Turn your bathroom into a veritable spa
Travelling widely, as we do, due to a busy professional schedule, we see – and indeed take inspiration from – numerous hotels at all ends of the spectrum. Let’s just say, however, that whilst some of the overnight boltholes are impressive, others are somewhat less so…
In our experience, it takes more than a folded matelassé or a waxy chocolate (positioned daintily on a pillow sham) to conjure the spirit of luxury. For us, hotel style is defined by a welcoming room, preheated and illuminated to ‘cozy’ prior to arrival.
It’s the indulgent mood that settles as thick towels are wrapped around post shower, travel weary bodies. It’s the bedside weather note (suggesting what to wear the next day), or the friendly concierge who calls to ensure everything is up to scratch.
But wait: setting indulgent atmosphere isn’t necessarily about hard spend: we’ve visited numerous three star outposts where staff have gone the extra mile to make us feel welcome.
Conversely, we’ve camped out in five-star boltholes where disappointment settled at the precise moment we arrived. All things considered, it’s less about spend, and more about how far the establishment goes to make our stay a night to remember. For all the right reasons.
So, what’s the connective DNA, regardless of star rating, that links our favourite hotels? The bathroom. This observed, what does yours say about you? Is it more ‘wet it and forget it’ than ‘relax and chill’? Does yours feel like a veritable home spa, carefully detailed with indulgent shower oils and luxuriant pomades? Or is it a chaotic scene awash with soap scum, razor blades and half squeezed tubes of toothpaste?
For the purposes of today’s column, we’ll focus on the vanity. If yours is lacking, it’s time to rinse it clean of the past.
Well-equipped
A good vanity should satisfy several requirements: surfaces should be sufficiently proportioned to display and use products as required, and there should be generous storage to stash everything when not in use. If there’s shelving, then all the better. If not, add a couple of wicker baskets to consume your accoutrements, and indeed any icky items you’d rather hide.
War of the vanities – pre-made versus custom
Scope
www.bathify.ca
for Canadian made options that are built to last.
Affordability and home delivery without trudging from store after store? Nice. The company also merchant a full range of ancillary bathroom kit, such as faucets, shower mixers and basins, with a website stocked with inspo.
Alternatively, instruct your contractor to create a bespoke counter (supported, perhaps, on articulated metal brackets) with drawers below to stash towels, shampoo and associated bathroom kit.
Hanstone (www.hanstone.ca),another Canadian company, produce beautiful quartz surfaces that are strong, affordable and better equipped than marble to resist staining.
When drilled to accommodate pipe work and a sink (or a double basin if space permits) it’ll soon be a case of vanity thrills; scope their website to locate a dealer (and fabricator) near you.
Reflect on this
Statement mirrors help ‘amplify’ smaller spaces. Try Tanya+Co (www.tanyas.ca) for mod’ and trad’ styles that are shippable cross country. Alternatively, consider glazing the area above your vanity, but (if wall to wall) be sure to have your supplier pre drill to accommodate plug sockets, switches and lights.
Opt for mirrored trays, chrome lidded bottles and cut-glass jars – scour Homesense or Winners for sensibly priced, well-designed options to help suffuse a little bling.
Don’t splash the cash
Display perfume miniatures in clear glass jars, wrap soap bars with organic twine, or decant supermarket bath oil into ‘junktique’ crystal decanters to make a luxurious statement. In our quest for accessories, you’re as likely to find us in Dollarama as Holt Renfrew – we’re not shy tracking down optimal deals at either end of the spectrum.
Our final vanity fare? Visit hotel websites for inspiration to help make your bathroom a luxurious destination you’ll be happy to check in to time and time again. The best hotel souvenir we’ve ever enjoyed wasn’t a complimentary pair of towelling slippers (or some purloined bubble bath), rather a wealth of ideas we employ to this day in our clients’ domestic settings. Now go reflect on that!
Watch for Colin and Justin on Citytv’s Breakfast Television and Colin and Justin’s Sub- Zero Reno on Paramount Plus TV. Find the Colin and Justin Home Collection in stores across Canada.
Visit
www.colinandjustin.tv
