So you’ve splurged a few thousand of your hard-won dollars on an extremely stylish bathroom at last. That unsightly old suite is in the landfill site and you’ll never have to never have to shower under a drip again. You couldn’t be happier with your new suite. But for all its stunning design and lovely angles, it might still feel that it’s lacking a certain something. If so, it’s probably because you didn’t really think about your bathroom accessories.
But we’d better define what a bathroom accessory is? Well, this is the catch-all term for the little things that add practicality to your bathroom. Soap dishes. Robe hooks. Shaving mirrors. Toilet brush holders. All distinctly unglamourous – but necessary – articles that you need to make your bathroom usefully functional on a day to day basis. Because of their humble nature, these are things that often get overlooked when people are getting more excited about their suite. Seduced by the understated elegance of the new suite, it’s difficult to get excited about a towel rail.
However, the bathroom’s overall look is absolutely determined by these little details. That expensive sink won’t look quite so nice with a wonky shelf and a balanced on it. And if your taps are gleaming chrome, they will lose their innate lustre if your soap dispenser is as ugly as sin.
So what factors should you use when choosing your bathroom accessories?
Perhaps the most important factor is the colour. It might seem like a no-brainer , but the bathroom suppliers don’t make the accompanying accessories. Whilst it might seem pretty easy to match against white you might find it hard to get a properly complimentary colour. This is even more critical when it comes to the metal. Gold accessories should be used where you have gold fittings. I’ve lost track of the times that I’ve happened across a lovely bathroom with gold taps, where the whole look has been rendered pointless with the needless addition of a silver soap dish.
After colour, there’s the actual aesthetic appearance of the accessories you’re buying. If your bathroom suite is very modern, with understated design elements, then don’t buy older, period fittings such as elaborately ornate shaving mirrors. The two simply don’t work together and make a right mess of your carefully chosen aesthetics.
Finally, consider the actual function. While it might be tempting to spend a bit less on a dish for your soap , don’t forget that if it breaks you’ll have unsightly smears everywhere. Your toilet brush isn’t just an object you put there to make it publicly known that you are a demi-god of interior decor while they relax in the splendour of the toilet – it has unsavoury but necessary uses, so don’t just think about what it will look like sat next to the toilet. Durability is also an important factor. If you buy an entirely matching set of bathroom accessories, only to find that your shelving falls from the wall within weeks then you might struggle to only replace the item concerned.
In the final analysis, buying bathroom accessories is not something to treat more lightly than the care you took choosing your bathroom suite. But should you make the right choices, you’ll end up with the perfect bathroom.