Choosing tiles for the bathroom - Why we've gone for a Moroccan style theme!

We've started our own little home interior design project in our flat in Edinburgh!

Just to recap: We moved into our new flat in October last year and it's been a brilliant renovation and styling project for us. This is our first home and we couldn't wait to get stuck in with renovations.

NEW HOME, NEW RENOVATION PROJECTS, NEW EXPERIENCES!

We HAVE MOVED onto our bathroom!

NEW UPDATE

But you haven't finished the living room yet I hear you all cry!! Yes, you're right....we seem to like the 'do multiple projects at once' attitude and have dived straight into the bathroom while at the same time laying the wooden floor and placing the skirting boards in the living room! See latest post on this here!

But we were getting itchy feet, and started to think TILES and MOROCCAN for our bathroom.....and also more importantly we couldn't leave the bathroom looking like this could we....

bathroom renovations

So why the Moroccan bathroom theme?

Well it actually first stemmed from the fact that we have the Medina Bathroom Set from John Lewis as well as the lovely matching towels

moroccan style toothbrush holder

yellow moroccan style towels John Lewis

So we conveniently thought that we should make the bathroom fit in with our Moroccan bathroom accessories...makes sense right?!

The bathroom initially looked like this (until we took a hammer to it to remove some tiles to see if we could move the toilet from one side of the room to another..as pictured above!)

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It's all a bit BEIGE.

Not a hint of Moroccan vibes and our towel and bathroom set don't go!! So out come the magazines and Pinterest board. We needed another mood board!

Mood board for Moroccan bathroom

Moroccan Influences

From pulling together pictures, it started to remind us of Moroccan riads...

Moroccan riad's are so full of colour, warmth and textures. There's so much attention to detail, with the intricate mosaics, decorative patterns and striking colour palettes. Amazing inspiration when designing and styling a room. I also love how they remind you of the sunny outdoors...pity we can't add a few lemon trees and a water fountain!

And so from researching the traditional Moroccan courtyards, it was immediately noticeable that there's a lot of striking blues and rich sandy yellows, which we wanted to apply in the context of our own bathroom. The other characteristic features being the decorative stars and repeating geometric shapes.

Moroccan Bathroom Mood board

So from the combination of our theme, developing colour choice and the added find of this amazing sink on eBay, our bathroom project is slowly starting to come together!

So our next step...

CHOOSING TILES FOR OUR MOROCCAN THEMED BATHROOM 

What a challenge! Where to start..so many tiles, so much choice!

I think the main outcome gained is that I now know every tile shop in Edinburgh and surely every tile shop on the internet thanks to my google searching!!!

With regards to tile shops in Edinburgh - a lesson also learned is that everyone that owns a tile shop in Edinburgh is exceedingly nice and friendly! I have discovered these three amazing independent Edinburgh tile shops which I very much recommend should you ever be looking for tiles:

The Original Tile Company - over two levels, showroom on the top and a bit like entering an Aladdin's cave when you creep down the stairs and discover all the tiles below!

Edinburgh Tile Studio - amazing heated floor sample in the shop which kept my toes very cosy when looking at all the amazing samples on offer.

Welby & Wright - where I was first introduced to the Winchester tile range including the decorative artisan hand painted range.

IMG_3002

Also online there are some amazing websites, including Ceramica Tiles and New Terracotta (which frustratingly didn't appear in my frantic google searching for bathroom tiles, wall tiles, floor tiles, Moroccan tiles...you name it I searched it! So I hope to save you a bit of time there!)

So after much deliberation, several repeat trips to the tile shops and multiple google searching and planning...

winchester tiles

We have eventually chosen our Moroccan themed tiles for our walls and the floor....and you'll just have to keep your eyes peeled so we can show you what we went for...including more information on our MOROCCAN FEATURE WALL! I feel a Moroccan star coming on....

If you have any experience of Moroccan bathrooms, please feel free to leave your pearls of wisdom below in the comments! I'd love to hear from you!

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Living Room Renovation Project - Laying the wooden floor