Luxury Bathroom Renovations St Kilda

Luxury in an inner-bayside bathroom isn’t about floor area. It comes from fewer, better materials, joinery made for the room, tapware that disappears into the wall and light that flatters the stone. We plan premium bathrooms for St Kilda apartments, terraces and Art Deco flats, where every centimetre of a tight room has to count.

TOPICS ON THIS SHEET

01 Stone and large-format tiles

02 Custom vanities

03 Concealed tapware

04 Layered lighting

05 Process and questions

Elevation — concrete-look shower wall, lit niche and timber vanity

SHEET C — ELEVATION: THE FINISHED FACE

Premium materials, scaled to a smaller room

In a compact bathroom the eye takes in every surface at once, so each material decision carries more weight. These are the four areas where a considered upgrade makes the biggest difference.

Reference — painted joinery against marble-look tile

Natural stone and large-format tiles

Large-format tiles mean fewer grout lines, which makes a narrow room feel calmer and easier to clean. Natural stone brings real variation, but it needs sealing and a substrate that’s flat and properly prepared. We’ll talk you through porcelain stone-look options and genuine stone side by side on our Bathroom Tiling page.

Custom vanities

An off-the-shelf vanity rarely fits an Art Deco alcove or the wall between a window and a door. Joinery made to measure can use that exact width, float to show more floor and hide drawer space for the things that clutter a benchtop. For more detail, see Vanity Installation.

Concealed tapware

Wall-mounted spouts and in-wall mixers clear the benchtop and give the shower a cleaner look. The trade-off is that the choice has to be locked in early, because the valve body goes in before the waterproofing and tiles do.

Layered lighting

Good lighting comes in layers: even light at the mirror for your face, a soft strip under a floating vanity or inside a niche, and general light overhead. In a windowless apartment bathroom, those layers do more for the room than any single fitting.

SHEET B — SECTION: THE SEQUENCE

Decided on paper, built in layers

With premium finishes, the order you make decisions in matters as much as the materials themselves.

STEP 1 · PLAN

Layout and brief. Before anything is ordered, we work out where the shower, vanity and toilet go and where the room can take a feature, through our Bathroom Design service.

STEP 2 · SELECTIONS

Stone, tile, tapware, joinery and lighting. These are chosen together so the tile set-out, valve heights and vanity dimensions line up.

STEP 3 · SECTION

Rough-in and waterproofing. Concealed valves, wiring for lighting and substrates go in, then the wet areas are sealed. For more on this stage, see Waterproofing.

STEP 4 · ELEVATION

Tiling, installation and fit-off. The stone and tile go on, then the vanity, tapware, screen and lights are fitted to the finished surfaces.

NOTES — COMMON QUESTIONS

Luxury bathroom questions

Can a small apartment bathroom really feel luxurious?

Yes. A limited palette, large-format surfaces, a floating custom vanity and good lighting often make a bigger impression in a compact room than in a large one. Our Small Bathroom Renovations page covers the space-planning side.

Is natural stone practical in a shower?

It can be, as long as you choose the right stone, finish and sealing, and look after it. If you want the look with less upkeep, porcelain stone-look tiles are a good alternative. The Bathroom Tiles Guide compares the options.

What affects the cost of a premium renovation?

The main factors are the material and joinery you choose, how much the layout changes and what’s found once the old room is stripped out. Every bathroom is different, so we quote each one on its own scope. The Bathroom Renovation Cost Guide explains these factors.

Do you work outside St Kilda?

St Kilda is our home base, and we also work in St Kilda East, St Kilda West, Elwood, Balaclava, Windsor, Prahran, Albert Park and Middle Park. See Service Areas.

Planning a premium bathroom?

Tell us about the room and the finishes you have in mind, and we’ll start with the plan. If you have a question first, you can contact us.