The Italian Bathroom: Ceramics

A new way to use traditional Deruta design is by using is to accent your house, making it unique. The idea was born when Grazia had to redo her bathroom and went around looking but could not find a style that suited her. At that point she asked one of her best painters to make a tile panel with green as the dominant color and a scene with a feminine touch. Her painter suggested two or 3 different subjects and at the end she decided to have a beautiful scene full of flowers and women adorned with leaves and flowers. At this point she only had one tile of 120cm by 100cm in which to build a bathroom around. The tile panel had to focus the attention of people when they entered the bathroom so she placed it over the bath tub to the right of the door.

Italian bathroom with hand painted tiles

Once the tile panel was placed she decided that she was quite satisfied but thought that she needed something even richer in detail. She added a frame around the tile panel made of pale green tiles cut in a triangular shape. This acted perfectly to divide the image from a band of tiles where one detail of the painting was reproduced, in this case it was a flower painted by Grazia’s mother which combined perfectly with the entire scene.

At this point she placed a powerful light ( pained in the same pattern ) to enhance the beautiful scene. At this point the right side of the bathroom was so beautiful that Grazia had the problem of what to put on the left side. She used to place a large mirror to reflect the image in front and around the mirror she placed the same pale green band combined with the tiles that Grazia’s mother had pained. She did the same with the lights and the room was almost done. She placed some ceramic accessories all hand painted in the same pattern: Towel holders, soap and brush holders, a ceramic hanger and a matching tent and carpet to finish the scene .

Grazia’ son wanted his small bathroom with blue as a dominant color. He did not want a bath tub because the bathroom was too small and opted for a shower in the corner. Since he was a student of Roman and Greek history he decided he wanted a landscape showing ruins of the Greek cities. This shower is on the corner and the panels are next to each other and lighted, enhanced by transparent glass. They stand up very well combined with plain blue tiles, white and blue accessories and a mirror surrounded by the same pattern. Three central spotlights on the floor and the ceiling and the bathroom is done.

Italian Bathroom

After these two experiences Grazia designed many more bathrooms. The main issue is to know what style of bathroom you want : Contemporary, art deco, renaissance style, neo-classic, rustic or elegant. Then you must design the bathroom around the tile panel that become the main focus of the room. Any size can be done and may use tiles 2×8 for the frame of the tile panel, with mirror and tiles 8×8 or 10×10 depending on the subject chosen. If you want us to help you in designing your bathroom give us the basic idea of what you would like, the feeling and the style you wish and we will help you to realize your vision.

by Grazia Ranocchia

Artistic Tile Panels (any size)

Artistic tiles range in size from 2x2in to 12x12in. Artistic tiles can be done in any design and color. Tiles are all hand painted and any Deruta traditional design or personal request can be used.

Available Accessories Ceramic lamps, Soap dishes with dispenser, Toothbrush holders, Brush holders, Toilet paper holders, Towel racks, Planters, Vases and much more…