This site has limited support for your browser. We recommend switching to Edge, Chrome, Safari, or Firefox.

Cart 0

No more products available for purchase

Products
Subtotal
Shipping, taxes, and discount codes are calculated at checkout

Selfie Stations

Party season is in full swing this month and that means many of us will be dining out in celebration. We’ve lost count of the number of brands hosting their holiday party at The Hero in Maida Vale and who can blame them—as a writer for The London Evening Standard aptly proclaimed, “this might just be the world’s most beautiful pub.” If your stye is more glamorous than rustic, consider cocktails at the Fabrizio Casiraghi-designed Pondicherry Bar in the Grand Hotel Bellevue or sliding into a booth with the cool kids in At Sloane. Wherever you wind up, be sure to check out the toilets. There’s something quite delightful about popping into the loo and finding it as dressed up as you are. After all, bathroom mirror selfies are sparked by more than just personal vanity. Sometimes it’s the actual vanity that’s calling for a photo opp. Restaurateurs and designers are wisely taking heed as there’s nothing like a bump in social traffic to boost an establishment’s foot traffic.   

Take the Cut & Craft, and upscale steakhouse in Leeds, where part of Studio Two’s brief was to make a wow statement in the toilets, left. That meant contrasting the oceanic blues of the main dining room with a riot of pinks and reds in the ladies’ room to create an “over the top feminine space,” notes principal designer Zoe Wheatley. The blues, it must be said, are an homage to Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley, who performed here when it was Collinson’s Café, before he famously went down with the ship whilst playing his violin. Cue the velvety Arte wallpaper in the ladies’ room, which hints at mermaids and seaweed without actually depicting either. To dial up the drama, they layered on glossy tones and textures. “The client likes glossy elements, but we were conscious not to overdo it. If the wallpaper was glossy, you would have lost that depth of color,” she says. The sleekest moment comes in the form of bespoke resin basin tops from Versatil. “It’s a cast product that brings the pink in from the wallpaper without spending the Earth on an onyx or a pink Rosso Stone. And you can play around with the colors, like the veining,” notes Wheatley. Additional glossy elements add contrast in both color and texture, like fluted dowels under the sink and the lacquered bobbin mirrors, both in deep red, along with a pale pink metallic wallpaper on the ceiling. Opposite the sinks are dry vanity units for putting on makeup. “Everyone takes selfies there,” she says. Mission accomplished. Keep your eyes out for Cut & Craft Manchester opening this spring. 

Reverse image search this shot of the restroom at Soho House Austin in Texas, centre, and you’ll find a host of selfies pop up. The bathroom, after all, is perhaps the only place you can sneak a picture, given the ‘no photography’ policy in public spaces at the private members’ club. It’s easy to see the appeal with a checkerboard of black and white marble tile enveloping the room. The M.C. Escher-like pattern perfectly reflects Austin’s reputation as a creative, hipster, enclave in America’s country capital. “It was important to reflect the eclecticism of the city, using materials, colours and motifs commonly found in the Texas modernist architectural style that the building was developed,’ says Soho Home Design senior designer Amanda Sharp. To add local character and a sense of age to the new construction, they tapped Cider Press Woodworks for bespoke millwork and layered in alabaster lighting and woven baskets for warmth.

Mix and match tiles were also key to designer Fran Hickman's concept for the former Locket’s wine bar and restaurant in London, right, which was widely celebrated for its member’s club-like interior but sadly closed last year. Still, we can’t help but share this brilliant example of a loo that’s downright bursting with style. Inspired by the abstract textiles and paintings of midcentury Swiss artist Sophie Taeuber Arp, Hickman sought to create “liveliness and a little joy” with a patchwork of Balineum’s Hanley tiles. Using AutoCAD, she devised an intricate plan pairing squares and rectangles in different sizes and autumnal colours. If you’re working without the aid of software, “lay the tiles out on the floor before your start fixing them to the wall and try to maintain an even wash of colour,” advises Hickman. Prioritizing tile placement means that some areas will have more grout peeking through than others, and that’s part of the charm. “We were aiming to keep the spacing as consistent as possible, so the grout is a little more present than if the tiles were all the same shape and size,” she says. “It looks like an art installation, rather than a simple tiling job,” said Balineum founder Sarah Watson, upon seeing the result while attending a House & Garden party at Locket’s. It’s an apropos observation given the breadth of creative influences at work in this space. The bespoke sink Hickman commissioned was inspired by the furniture of Paul Evans. “It’s made of highly polished stainless steel. I love that it reflects and refracts the tile design around it. It is almost camouflaged in the space,” notes Hickman. And the polyvinyl floor was inspired by Alison and Peter Smithson’s Sugden House, along with Villa Borsani. (And we can’t help but see hints of Roberto Burle Marx in it as well). If anyone knows what’s become of this space, please email monika@balineum.co.uk with an update—we’re hopeful some part of this glorious room has been salvaged and will live on! In the meantime, if you find yourself in Brussels this winter, pop into the Bozar Centre for Fine Arts to see the latest Arp exhibition, Hans/Jean Arp & Sophie Taeuber-Arp. Friends, Lovers, Partners, on through 19 January. And if you find yourself in a fancy loo whilst you’re out celebrating this holiday season, go on, snap a photo.

Photos:  Stevie Campbell, Courtesy Studio Two; Courtesy Soho House Austin; Annabel Elston, Courtesy Fran Hickman