Carmen
Instead of a free-standing bath mixer tap that you often see, we really wanted a bath edge combination. Just lovely! – Carmen
A dream bathroom full of character
Carmen and Mike renovated their 1930s house themselves over a period of about a year. Their bathroom with a smoked glass shower wall, rectangular bathtub and stainless steel 316 taps is truly special. Carmen thinks it's the nicest room in the house. Judge for yourself and be inspired!
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Who Carmen Mesa (35, director category bakery), Mike Linders (28, property maintenance) and cat Jimmie Where Veghel Property type Free-standing 1930s house of 250 m² Bathroom approx. 20 m² Particulars The 200-kg bathtub had to be lifted into the house with a telescopic handler Instagram @carries_casa
Carmen Mesa starts almost every day in the gym and takes a refreshing shower at home afterwards. Carmen: ‘I turn the water to ice-cold for the last minute I’m under the shower. To be honest, I sometimes have to psych myself up to it, but that's when I pretend to myself that I’m cooling off under a beach shower after hours of sunbathing. I feel energised after it, and my day can truly start.’
Taps with gorgeous details
The controls have the same sheen to them as an LP.
After more than a year of renovations, the free-standing 1930s house owned by Carmen and her boyfriend Mike is almost ready. Carmen coordinated the work, and with the assistance of helpful family members and friends, she did almost everything herself. The dated 6 m² bathroom with a mint-green wash-hand basin and beige tiles was enlarged into a bathroom with a luxurious hotel feel of approximately 20 m². They achieved this by sacrificing an adjoining bedroom. Carmen doesn’t like making safe choices and prefers to do things differently.
‘We have a smoked glass shower wall that goes up to the ceiling and a customised rectangular bathtub in front of the French windows that go out to the balcony. I find the appearance of the taps very important. I immediately knew that it should not be chrome or black, too shiny and consciously trendy. We eventually went for the Archie series, made from stainless steel. These taps have a matt finish because the stainless steel is brushed. I would describe the shape of the taps as simple, timeless and luxurious. ‘And they have lovely details: for example, the controls have the same sheen as an LP.’
Bathtub with bath edge combination
Carmen is ‘on’ from six every morning and is always busy. ‘Sometimes I need to put on the brakes and take a rest. How do I do that? In the winter, I like to take baths and spend more time in the bathroom. When you're lying in the tub, you have a good view of the wooden beam of the old open fire, which we worked into the ceiling. This beam shows where the wall was between the old and the new bathroom. ‘Instead of a free-standing bath mixer tap you often see, we preferred a bath edge combination Archie AR073. Just lovely! We can pull out the hand-held shower and use it to clean the bathtub. We did a significant part of the renovations ourselves, so finding clear technical diagrams of all the taps on the Hotbath website was very helpful. The bath is customised, and before the work started, I sent the measurements of the outflow and taps to the factory so that they could drill the holes into the bath edge already.’
Operating the wash-hand basin mixer taps
Carmen and Mike came across some concealed wash-hand basin mixer taps Archie AR005 . ‘We broke open the bathroom, so we had the opportunity to have all the pipes concealed. It's a bit sleeker and more practical when it comes to cleaning’, says Carmen. ‘And no more limescale rings on your basin!’
Thanks to the 3+3 inbouwsysteem, the handles of the taps could be installed in three ways. The couple were delighted to avail of this option. ‘Seeing as I’m all about symmetry, the handles are on the outside. It doesn't just look stunning; it's also practical. Now I can brush my teeth with my right hand and operate the taps with my left. It might be a small detail, but for us, it’s definitely added value.’ The couple chose the Archie tap series for the guest room wash-hand basin and the downstairs toilet.
Fun under the rain shower
While Carmen and Mike are very practical, they left the plumbing to a professional. He gave them a good tip. ‘He suggested placing the controls for the shower at the entrance of the walk-in shower so that you don't get wet when you turn it on. Another advantage is that the controls catch very little water, which makes a difference when cleaning. The overhead shower Archie AR199 is just 8 mm thick, very attractive and subtle, with a diameter of 30 cm. Because our house is old, our ceilings are higher than average. Fortunately, the ceiling tube to which the main shower is connected was also available in a length of 50 cm. It’s a good rain shower, and because we have a large shower head, you always get a wonderful warm flow of water over you. Our nieces and nephews who have come to stay with us have also discovered this. They love taking showers here and turning on the overhead and hand-held shower at the same time. It’s usually a gang of soaking-wet kids, but they have so much fun!’