We caught up with Carly Neave, Instagram Influencer, about her recent home renovations complete with Bagnodesign bathrooms and outdoor furniture from the Sanipex Gallery to create her ‘refined casual’ atmosphere for a relaxing yet luxurious ambience for both indoors and outdoors.

Finding Inspiration

How did you come up with the design intent for your home renovation – where did you find your inspiration?

I tend to follow Instagram accounts with styles I like; these range from a neutral tribal vibe into sleek minimalism. The look and feel I wanted to create throughout my home was a ‘refined casual’ atmosphere. I wanted high-quality and aesthetic pieces, yet they needed to create an inviting, homely feel. From the dining table to the bathrooms Sanipex helped me achieve this with luxury pieces.

How did you find inspiration from showrooms?

We visited endless showrooms, and so much of it was copy and paste from place to place, but we wanted something a bit different. In the end we were torn between two looks for the bathrooms; either a classic style with the Colonial vanity unit or a soft-industrial hint with Matt Black brassware and wooden furniture. Overall, we wanted something trendy and unique – we found originality in design in the Sanipex Gallery.

Master Bathroom

How did you choose products to fit with this design intent for the Master bathroom?

For the bathrooms, I wanted to include some raw, earthy tones with natural textures such as wood. The M-Line vanity units add a light scandi-wood aesthetic that I love with neutral tiles – I personally find a neutral palette much more relaxing.

The result is a bathroom that’s not too masculine or feminine, which was important for me. It also has practical storage from the vanity units as well as perfect space for folded towels on the shelf below. The space evokes a sense of peace for me which is perfect.

The Matt Black also makes it original and the finish is still perfect after 7 months, especially when I compare it to friend’s black brassware they bought from elsewhere.

Here at Sanipex Group we see influences of a Japandi style – Japanese come Scandinavian – design thanks to cool woods with impactful grounding Matt Black brassware. The Harlem crittall style shower panel is also reminiscent of an eastern shoji screen; it creates a subtle statement and coordinates perfectly with the brassware. The use of Matt Black with neutral tiles also creates a gender-neutral vibe.

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Guest Bathrooms

Can you talk us through the design ethos’s for the two contrasting guest bathrooms?

For one guest bathroom I wanted a Bali vibe with natural styling and neutral tones. The Brushed Nickel gives a warmer finish to Chrome and works so well with the wooden tones. The neutral tiles are subtly textured and create a sleekness in the room. Ostentatious isn’t relaxing for me, I find that natural elements and surroundings bring a sense of peace.

For the other bathroom, I just couldn’t get the idea of a classic-come-contemporary scheme out of my head. The modern cross handle of the Ibiza mixer helped bridge the gap here and keep the sleek style. We went with a cooler palette using Chrome, blue and statuario marble tiles. Marble effects and herringbone mosaic tile choices are also a timeless choice that I wanted to incorporate – again in fresh light tones to make sure the space felt open.

Whilst many like to keep a sense of continuity for colour palettes and themes throughout the home, if you love a variety of products don’t feel restricted. Powder rooms are also a perfect place for creativity and creations out of the ordinary.

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Powder Room

Many people approach designing a powder room with a design intent of adding drama to the home, how did you achieve this?

We chose Chrome brassware for the downstairs powder room for its high durability, but we still wanted to add drama to the design. Whereas we used alternative finishes upstairs to add drama, the knurling of the Revolution mixer is a statement in itself – the Chrome also contrasts so well against the green herringbone subway tiles.

The taps and tiles really make it, they’re the stand out pieces here. I think people want to create a statement in a powder room and people can achieve it on a budget. Even an ‘entry-level’ basin looks high-end when paired with a great tap.

“I love all the bathrooms. With all the renovation works we actually increased the property value by 70%,  I’ve no doubt the bathrooms were a big factor in that.”

Outdoor Space

How do you feel the outdoor space contributes to your home?

I think most people want to maximise their time with great weather, and in the UAE there’s so many months of the year to eat al fresco and enjoy the outdoors. The sun loungers allow me to relax, destress and soak up Vitamin D which I find important for mental wellbeing and boosting the immune system.

It was important for us to create a place where we can entertain guests for dinner parties as well as to spend time as a family outdoors. I love our dining table, even though it is bespoke it’s still so reasonably priced – the finish looks like it would cost double or triple the price. The choice of 3 different styles of legs and 3 different lengths is great. Picking from literally the most gorgeous selection of all different kinds of colours & textures of slabs was tough but I fell in love with the black slate & white veins top. It’s a statement without being too ‘cold’ and it was also different to anything we had seen.

We chose Fortuna Rope chairs in two finishes to pair with the colours in the tile tabletop, as well as to coordinate to our interior for a sense of merging the indoor and outdoor spaces. The chairs are also super comfy so we can sit and enjoy the outdoors for hours.

We’ve been thinking about the addition of a built-in barbeque and I know Sanipex Group have a great range so watch this space!

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