Black, white and concrete made inviting with accents of warm wood – Dean and Shay, the winners of The Block 2015, really brought it home with their winning Scandi-inspired bathroom.
Dean and Shay in one of their winning bathrooms
Like us, we’re sure you’ve wondered how to create a dream bathroom. Well sit tight because, thanks to Reece, we’ve got the skinny, straight from the mouths of Dean and Shay themselves.
Q: How do you create an award winning bathroom using tiling and taps?
Dean & Shay: We chose tiles and tapware that was neutral – greys, white and black, softened by timber. We also ensured the feature tiles were used minimally to avoid a cluttered look. Don’t be afraid to use large tiles in a small space and make the tapware your main statement piece.
Q: What was it that made your bathrooms such an all-out success?
Dean & Shay: We chose to make the tapware the feature of our bathrooms – this gave a sense of sophistication to the bathrooms without relying on the overpowering nature of bold feature tiles.
Q: What’s your style advice for home renovators looking to create their dream bathroom?
Dean & Shay: Create that high end feel on a lower budget with things like matte black tapware and accessories that hold hints of metallic.
Q: When it came to creating your bathrooms, were you responding purely to aesthetics or were you also thinking about commercial factors like sale at auction?
Dean & Shay: We think that it is easy to create a neutral bathroom that appeals to a broad market, but it’s harder to create a bathroom that isn’t polarising or dated but still exudes that high end quality. I feel like we nailed this concept through our tapware and accessory choices.
Q: When it comes to buying a house, how important is the bathroom in a buyer’s purchasing decision?
Dean & Shay: Really important! Bathrooms deliver a sense of luxury to a buyer, so if the buyer loves the bathroom they can easily overlook a paint colour they don’t like in the bedrooms or living areas.
Q: If you could do it all over again, what are the things you’d keep or change?
Dean & Shay: We love every bathroom we created, they are timeless yet still bang on trend, so we wouldn’t change anything!
Click here for more bathroom inspiration from Reece.
2 replies on “Block winners Dean and Shay share top bathroom design tips”
It is kind of ironic that Dean & Shay are giving ‘Bathroom on a budget’ tips, when they spent $40G on their first bathroom…..
Who wouldn’t if you had that budget available on a reality show, Adam? 🙂 These tips aren’t all about budget either. Hope you still find them useful!