7 Tips to Make Your Bathroom a Sure Success (and Make It Your Favorite Place!)
Tired of all-white bathrooms? Here’s how to personalize your bathroom to make it both unique and timeless. We teamed up with Karine Gonthier-Hyndman, actress (Like-moi, C’est comme ça que je t’aime, and many more), and also a big fan of design. Her project? To renovate the two bathrooms in her bold and original home (with modern and warm accents), making it a remarkable place. She shares with us her inspirations and explains her choices!
1. Choose Colored Tiles, Our Best Advice to Personalize Your Bathroom
“Color, I find, brings joy. We don’t dare enough, afraid of making a mistake.”
Ceramic is the best way to personalize your space. Karine Gonthier-Hyndman chose an entirely pink bathroom and a powder room (more on that below) all in green. In a small space like a bathroom or an entryway, you can afford to be creative and try styles you wouldn’t attempt over a large area.
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman shares her inspirations for the pink bathroom: “We chose a ceramic that looks like concrete. It reminded me of the tiles we see in Greece.”
Her preference went to the Paint collection, available in 24 x 24. Great choice! The concrete effect is not easily dirtied, and its pink shade brings light and softness to the room.
2. Creating a Walk-In Shower
“We wanted this room to be vibrant!”
The second renovated bathroom is what’s called a powder room: a small washroom, often reserved for guests, which doesn’t necessarily have a shower.
Adjacent to the master bedroom, Karine Gonthier-Hyndman knew it would be heavily used. She explains what inspired her: “We wanted it to be vibrant, and when we saw the ceramic at La Tuilerie, we immediately fell in love. The green, the inspiration from Spain, Cuba, the warm feel.” The selected tiling is the MC-302 green mosaic.
A walk-in shower is characterized by being open to the bathroom, without a threshold, and custom-designed. It allows for making the most out of small spaces. Choosing the same shade of ceramic for both the wall and the floor adds a sense of grandeur to the room. The Quebec actress and comedian understood this well: “We really wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was a small space to cover almost the entire surface with mosaic.”
Our tip: consider integrating one or more niches into the shower. Your bathroom will be more organized. It avoids, for example, having products lying on the floor.
Safe, comfortable, stylish, and practical: don’t hesitate any longer. The walk-in shower has everything going for it!
3. Choosing the Right Vanity
“We wanted the room to have a personality of its own.”
Before starting a renovation, you need to establish your needs. For the vanity, determine whether you want it to be single or double, but also consider if it should be cabinet-style (which optimizes storage), floating, or pedestal. Next, define the style of the sink so that all elements are harmonious.
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman shares, “We chose to have a concrete sink in the same pink tones, to provide continuity and so that the room would have a personality of its own.” Mission accomplished! The design of the space is unique, bold, yet timeless.
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman explains: “I love the idea of monochrome! The pink vanity on the pink tile is a way of daring tone on tone. We love it too!
4. Playing with the Room’s Architecture
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman’s green powder room features a bull’s-eye window, an oval or circular window. Preserving the “soul” and age of the place involves maintaining its architectural distinctions as well as choosing appropriate tiling.
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman explains, “There’s a round window, so it’s a different architecture. It’s a bull’s-eye window rather than a square one. We decided to highlight it with a punch of color.” It works so well, we love it!
5. Paying Attention to Lighting
Lighting plays a role that’s as functional as it is decorative. Depending on the location of the window and your needs, it’s crucial to carefully consider your lighting fixtures and/or lamps.
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman selected an all-white, round light fixture, in harmony with the room’s design and with the plumbing fixtures (which are also white).
6. Having Fun with Decor
Whether you follow trends or not, refining your decor with accessories takes it up a notch and helps create a unique ambiance. We share with you some ideas:
- A large, beautiful mirror adds personality.
- Some items, like a basket, serve both as storage and decorative objects.
- A rug is the little extra that dresses up your floor and comforts your feet.
- A beautiful vase with dried flowers brings a natural touch.
- Finally, nothing beats a few candles for casting a soft light.
To bring life and color, think about plants. Opt for species that thrive in humid environments. For a simple touch of freshness, a few eucalyptus branches can do wonders.
7. Displaying Artwork
“I didn’t want to be in a sterile space.”
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman shares her enthusiasm: “I knew I didn’t want just white and gray. I wanted to add life! I already have a lot of colorful items: colored chairs, accents in every room, artworks, or plants.”
Decorating your bathroom with artworks (such as paintings, statues, sculptures, photography, etc.) allows for even more personalization. By changing them from time to time, you’ll refresh your decor and give it a new lease on life.
BONUS: 2 Additional Questions for Karine Gonthier-Hyndman
If you had a time machine, what would you do in your future house?
Karine Gonthier-Hyndman: “I think we underestimate ceramic. I would dare to make my kitchen floor in terracotta ceramic, continuing from the inside to the outside. A continuity that gives the illusion that the outside is inside and vice versa.”
What was the biggest highlight of your renovations?
Karine Gonthier: “Definitely, it’s the result. The day the ceramic was laid. That, and the windows. Then, all of a sudden, it takes shape. You start to see the personality of your house, that’s when you really get excited.”
A huge thank you to Karine Gonthier-Hyndman for this incredible collaboration, her good taste, and her kindness! To follow her on social media, just click here, on her Instagram account.
To recreate this style:
- The pink bathroom: Paint pink, 24 x 24.
- The green powder room: MC-302 green.
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