While homeowners are often happy to splash the cash on fancy furnishings for the bedroom and attractive splashbacks in their open-plan kitchens, due to its small size the bathroom does have a habit of being neglected when it comes to interior design.

However, this room may be small, but it is also one of the most used rooms of your home, so it really pays to save some time and finances to create your perfect bathroom interior.

But one of the problems householders instantly stumble upon when carrying out renovations is how to combine functionality with style, since any interior designer will tell you that practicality is key when it comes to bathrooms

Unlike other rooms in the home, your bathroom has to contend with high levels of moisture - whether from condensation from the shower, spills out of the bath or splashes from bathroom taps when tooth brushing - so it is essential that you pick materials and fixtures that can handle this.

Wood is often a popular in bathrooms and can be practical provided it is treated, while stone is another common material used in bathroom design.

However, in terms of practicality and appearance, Stuart White, managing director of Bushboard.co.uk, claims that solid surfacing can be the ideal material for use in the bathroom.

"Solid surfacing is an upcoming material for the bathroom, having established itself firmly in the kitchen sector," he says. "Technically, solid surface is a high-performance, easy-maintenance [and] 100 per cent waterproof material, which can be seamlessly jointed to create luxurious wet rooms.

"It has none of the ongoing care and maintenance issues [that you get with] stone and is easy and quick to install - making this a material with powerful functional and aesthetic attributes."

But whether you opt for wood, stones, tiles or solid surfacing in your bathroom, it is essential to remember to take proper care of the material to ensure that your maintain it's appearance and functionality fro as long as possible.