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Why vintage-look bathrooms are 2011’s most stylish home investment

Posted on 25. Jan, 2011 by Charlotte Laing in Design Tips

If you’d been asked back in the ‘90s to predict the style of bathroom we’d all have in 2011 then you’d most likely have imagined something space-age, cold and incredibly high-tech.

But a funny thing has happened over the past couple of years. We’ve started hankering after old-fashioned design and pretty vintage interiors – from quaint floral fabrics to roll top baths, and from traditional teapots to antique chairs.

Trend commentators have suggested that this desire for vintage is being fuelled by the recession. As we have less money, flashy modern home furnishings seem inappropriate and we all want to surround ourselves with nostalgia.

There’s now a new driving force behind the trend though…

Unless you’ve been living in a box, you’ll know that The King’s Speech is the film everybody’s talking about right now.

The hotly-tipped Oscar runaway, starring Colin Firth as a stammering King George VI, is set in a pre-World War Two London where home furnishings are reassuringly elegant and typical of the 1930s.

Then there’s the runaway TV success Downton Abbey. Set in 1914 as Britain is on the brink of war with Germany, we all fell not only for the drama but also the splendour and beauty of Downton Abbey itself.

These period dramas have made us want to steal some of the style of the early part of the 20^th century for our own homes.

One of the best ways to do this is in the bathroom, where you can use roll top baths vintage-style heated towel radiators and traditional taps to create a look that’s both vintage-inspired, but also perfectly suited to modern life.

Style the room up with a floral blind, heaps of towels in faded tones, and paint the walls with Farrrow & Ball bathroom emulsion.

Be warned though – you may get location scouts knocking on your door when they’re looking to film the next series of Downton!

Tags: Downton Abbey, Roll top bath, The King's Speech, traditional towel radiator, vintage bathroom, vintage bathroom supplier, vintage interiors