Bold and Calm: Two Bathrooms Inside a Victorian Home in Herne Hill
Bold and Calm: Two Bathrooms Inside a Victorian Home in Herne Hill One Victorian home. Two bathrooms with two completely different personalities. A Victorian home
One Victorian home. Two bathrooms with two completely different personalities.
A Victorian home in Herne Hill, south east London, with plenty of character and colour, came to Kallums Bathrooms with two bathrooms to rework.
The brief was to create two bathrooms with completely different personalities, while still feeling right for the character of the home.
One would be soft, warm and grounding. The other would be bold, saturated and full of colour.
We designed and supplied both bathrooms through our design and supply service, selecting the tiles, brassware, sanitaryware, furniture and finishing touches for each space.
The result is two very different bathrooms, both with plenty to say.
From the outside, the house already makes an impression.
Red brick. A generous arched entrance. A dusty pink front door with its original stained glass still in place.
Inside, the character continues. Coloured glass throws light across the hallway, wooden floors run through the home and a period fireplace sits alongside artwork and carefully chosen furnishings.
There was already a strong sense of colour and personality throughout the house, so the bathrooms did not need to play it safe.
Instead, each room was given its own direction.
For a Victorian bathroom renovation, original features can be a useful starting point. Here, the existing colours, materials and period details helped shape two schemes that feel natural within the property, rather than separate from it.
A softer palette sets the tone on the first floor, where warm neutrals, oak and brushed gold create the calmer of the two bathrooms.
Soft stone-effect tiles create a warm, neutral backdrop, paired with an Idea Group Cubik vanity in Stained Oak to bring natural warmth into the room.
Fantini Icona Deco brassware in Matt British Gold sits alongside a Margaroli towel warmer and the bespoke Majestic Archangel shower screen.
Astro Lighting wall lights sit either side of the recessed mirrored cabinet, while a wall-hung Catalano Sfera WC keeps the overall look clean and uncluttered.
There is plenty of detail, but nothing fights for attention. Warm metal, oak and softly textured surfaces come together to create a bathroom that feels calm and understated.
Upstairs, the palette takes a much bolder turn, with deep crimson, darker metal finishes and fluted texture giving the room a completely different character.
Deep crimson fluted tiles cover the walls, bringing rich colour, gloss and texture into the room. Against them, Samuel Heath Landmark Industrial brassware in City Bronze introduces a much darker finish, echoed by the Majestic Portofino shower screen.
A Vogue Fairing towel warmer in Antique Brass adds another warm metallic note, while an Origins Living Belvoir mirror and Catalano Sfera WC bring cleaner, simpler lines against the stronger palette.
The same pale floor tile used in the family bathroom appears here too, creating a subtle connection between the two rooms.
It is bolder. Darker. More dramatic.
The two bathrooms do not match and they were never meant to. Instead, a handful of repeated details connect the spaces while allowing each one to have a personality of its own.
These two rooms could easily belong to completely different homes.
One is quiet and warm, with stone-effect porcelain and brushed gold.
The other is deep crimson, dark bronze and unapologetically bold.
But both work because they respond to the house around them.
That is the interesting part of designing bathrooms in a period property. You do not have to recreate the past or make everything traditionally Victorian. You can take the character of the house and do something completely different with it.
Here, that meant creating two bathrooms with very different moods, while keeping the personality of the home firmly in the background.
This Herne Hill bathroom project was completed through our design and supply service.
From the initial bathroom ideas through to the final product selection, we brought together the key elements of each scheme, including bathroom tiles, brassware, sanitaryware, bathroom furniture and lighting.
For clients planning a renovation, seeing products and finishes in person can make a big difference. That is why we have two dedicated showrooms in Putney and Guildford, where you can explore different materials, finishes and products with our team.
Our Putney showroom is particularly convenient for clients across south and south west London, while our Guildford showroom serves homeowners across Surrey and the surrounding areas.
No. There is no reason for two bathrooms to use the same tiles, brassware or colour palette.
In this project, one bathroom is built around soft stone, oak and brushed gold, while the other uses deep crimson and City Bronze. They are very different, but both sit comfortably within the same home.
Yes. Strong colour can completely change the feel of a bathroom.
The trick is to give it room to work. In the top floor bathroom, the crimson tiles take centre stage, while the white sanitaryware and dark bronze brassware provide contrast.
Think about the whole room rather than choosing brassware on its own.
The finish you choose will sit alongside your tiles, bathroom furniture, lighting and sanitaryware, so it is worth looking at these elements together.
For this project, British Gold was used in the first floor bathroom to add warmth, while City Bronze gives the top floor bathroom its darker edge.
You can visit either of our Putney or Guildford bathroom showrooms to explore bathroom products, tiles, brassware, furniture and finishes in person.
Our team can also talk through your ideas and help you start shaping your bathroom scheme.
Yes. We design and supply bathrooms across Herne Hill, south east London, London and Surrey, as well as surrounding areas.
Our Putney and Guildford showrooms make it easy to visit us, see products in person and discuss your project with the design team.
Yes. This project was completed as a design and supply project, with Kallums handling the bathroom design and product supply while the client arranged their own installation.
If you would rather have everything handled by one team, we also offer a bathroom installation service, taking the project from design through to completion.
Whether you are renovating a Victorian home, updating an ensuite or starting with a completely blank space, the process starts with a good conversation.
At Kallums Bathrooms, we design, supply and install bathrooms across London and Surrey, with showrooms in Putney and Guildford.
Come and see the products for yourself, talk through your ideas with our team and start planning your next bathroom.
For more real Kallums projects, explore our bathroom case studies, including our Japandi-inspired home in Putney, where four bathrooms were designed as part of one home.
Bold and Calm: Two Bathrooms Inside a Victorian Home in Herne Hill One Victorian home. Two bathrooms with two completely different personalities. A Victorian home
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