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Trends for Spring 2013, as seen by Ripples

Ripples' designers are seeing more emphasis on quality, timeless products, with individuality and more demand for bespoke. They say the look is textures, natural materials, wood finishes in either light or dark wood - outweighing the high gloss finishes that have been popular in recent years. At the heart of a domestic bathroom will be the thought of practicality in terms of use and keeping clean, but that doesn't have to sacrifice the feeling of sanctuary.

Colours are trending towards neutral... creams, beiges, warm greys... "Don't be afraid to combine grey with lavenders, purple or turquoise... creams will always be classics with grey," they suggest. "A few injections of a complementary colour to add interest and prevent it becoming too sterile."

Products, they feel, will remain predominantly minimal - streamlined wall mounted sanitaryware; soft soothing lines; mineral cast, hardwearing, durable sleek designs.

With regard to the furniture, they feel confident that modular, wall mounted designs will remain the most popular choice with large drawers for storage with cleverly designed drawer dividers. The look is natural materials, wood finishes in either light or dark effect, which will far outweigh the popularity of high white gloss finishes.

There will be a demand for tiles in muted earthy tones - keeping the textures to a matt finish, while designs will often incorporate a splash of colour with glass mosaics available in a variety of colours or back painted glass. Mixing formats of tiles, large format or unusual sizes, 20 x 60cm or 30 x 90cm will be popular, while partly tiled bathrooms - pulling a scheme together with paint or wallpaper to help to make a space feel more like a living one, rather than a clinical bathroom, will be seen.

When it comes to showering, the trend for spa like wet rooms will continue although they will need to be easy clean, low maintenance offerings - water softeners in hard water areas will be a must. Bespoke floor to ceiling shower screens (anti plaque finish) and without chrome or any need for bracing bars, will also become popular. Shower heads they say, will be fixed heads, flush ceiling mounted or canopy design, combined with a wand in a dock for cleaning. "No body jets," they warn.

LED lighting remains strong for ambience and boutique styling. "Consider light 'layers' - light from different sources which are controlled separately to create different effects," they say, also suggesting that under cabinet lighting - the equivalent of under plinth lighting in a kitchen - will become popular.
With baths, look out for statement pieces... Freestanding if space allows, mineral cast product s that are hard wearing and durable in sleek, crisp designs.

Underfloor heating, which provides an efficient, silent, invisible and highly practical heating solution for both floor and walls, is becoming more popular with the current trend for wet rooms and large tiled areas. Radiators are no longer required to heat the
bathroom and re used more to heat the towels with the trend towards aluminum radiators with fewer rungs and more gaps allowing more space to hang towels.

Ripples has been creating award-winning luxury designer bathrooms for 24 years and it has showrooms across the UK. The company and its designers have been honoured with industry awards that recognise the top-quality service, highest calibre products and supremely skilled creative design team that define the Ripples brand.

T: 01225 335111
E: [email protected]
W: www.ripples.ltd.uk

30th November 2012