Advice on Bathroom Fixtures

[Sunisshining12]

Planning a new bathroom & 2 shower en-suites. Layout is sorted but the fixtures are frying my brain! Anyone good at sourcing?

Really like the dramatic Calacatta marble and black & gold marble effect tiles. Imagining a crystal pendant, some gold accessories, a bit of glam.

Things I need help with:
Round vs Square fixtures?
A super large shower head
Digital shower control? Do you buy these separately?
Recommended brands?
A very very dark wood wall hung vanity drawer - what should I be searching?
Presume chrome?

Tia

for a drencher shower, you need an extra big enclosure so you can walk around under it, and preferably at least one wall-mounted or handheld so you can squirt the grimy parts of your body.

the top of your head does not need a great deal of washing

you also need a large amount of water flow into the house, and preferably a 200l or bigger unvented cylinder, because you will use 15-20 litres of water per minute. Flow is not the same as pressure. A large combi can heat about 12lpm (less in winter)

Porcelanosa has a lot of what you want. I’m not on your wave length re finish and lighting etc - too glam for me. However you could look at Crosswater, Grohe, Hansgrohe for showers and taps and towel rails etc and companies such as CP Hart and Sanctuary Bathrooms, West One for ideas. We bought ours separately. A good plumber will advise too. We have square fittings but just buy what you like.

@PigletJohn - thanks for this. We have a 300l. How fast would that be drained though, as hadn’t even thought about that?

@PresentingPercy - I’ve looked at Porcelanosa & they are a bit pricey, esp as I’m doing 3!

Would square or circular fittings be more in keeping with the look I’m after? Chrome?

A 300l cylinder would last at least ten minutes, possibly 20.

Fill a bucket at your hot bath tap, time it, calculate how many litres per minute it delivers. A shower is likely to be a bit less, unless your bathtap is a trendy fashionable import with narrow waterways.

Thanks Piglet John.

Really struggling to decide what will look best, what to order, where to find the darkest vanity etc etc...

Look up Wenge vanity units. Laufen do them. Duravit do similar.

Personally marble bathrooms in houses scare me. Just too cold looking. I love the modern tiles at Porcelanosa and then white sink, shower and bath. Crisp chrome taps and towel rad. Non slip tiles on the floor and grey or white vanity and storage cupboard. I like a lit cabinet over the sink and I like a big sink. I jazz up bathrooms with coloured towels and I avoid gold like the plague!

Have a look at these.

I love marble but agree it can look very cold and clinical if it’s not softened up with another material

Wenge that’s it! Or a similar darker wood effect?

I like marble & I like glam but just don’t know what fixtures match? And can’t get my head around the showers?

We have showers with the water supply to the shower head enclosed behind the tiles. The controlls sit on the wall and there is a mixer, diverted for smaller shower or overhead drench shower and a temperature control. We don’t have a digital shower control and I’m happy with our choices. Look at the tap manufacturers web sites to see examples of exposed or hidden shower fittings.

Wenge is usually the dark wood Used for bathroom furniture or you can get painted. If you went for a paler marble, white or Wenge furniture would be fine - as in the pictures. I think getting furniture to go with black and gold is more difficult. The marbles above are easier to live with. In my view.

Diverted - should read Diverter

Thanks, I’ve had a look. Like the concealed type.

Think I will stick to the white marble then. I’ve found one with taupe vein rather than grey so it’s a bit warmer. I like the Wenge wood & think it works well with the marble (I hope?!)

Just the taps/shower shapes I’m stuck on. Would a square chunkier fixing or a round fixing suit this look better? Are there any pros & cons to either?

Like the bronze but worried it could date?

I honestly would stick to chrome fittings. I have square controls in our en suite and round fittings in another en-suite. I have a shower column in another en suite. Really no difference. They all work! We have 3 round drench shower heads and one square one. They both send out plenty of water!! Just buy decent quality because you don’t want them going wrong. Bristan are reliable and any German manufacturer. Grohe or Hansgrohe. You don’t need to spend a fortune but buy a decent make. We also have Crosswater. Some people aren’t keen but we have never had a problem. I’ve 4 showers in this house and 3 in my holiday house and 2 in a flat in London. I own lots of showers and they have never gone wrong. All but 2 are concealed.

I think Wenge wood goes well with a white based marble. It will look great!

@PresentingPercy - thank you! Off to search for taps now. Do you think round or square will look better with the white marble tiles & wood vanity?