Top Tapware Choices for a Bathroom Renovation You'll Love
Taps, showerheads and spouts may be small but they are mighty – don't underestimate the impact they can have in your next bathroom
Tapware is one of those features that can take a bathroom up a notch in the fancy department. Cheap taps can look, well, cheap, but it’s not necessary to spend thousands of dollars on tapware, either – you’re likely to be the only one who notices you’ve splashed out so lavishly. The more important things to consider are warranties – three to five years is a good place to start – and a style that complements, and even elevates, your bathroom to the next level. These super stylish options are great examples of what a difference these small but significant fixtures can make on powder rooms, ensuites and bathrooms.
This Italian-made Agape Kaa showerhead and hose are made of silicon and add a dollop of happiness to this contemporary New York bathroom. White penny tiles are up-to-the-minute on trend and allow the orange tapware to stand out. An orange hand towel or bathmat is the perfect finishing touch.
Concrete is making its way into every room of the house thanks to the industrial revolution (another one!) taking place in homes around the world. In this bathroom, the concrete taps, basin and spout have an industrial edge, but the rounded taps soften the look – as does pairing these items with natural timber and white.
Tapware: Wood Melbourne
Tapware: Wood Melbourne
Black tapware can be chic, elegant, industrial or ultra-contemporary – the shape of the taps and spout is what matters when you’re trying to create a bathroom of a particular style or era than the colour itself. In this case, a unique basin carved out of solid stone has been paired with a shapely spout and mixer for an ultra-modern look that’s both beautiful and bespoke.
Goccia tapware: Gessi
Goccia tapware: Gessi
The same tapware works just as effectively against a black background in this Melbourne powder room.
A striking take on the same style of tapware takes this bathroom from lovely to cutting edge.
Goccia ceiling-mount faucet: Gessi
Goccia ceiling-mount faucet: Gessi
The same style has been used over the bath. Is anyone else in love with this bathroom as much as I am?
See more of this Sydney apartment’s bathroom
See more of this Sydney apartment’s bathroom
Monochrome bathrooms are in vogue like never before. What better way to bring out the best in these hexagonal marble tiles than with sleek matt tapware? A more traditional shape would have transported this Bondi bathroom into the past, but the contemporary lines in this showerhead and hose keep it firmly in the present.
In the same eclectic bathroom, black grout in between white tiles makes a bold statement. There’s no need to match basin tapware with those over the bath or in the shower. Shapely chrome tapware over this basin lets the tiles take centre stage.
Wooden tapware might not be the first thing you think of when you’re weighing up which taps to put in your new bathroom, but a glance at this bathroom will have you reconsidering your options. The handmade ‘Isla’ bath spout is made from reclaimed timber. Oliver MacLatchy, founder of Wood Melbourne, says: “Timber spouts provide a warm, sustainable and natural alternative to traditional spouts.” They age naturally, he says, and will stay looking good as long as you don’t install them directly under a shower.
The showerhead and black taps suit this bathroom so well, it’s hard to envision it with anything else. Imagine chrome taps in their place and suddenly the bathroom pales into insignificance. The trick is to provide variation in light and shade to create depth and interest.
Your taps don’t have to be ultra-modern to update a bathroom. Lever taps are just the thing to bring a little elegance to a traditional bathroom. When you have black tiles or even a toilet lid, as in this art deco bathroom, a black tapware feature takes the whole space up a notch in the style stakes.
See more of this Auckland bathroom
See more of this Auckland bathroom
Teamed with basins of the same or similar material, designer tapware can bring out the best in both. In this case, the Gold Kohler ‘Karbon’ spouts tie in dramatically with the round gold leaf-inset basins. If you’re thinking this bathroom has to be in New York, you’d be wrong. This gem is homegrown.
See more of this luxurious ensuite
See more of this luxurious ensuite
Tapware doesn’t always need to be a novel colour or made from an unexpected material to stand out. The design of the Waterdecor ‘Marcelle’ lavatory faucet gives a nod to the past (the original bathroom hails from 1929) but its shiny newness and contemporary lines give it a facelift.
YOUR SAY
Do you love the taps in your bathroom? Where did you get them and why did you choose them? Tell us in the Comments.
MORE
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YOUR SAY
Do you love the taps in your bathroom? Where did you get them and why did you choose them? Tell us in the Comments.
MORE
Beautiful Bathrooms: 8 Ways to Show Off Soaps, Lotions and Potions
10 Top Materials for Bathroom Tiles
Safety First: Look-Ahead Design Strategies for a Future-Proof Bathroom