Nimila
Bathroom windows are, in many ways, a luxury. They bring in natural light and fresh air, making it a much more pleasant space to be in – and avoiding the need for harsh downlighting and noisy extractor fans. But they do present one challenge: privacy. This is most problematic if your bathroom is street-facing or directly opposite a neighbour’s window. So, one way or another, we have to cover or obscure them. Café curtains are undoubtedly very chic and charming, and will never go out of style, but fabric in bathrooms is not always the most practical option. Frosted glass or any form of privacy glass can work well in certain situations, but many designers believe that it is only stained glass designs that give an aesthetically pleasing result. And shutters can now be seen in so many houses that they might feel a little unimaginative. Which is why we found ourselves particularly taken by the wooden screen in the main bathroom of interior designer Virginia White’s Hampstead mansion flat when we first saw it earlier this year.
This white-painted latticed screen not only provides privacy, but also introduces the sort of beautiful decorative detail that is so often lacking in bathrooms. The inspiration for this design came from the trellis-pattern facings on the window screens of Dennis Severs’ house on Folgate Street, and other 18th-century Huguenot houses in Spitalfields, such as those on Fournier Street. The idea could also be compared to the ornamental jali screens found in Indian architecture or the mashrabiya in Islamic architecture, but with a timeless simplicity that is well suited to Virginia’s Edwardian mansion flat. By pairing it with a roller blind (the same kind seen throughout her flat, made in Holland cloth by Sunnex) and some striking stained glass art, Virginia has ensured that every eventuality – both decorative and practical – is covered.
‘It was the style in the past to screen the outside world and not change the glass, which was costly and they would not have had frosted glass et cetera,’ explains Virginia. ‘The light filtering through is clear and not cloudy and the pattern it casts on the wall is wonderful.’ Virginia had this screen, and matching ones in her other bathrooms, made at her friend Marianna Kennedy’s workshop. Marianna’s former home and workshop, 3 Fournier Street, has original examples of the latticed screens and we have spotted similar window trellises to those she had made for Virginia in her new house on Elder Street.
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If you are keen to replicate this effect in your own bathroom, you will probably have to look into having a bespoke piece made by a joiner to fit your window. But, once installed, it will last for decades – even centuries, if the Spitalfields examples are anything to go by – so it could prove to be one of the best investments you make for your interiors.
