,” she explains, “but we love it because both kids can

use it at once. I had the oversized steel towel rail made by a local steelworker and

powder-coated black. This was more economical than buying one off the shelf.” >

MATERIALS PALETTE

Dulux Tristan paint, ceramic,

seagrass

TOP TIP

‘A back-to-wall bath

offers the best of both

worlds: the look of a

freestanding but all

the practicality

of an inset.’

Styling by Jo Carmichael. Photography by Bo Wong.