Contemporary bathrooms and kitchens

The bathroom lends itself well to contemporary style. Its cool, smooth surfaces, sculptural fittings, and highly engineered plumbing combine to create a capsule environment of calm and order that is, for many of us, impossible to maintain with any success elsewhere in the home.
simplicity to counter the complexity of modern life - and they turned to natural materials, naked and unadorned, to create it. Their theory worked. A visually quiet space undoubtedly has restorative powers, and although at first the materials and fittings needed to create it were expensive and readily available only to architects and designers, they have now come within reach of a wider public.
Surfaces that have the right aesthetic credentials for this look include natural materials such as hardwood and stone, and products such as brick, metal and concrete that have been used in the building industry for generations but were rarely visible in interiors. Add to these glass and modern man-made surfacing materials such as Conan and Lucite and the scope of contemporary style broadens to encompass a wide range of decorating options.
One of the most recent developments in contemporary bathrooms is the bolder use of colour. Previously, colour was limited to a natural palette based on the raw materials used for the decor, but gradually mosaic tiles - a cheaper surfacing material than stone or timber and available in shimmering, watery pastels that complement the natural tones - were added to give gentle contrast. More intense colours have followed in the form of synthetic surfaces and glass tiles, the latter being available in slip-resistant varieties for floors as well as walls.
Finding sanitary fittings, taps and showers in contemporary style has never been easier. The seminal designs of well-known architects and industrial designers will always be the purists' first choice, but the mass-market ranges they have inspired and the functional no-frills fittings produced for the building trade make acceptable and affordable substitutes. Large, focal-point baths made from stone, resin or timber, countertop basins in ceramic, glass, steel or stone, deceptively simple taps and wall-mounted lavatories and bidets all contribute to the modern look.