How to create a spa bathroom even in a small space

Peace might come from within, but it's certainly helped if your immediate surroundings are calm and collected. Happily, even tiny bathrooms can help you achieve zen, with a few design tricks emulating the soothing feel of a spa.

Design journalist Pip Rich, editor of interiors bible Livingetc, explains the ways designers get it right.

Designers are starting to move away from brass in favour of gunmetal for taps and other bathroom fixtures.

It doesn't gleam anywhere near as much as gold, it doesn't reflect as much as chrome. But it does tone down the brightness of the white that inevitably surrounds it, soothing the palette as it does your soul.

The metallic equivalent of cucumber over the eyes, see ABI Interiors for a particularly good selection of gunmetal taps.

A connection to nature has long been known to relax your mind - it's why so many designers fill homes with plants, why wood floors and oak cabinets have been a trend for so long.

In a small bathroom, where space is at a premium and plants may not thrive and perhaps there's no window looking out onto greenery then wood accents are a way to forge that link.

But it's the darker tones that contrast the starkness of this functional space better, mahogany and cherry that feel more like a spa. Use for shelving, a stool or towel rail.