The decorated bathroom

Make your bathroom feel more like your sitting room, says Flora Soames

- Flora Soames

I SPEND a lot of time in my bathroom—specifically, in the bath. Not being a shower person, I find that a bath is ideal for winding down after a long day. It's where I do some of my best thinking. When it comes to decorating bathrooms, I'm drawn to childhood memories. As a young child, bathrooms are where you tend to spend time with your parents, have scraps with your brothers and sisters and hold important conversations about the day that has passed. The memories are (almost all) magical. My childhood bathroom in Norfolk was filled with characterful details: a series of illustrations decorated the wall above the bath, mounted on orange towelling. The bath itself was turquoise enamel.

Subconsciously, these memories have informed the approach I take to designing bathrooms in adulthood. First and foremost, despite being a functional room, it doesn't have to be decorated in a perfunctory way. It should be wonderfully spoiling and can be decadent.