Setting and history

The home that this powder room forms part of was originally designed by John Lewis and the whole family live dotted along the same street so that the children could run easily from one place to another to play with their cousins.

John Lewis, was a unique designer and had little quirks he brought into all their homes, as they were all designed by him.

When family had passed on, there was to be a second generation moving into this beautiful piece of architecture.

The home had been designed to curve around a private garden with a waterfall, right in the heart of Epsom.

Realigning for privacy

The existing powder room had always created a feeling of panic when people came through the multiple doors from the hallway as it was originally part of an ensuite.

Closing off the entry into the ensuite and creating this separate powder room off the main living spaces for guests with a single lockable entry makes the new layout feel safe and purposeful.

This separate powder room was also created for resale value later down the track by re-configuring and defining these spaces for the multi-use they needed to perform.

The original ensuite bathroom had purple carpet and wall tiles, it was very dark and the carpet hadn’t aged well in this wet and toilet area.

Not your every day powder room

This was not to be your everyday ordinary powder room, but rather something that would be quite individualistic and special to the owners while also reflecting the foundations John Lewis had set in those early days.

Everything has been selected to have an authenticity of materiality and a textural component.

An example of this is the beautiful Macrocarpa timber piece hand-cut by a family friend.

This was left in its organic shape with raw edges at the front and oiled for a more natural look.

The organic shape of this benchtop softens the angular wall lines in the powder room and nestles into the space beautifully.

Artisan pieces

The homeowners had lived in Thailand and collected several artisan pieces that they brought back to New Zealand, with some incorporated into the design, including the hand-crafted mirror.

I had found this in one of the other rooms and we pinched it as I felt it worked well with the macrocarpa benchtop.

Its ornate pattern gives a lovely connection to the ensuite vanity in the room next to it.

Organic shapes and rusticated finishes – as in the timber bench and basin – were brought together to give the powder room a relaxed vibe.

Porters paint was selected because it has a chalky soft warm white tone that worked well within this space and keeps it feeling fresh and light.

Sliding functionality

We changed the original opening door, to a cavity slider for ease and space within the powder room.

A tall, hand-crafted cane basket sits below the benchtop as a repository for guest towels.