The surfaces in bathrooms play an important part it its overall look. PHPI spoke with Mermaid Panels to find out some of the trends for this year.
As 2022 gets underway in earnest, installers can expect to see an array of new bathroom trends informing their customers’ bathroom projects. Following the challenges and uncertainty that 2021 dealt us, Mermaid Panels is forecasting three common themes that will likely be informing the way in which homeowners look to redesign or update their homes for the upcoming year and beyond: hopefulness, tranquillity, and personal sanctuary.
Mermaid’s National Sales Manager Keely Greenhalgh, comments: “2021 placed importance on having spaces in our home that allowed tranquillity, a sense of calm and a chance to take a step back and clear our minds. Meanwhile, the long months spent at home heightened our need to create a sanctuary – not only somewhere safe but somewhere inspiring and deeply unique and personal to each individual. And now, 2022 brings the hopeful prospect of more freedom again and the opportunity to be inspired at every turn – by beautiful dining settings, hotels and retreats, and travelling further afield.”
Mermaid Panels is reporting significant growth in the bathroom panels market as more consumers look to find surface solutions that are diverse in design, easy-fit and low maintenance. The brand has also seen increasing specification for larger size shower panel kits in the last year, with people opting to dedicate more space to the showering and bathing area and create a practical and more luxurious impact in their bathrooms.
With this in mind, the shower and bathing zone is becoming even more integral to the overarching bathroom design and as such colour, pattern and texture are being used in new and innovative ways to make the shower space the centrepiece of the bathroom and evoke an enhanced sense of luxury and wellness.
Here, Keely Greenhalgh highlights some of the key surface looks and designs consumers will be seeking in 2022:
Neutral colour palettes
Clinical white walls are being replaced with soft neutrals such as taupe, cream and beige to create a minimalist setting that is softer and warmer. For 2022, the neutral palette is set to expand to include understated pink and super-soft pastel tones, which work particularly well for those seeking a more traditional aesthetic for their bathroom.
The ever-popular look of marble will become much softer too, with homeowners set to favour marble designs with more delicate veining. Marble effects, a look which can be expertly achieved with bathroom panels thanks to their waterproof core, are also now shifting towards softer, neutral tones where a warmer style is desired.
Decadent heritage
Decadent heritage is a fusion of a luxurious, decadent style enriched with statement features and colour, with a design that is reminiscent of historic and cultural references. For example, Casablanca-inspired mosaics are steeped in Moroccan culture and are perfect for creating a feature wall in the bathroom. Mermaid Panels’ Abruzzo panels use this pattern in shades of grey and black to make an eye-catching statement that can easily create the centrepiece for the entire space. Decadent heritage bathrooms will also feature period brassware, rich brass accents and sculpted shapes within ceramics, lighting, furniture and accessories.
In addition, Mermaid’s Elite range of panels is completely trimless with post-formed edges which creates a seamless and curved edging, adding a premium look and quality finish which perfectly suits this up-and-coming bathroom trend.
Textured stone
The trend for industrial style bathrooms in recent years has seen homeowners demanding more from the surface materials in their home – from exposed brick to terrazzo, slate and natural stones. The notion of having natural-style materials in the bathroom can be very grounding and soothing, creating a relaxing and calming environment where homeowners can retreat to and unwind at the end of a long day.
With Mermaid Panels’ technology, the intricacies of raw materials can be artistically reproduced in an easy to fit and low-maintenance panel solution that looks just like the real thing. In an industrial-inspired bathroom, texture is an equally important component in order to both look and feel authentic. Many of Mermaid’s Elite panel designs offer a signature textured effect and offer more cost-efficiency than opting for the natural materials.
Textured stone effects can be used to make a statement in the bathroom in several different ways: within the shower enclosure itself, wall-to-wall throughout the bathroom for a really striking and tactile design, or even mix-and-matched with other contrasting or complementing stone effect designs for an aesthetic that really strives to extract the beauty of the natural world and bring it into the home.
