Interior designer Tamiko Gleeson of Howard Lane Designs was given a bold brief for the primary en suite of her successful and self-proclaimed girly girl client.
“Gabriella is a successful career woman in her 30s who works in marketing for luxury beauty and homewares. The brief for her primary en suite was sexy, strong, girly but sophisticated, with a strong need for greater storage. My client is around beauty and cosmetics all day, and wanted her ensuite to have the same luxurious aesthetic that she was able to experience for her work.”
The renovated space couldn’t be more different to what they started with; a dated and bland room in need of some love and character, and massively lacking in storage. “The bathroom is very small and we had to be clever with the design to make the most of every millimetre,” Tamiko adds.
The home is a 1930s Art Deco apartment. Tamiko’s trades removed a wall between the shower and vanity to open the space, and ran a full-length marble ledge from behind the vanity into the shower, acting as a design feature as well as great additional storage. Installing a concealed cistern toilet made the most of an awkwardly shaped floor plan, creating more space as well as a ledge for further storage. “The room itself borrows natural light from a high glazed panel, and the glossy tiles chosen reflect the light and makes it feel more spacious,” Tamiko notes.
Removing the wall between the vanity and shower, meant not only that both areas could be bigger, but also increased the light within the room and visually made it feel much more open and spacious.
“The Rosso Trentino marble is the star of the show, but every other material and feature are not far behind. Running the ledge the entire wall, as well as using the same marble as the vanity top and ledge on top of the in-wall cistern, creates a uniform but stunning effect in this small space.”
The marble was a splurge, but Tamiko saved on the Carrara marble-look floor tile and zellige-look wall tiles, which nonetheless perfectly complement the luxury feel without the expense.
“The new bathroom takes your breath away,” Tamiko says. “It’s bold, sexy, personal, intentional and confident. I’m also so happy that this is a space that my client really wanted for herself. She’s a single girl, who wanted to create something that she really wanted that’s just for her. I think it’s so empowering and I’m grateful that I could be a part of that. I was very fortunate to have Gabby as a client. Her strong design aesthetic was a pleasure to bring together, as was her trust in the design process.”
Tamiko focuses on client relationships, planning and process over a particular aesthetic, at her Newport-based firm, Howard Lane Design. “I want my clients’ homes to feel undeniably theirs, but at a more elevated and refined level than they could have imagined.”
For more on Howard Lane Designs
Suppliers:
- Builder: BT Bespoke
- Stonemason: Art of Marble
- Stone supplier: Marmonyx Stone
- Tiles: Tiles by Kate
- Tapware: ABI Interiors
- Photography: Kels Allan, Captured By Kels
