Fancy yourself as an INTERIOR DESIGNER? I need urgent help with my BATHROOM!

[noonar]

dh and i are not exactly seeing eye to eye as far as our new bathrom is concerned. we urgently need help before we make a very expensive mistake!

the story so far:
we have a lovely old roll top bath which we are getting resurfaced, but dh likes contemporary designs, so we are taking a bit of arisk and mixing old with new.

he has some lovely reclaimed wood from brighton pier which he plans to have made into a wash stand for a large square basin to sit on.

he also has a squarish shaped loo with hidden cistern and a wooden shelf is to be built above it, using the reclaimed wood.

the problem is the bath, imo. i feel that it will not be in keeping with the rest of the room. i feel that we need to some how 'tie in' the bath with the rest of the room, eg by sitting it in a timber cradle/ on planks of wood (my idea), and getting rid of the very victorian claw feet.

also, we can't agree about the flooring. dh wants oak floor and limestone tiled walls. i'm worried that 2 diff kinds of wood wont work.

am thinking maybe slate floor, but then what about the walls?

so, folks, any ideas re bath, floor or walls?? tia

Hound lemon from farrow and ball looks good with limestone HTH

Noonar, the tongue and groove is a bit of a Scottish thing, it is quite traditional in bathrooms in Victorian houses, only up to dado height and painted.

In our bathroom DH made up some panelling (I wanted the tongue and grove as we are in a Scottish Victorian house and it seemed appropriate) with MDF and it is actually very convincing. Painted in Farrow & Ball colours (can't remember which ones).

Although I also like the idea of plain plastered walls.

We have a wet room upstairs which is great for every day but you can't beat a soak in a roll top.

thankyou all, esp noddy for your advice. i have certainly taken on board what you have said

my dh is such a f*cking twat. we'ver just had a massive row about the sodding bathroom.

he's just shown me the sink he's bought. it' s huge , rectangular, not square, and about 80 cm wide, with really chunky, angular sides. i thought it was going to be a more delicate basin with more rounded corners. its just so masculine. our bathroom is going to look like the toilets in pizza express with a f*cking victorian bath out of place in the corner.

i know this is trivial, but i want to cry, i really do.

i feel now that our only option is to get a modern bath that will blend in. i love my victorian bath but the room is going to look crap.

i told him that there was no way that the basin was going in. he went ballistic and has walked out.

dh is so selfish. he has no problem with buldozing ahead, despite my objections.

our kitchen is masculine beech, slate and black granite. i'm sick of him and his batchelor style decor. silly twat.

When you met him, did he have a black, red and grey duvet cover with a geometric pattern on it and black ash furniture?
It does sound rather masculine. I am very much on the Farrow and Ball painted units, butler sink, roll top bath, girly end of the taste continuum. Luckily my dh has few views on decor!
Um, is this your forever house to live in or a project?

aloha, he did. seriously! i kid you not. but it was 1990. he was 18. i guess the tell tale signs were visible, even then.

thanks for making me smile, but what to do?

Lol at duvet cover!
If he has bought the sink already then maybe try them all together in the bathroom space before you install them and see what it looks like? Does he see 'letting' you have a rolltop bath as 'your' thing so would resent your not letting him have 'his' things regardless of whether they go together?
Do you only have one bathroom? If you have two, I'd suggest one manly wet room with his mega-sink in it, and one indulgent girly spa room.
Could you buy some homes mags esp ones with bathrooms and sit down and look at how other people blend modern and traditional in harmonious manner?
I do sympathise. I don't think men should have any say in houses!
I resent it bitterly that my dh likes our fire surround in pine, and I am desperate to paint it or replace it with stone!

ROFL! My DH had that duvet cover too!

He couldn't understand why I felt the need to put some cream cotton ones on our wedding list.

Sorry that he has gone ahead and bought the wrong sink. If he is out could you accidently crack it?

My flatmate had that duvet cover Hideous!I think you can still keep the bath even with the sink if everything else is really plain.My dp gives his opinions and points things out re decor and I just nod and then buy the 'right' thing.My dp can get a bit themey at times which I hate so I haev to be careful He and ds have a music/chill out room with lots of black and grey furniture and a big mural type poster of a new york skyline.I keep the door shut and never go there!

ah, you're all so kind. we have now agreed a compromise. we will keep the bath, paint it white all over and swap the sink for one i have chosen. it is oblong, but it has very rounded corners and is much more delicate (like those round wash basins, but much larger- 50cm by 30cm- and less circular!).

am happy that this will bllend in better.

we will prob go for matt white toles or limestone fro the walls, and deep brown rustic floor tiles, or wood to match the reclimed wood.

thanks for your continuing support in this most tedious matter xx

Please post a photo when it is finished!