Black, white and concrete made inviting with accents of warm wood – Dean and Shay, the winners of The Block 2015, really brought it home with their winning Scandi-inspired bathroom.
Dean and Shay in one of their winning bathrooms
Like us, we’re sure you’ve wondered how to create a dream bathroom. Well sit tight because, thanks to Reece, we’ve got the skinny, straight from the mouths of Dean and Shay themselves.
Q: How do you create an award winning bathroom using tiling and taps?
Dean & Shay: We chose tiles and tapware that was neutral – greys, white and black, softened by timber. We also ensured the feature tiles were used minimally to avoid a cluttered look. Don’t be afraid to use large tiles in a small space and make the tapware your main statement piece.
Q: What was it that made your bathrooms such an all-out success?
Dean & Shay: We chose to make the tapware the feature of our bathrooms – this gave a sense of sophistication to the bathrooms without relying on the overpowering nature of bold feature tiles.
Q: What’s your style advice for home renovators looking to create their dream bathroom?
Dean & Shay: Create that high end feel on a lower budget with things like matte black tapware and accessories that hold hints of metallic.
Q: When it came to creating your bathrooms, were you responding purely to aesthetics or were you also thinking about commercial factors like sale at auction?
Dean & Shay: We think that it is easy to create a neutral bathroom that appeals to a broad market, but it’s harder to create a bathroom that isn’t polarising or dated but still exudes that high end quality. I feel like we nailed this concept through our tapware and accessory choices.
Q: When it comes to buying a house, how important is the bathroom in a buyer’s purchasing decision?
Dean & Shay: Really important! Bathrooms deliver a sense of luxury to a buyer, so if the buyer loves the bathroom they can easily overlook a paint colour they don’t like in the bedrooms or living areas.
Q: If you could do it all over again, what are the things you’d keep or change?
Dean & Shay: We love every bathroom we created, they are timeless yet still bang on trend, so we wouldn’t change anything!
Click here for more bathroom inspiration from Reece.
Comments
It is kind of ironic that Dean & Shay are giving ‘Bathroom on a budget’ tips, when they spent $40G on their first bathroom…..
Who wouldn’t if you had that budget available on a reality show, Adam? 🙂 These tips aren’t all about budget either. Hope you still find them useful!