Some bathrooms get a refresh. This one got a merger.
In this Hartwell home near Northampton, an ageing family bathroom and a separate en-suite sat side by side, doing their own small, slightly cramped jobs. The homeowner had a different idea: knock the wall between them down and let the two rooms become one proper, generous bathroom. It's the kind of brief that sounds simple on paper and sometimes turns out to be anything but, and it's exactly the sort of project we enjoy getting our teeth into. The result is a glorious marble and brass bathroom that hides just how much problem-solving went into getting the layout right.
What Was The Original Layout Like?
Before the change, the family bathroom sat on one side with a pedestal basin, close-coupled toilet, and grey wood-effect flooring. Plain, functional, nothing wrong with it, just not doing this house any favours. Next door, behind its own sliding door off the bedroom, was the en-suite, home to the bath, done out in a beige stone-effect tile with a mosaic feature strip that had clearly been someone's pride and joy a decade or so earlier.
The homeowner wanted both gone, replaced by one large bathroom accessed through the original family bathroom door. The en-suite's sliding door was blocked off for good, and the little mirrored cupboard that used to open into the bedroom was sealed on that side and turned into shelving on the bathroom side instead, still tiled to match, just repurposed rather than removed.
What Happened When The Wall Came Out?
Here's the part of the story that separates a real project from a brochure photo. The original design had the new bath sitting under the window, positioned neatly between the toilet and the marble-effect shower wall. But once the walls were altered to create the new layout, they turned out thicker than anyone had allowed for. A few centimetres doesn't sound like much until it's eating into a room that was already being asked to do the work of two.
With the room now smaller than planned, the tight spacing became obvious fast: not quite enough breathing room between the shower and the bath, or between the bath and the toilet. And having to lean over the bathtub just to open the window wasn't exactly the finish the homeowner had in mind. Quite reasonably, they weren't having it.
The fix was to swap the original bath, a Bathrooms to Love piece, for a smaller one and move it to the opposite wall, where the basin had originally been planned. It's a proper example of a design flexing to meet the reality of the room rather than the room being forced to fit the drawing, which is exactly what a good design and supply service should do when the unexpected turns up mid-project. As it happens, the finished bath doesn't appear in any of the photos from this room, so you'll just have to take our word for how well it turned out!
What's In The Finished Room?
The result is a striking, spa-like space built around a large walk-in shower and a wall of veined marble-effect Massa tiles from Porcelanosa, all soft gold and silver veining against a white base, with Nature tiles from Casalgrande Padana, in the warm, sandy Sabbia shade, underfoot. Pairing the two keeps the room from feeling like one uniform block of stone effect: the walls do the drama, the floor grounds it.
Against all that marble-effect veining, brassware throughout comes from JTP, in a brushed brass finish that runs from the shower fittings right through to the door handles. The vanity cabinet, worktop, and inset basin all come from Deuco, the basin set into the worktop rather than perched on top for a cleaner line, and the shower itself uses an Ascent Premier tray from QX Bathrooms, sitting low and flush to the floor for an almost wetroom-style feel, easy to step into and easy to keep looking sharp.
How Does TABO's Design Service Work On A Project Like This?
Projects like this Hartwell bathroom are a good example of why our design service exists in the first place. We supplied the design and the products, working through elevations, full plans, and specifications the fitter needed on site, radiator dimensions, valve positions, all the details that save a fitter from having to guess or ring round for answers halfway through a job. That level of detail matters even more with a large-format marble-effect tile like this one, where getting the layout wrong wastes an expensive cut. The homeowner's own fitter, Lane Constructions, carried out the install, and we're always happy to work alongside a customer's chosen tradesperson - you're welcome to bring your own trusted fitter to a TABO project, or ask us for a recommendation if you'd rather we point you in the right direction.
Being on hand during the build mattered here more than usual, since the bath swap wasn't something anyone could have planned for on day one. That's the real value of having a design team behind a project rather than just a delivery note: when a wall turns out thicker than expected, there's someone who can adjust the plan on the spot instead of leaving the room to make do. We worked closely with Lane Constructions, who carried out the fit, to get the revised layout right once the wall was in place.
How Long Does A Bathroom Renovation Like This Take?
An install itself is usually done in around two weeks for a standard bathroom; this one, involving knocking two rooms into one, took closer to three to four weeks, which is a fair trade for ending up with double the space and one simple entrance instead of two separate rooms to move between.
Fancy Something Similar?
Knocking two smaller rooms into one big bathroom isn't a decision to make lightly, but it's one we're set up to help with from the very first conversation, whatever fitter you end up working with.
If you'd like to see marble-effect and brushed brass finishes like these in person before committing to anything, our showroom is worth a visit, and you can always get in touch first if you'd rather talk through an idea before booking anything in. We cover Milton Keynes and beyond, including Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Northamptonshire, plus further out into Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire. And if you'd like to hear it from someone who's already been through the process, our Trustpilot reviews are a good place to get a feel for how we work.
