Bathrooms are one of the key investment areas in a home. Get the design right, and you can rest assured that they will add significant value to your home. Designing a bathroom can be expensive though, as just about every trade is required to complete the space – plasterers, painters, tilers, plumbers, electricians, cabinetry makers, window furnishing manufacturers plus tapware and door hardware suppliers as well as suppliers for baths, basins, mirrors, shower screens and lighting.
When designing a family bathroom, one of the key elements is a bathtub – not only for your own pleasure, but for re-sell value as well. Nothing sets the tone in bathroom quite like a shapely statement tub. Whether sunken, stand-alone, or traditionally integrated, a gorgeous tub is to a bathroom what a well-turned sofa is to a living room. Placement of the bathtub is also an important consideration, so take care with your space planning. If your space allows, make a feature of the bathtub.
For the main bathroom at ‘Biscayne’ – one of KWD’s latest projects (and my new family home) – making a feature of the bathtub was non-negotiable. It was really important to ensure that the bath I chose was not only beautiful to look at, but that it was a quality piece that set the standard for the space. That’s why I chose a bath from our friends at Bathe.
Established in 1995, Bathe is an Australian owned company passionate about offering designers, retailers, architects, renovators and builders quality bathroom fittings from the world’s leading manufacturers and renowned designers. This ensures every product from Bathe brings the highest standards of quality, excellence of design and the ability to create a beautiful space. So I knew they would have to best solution for me.
Explains Rene London, Bathe’s National Sales & Marketing Manager, “Together with our suppliers, we are passionate about delivering design driven, innovative and sustainable products of the highest quality. With this concept in mind, we have hand-picked our brands to add to the value of any residence or building, ensuring quality for a lifetime. We understand the importance of having a personalised and luxurious bathroom. Our curated designer bathtubs, tapware, fittings and accessories are focused on cutting edge design and technology, and we take great pleasure and pride in bringing you beautiful bathroom ware from all over the world.”
The beautiful bath we chose for Biscayne is from KALDEWEI, a family-owned company founded over 100 years ago in the north of Germany. The fourth-generation company is devoted making the most amazing bathtubs using a combination of steel and enamel – this porcelain is the hardest wearing bath surface and has unequalled durability. Their bathtubs transform any bathroom into an oasis of relaxation.
The brands Bathe selects are quality and design-driven – and while KALDEWEI does offer a wide range of price points their baths are particularly sought after for high end homes and five-star hotels around Australia. Says Rene, “A lot of older hotels that are now renovating had installed a Kaldewei bath 15 years ago and are choosing to change everything in the bathrooms other than the bath, because they stand the test of time both in the materials that are used and the shapes and styles of the bath themselves.”
Bathe offers six key brands to the Australian marketplace, with one key product in each segment of the bathroom (baths, tapware, shower, basin, accessories and toilets), with each brand standing on its own merit in its own category. As the wholesaler and distributor of these brands, Bathe works with retailers around Australia and has found that activity in the bathroom renovation market has been very positive – indeed even stronger than the previous year (with such a focus on renovations as opposed to overseas holidays).
“There is absolutely a movement toward colour in bathroom ware. Australia has traditionally been quite a conservative market,” explains Rene. “White, white and white. However colour has been very strong in Europe and the appeal is starting to filter through here. Matt black tapware has been popular for some time but there is a growing interest in brushed gold tapware, pink basins and matt white basins rather than gloss white. KALDEWEI’s colour basins and even baths (in matt white, matt black and soft grey) are certainly increasing in popularity as consumers explore more bold bathroom choices.”
Bathe has two ‘by appointment’ showrooms – one in Melbourne and another at their head office in Sydney.