Lux Interiors grey bathroom curved nib wall

Curve appeal

Converting a small study into a dreamy master ensuite took some clever thinking but the team of designers and builders at Perth-based Lux Interiors were up for the challenge.

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Laura Valic

When Lux Interiors was handed a brief for a bathroom renovation in Doubleview, Perth the all-inclusive client wish list required a creative response to a small footprint.

The couple’s idea was to convert a small bedroom/study into a contemporary ensuite for their master bedroom in a style that matched the rest of the home’s interior. Simple enough. Except they also wanted a sanctuary-like space with a unique design feature and a connection to the fragrant frangipani tree just outside the window, as well as a functional floor plan that included an open shower, a bath, privacy in the toilet area, plus lots of storage.

And of course, you can’t achieve zen in your new escape room without plenty of natural light.

As an award-winning company which specialises in kitchens and bathrooms, Lux Interiors’ qualified team of designers and builders were an ideal fit for the job. Their strength lies in combining forces, brainstorming and problem solving to find solutions for all kinds of spaces, with the creative vision of the designers balanced by the practical know-how and experience of the builders.

‘When a client comes to us they don’t just get one designer, we all work on that job,’ explains Kyle McGregor, Lux Interiors managing director, who founded the company with business partner Andrew Daly in 2014. ‘We all bounce off each other to make sure the client gets the best layout possible.’

The Perth-based design and building business tackles a mix of projects each year, from smaller renovations of around $30,000 to large-scale briefs worth more than $1 million. Kyle is always mindful of not biting off more than they can chew so the quality of workmanship and customer service is maintained at a high standard from start to finish.

‘We’re not about quantity,’ he says. ‘Andrew and I want to be onsite to ensure everything is done right and we keep the quality high. When you scale it’s inevitable that the quality will drop because you can’t be everywhere at once.’

Lux Interiors grey bathroom basin brass tapware — Sharknose edged vanity top

Lux Interiors found its niche in kitchens and bathrooms – ‘the most challenging rooms in a home because of the details’ – and with several HIA and other industry accolades now behind them, the team is proving they’re right at home in this space.

‘We enjoy the challenge,’ Kyle says. ‘We find getting all those smaller details correct to be quite enjoyable and satisfying.’

It’s these finer points and the thoughtful consideration of space that makes the Doubleview ensuite greater than the sum of its parts. Upon entering, the eye is immediately drawn to the sleek custom-built nib, its rounded light-grey form and textured surface contrasting against the multihued pattern of the surrounding large-format porcelain wall and floor tiles. The nib’s undulating design is not only inventive but purposeful: at one and the same time an enclosed area for the toilet and an open space for the shower.

‘The curve is higher in the shower at 2100mm to stop water going into the toilet area,’ Kyle says. ‘We curved the wall height down to 1300mm at the end but with the toilet still covered from view. Doing that square would’ve taken up a lot more space.’

A 300mm radius corner forms a divider between the two spaces, with a tiled seat finished in a stone top situated on the showering side. The narrow, vertically-laid 20mm by 150mm feature tiles, which ‘enabled the tight curves’, also contain flecks of rust-like marks which flawlessly tie in with the Astra Walker bronze tapware.

The sweeping curves are mirrored with the white stone bath and basin, and the soft sharknose edge of the vanity top. However, it’s the curved bulkhead in the ceiling that adds another striking touch and gives the ensuite more breathing room.

The warmth of a mitred-timber frame and strip lighting helpfully breaks up the room’s dominant white and grey tones

‘We wanted to pitch the ceiling to make the ensuite look larger but there were structural roof timbers stopping us from having the entire ceiling pitched,’ Kyle explains. ‘We mimicked the wall partition with another curve to cover the structural roof timbers, which became a bulkhead over the bath. Without [those details] it would just be another standard bathroom.’

The concept worked in theory but was one of the main challenges onsite since the team hadn’t seen this done before. Another challenge was lining up the plumbing: ‘Because it was a timber-framed house there was room underneath. We pulled the timber floor up and lowered it to allow for tile falls and that enabled us to feed the plumbing through to where the water source was.’

The fact the home was timber-framed was an advantage in other ways, too. It meant the requested storage could be recessed into the framework. An inbuilt mirrored cabinet spans the right-hand wall above the Polytec cabinetry with shaker profile drawers. The warmth of a mitred-timber frame and strip lighting helpfully breaks up the room’s dominant white and grey tones.

Kyle says in a tight space such as this one ‘every millimetre counts’. His approach to making small bathrooms function is planning and preparation.

‘Know the specifications of your products as well as what gaps and spaces you need to house certain products,’ he says. ‘We’ve done testing on showerheads to see what height they need to be to reduce splashing and how close you can place other products.’

As HIA members for more than five years now, Kyle says the team has made use of the training courses available to members, such as HIA GreenSmart, and ‘tested the waters’ in the awards program.

Even though Lux Interiors has only entered twice, each year it has come away with a number of wins, including the Renovated Bathroom $45,001 & over category at the 2019 HIA WA Laminex Kitchen and Bathroom Awards for this project. Kyle says the team was happy to get recognised for their hard work and believes it has made a positive impact on the business.

‘It gives clients who don’t know us personally an instant sense of trust. They know they’ll be in safe hands because it helps to display our quality and what our values are.’