It’s a shorter post this week (will anyone notice or mind?) as this weekend has been spent taking the 18yo to his new home at university. I was completely fine about him going until two days before when he texted me and asked me out to lunch. And I had to work. And it really hit me. So this weekend has been more student flat than interiors inspiration. However, since he will be sharing a bathroom with seven strangers for the first time in his life, I thought we would have a look at, and be thankful for, a beautiful bathroom.

This is by CP Hart, shot by Paul Craig and is such a simple design. The bath is built in, so no expensive roll tops or freestanding taps (often more than the cost of the bath) to pay for. Instead, if you are on a budget, you could spend money on the brass fittings to upgrade the look. Brass has had a strong fashion moment but it is basically a classic so don’t worry about going off it. You might even like it more when you don’t see it everywhere. Black is also a fashionable colour and again, it’s trendy at the moment, but it goes with everything so it will become classic.

But where you can really have fun is the wallpaper. You can spend as much, or as little as you have and go as wild as you like as it’s relatively easy to change. This classic white, marble and brass scheme also means you can add any colour or pattern you like.

Next up, another shot by Paul and again it’s a classic background of mostly white but the freestanding bath has been painted in a deep plum colour. And you could change this if you got bored. This bathroom is all about the chandelier and there are rules about that (how to get the bathroom lighting right) because it won’t work for everyone.

But this room would work perfectly well without that if the budget wasn’t there. Both rooms have made use of pretty bottles of soap and shampoo for the styling and yes this one has a fireplace, which we don’t all have, but you could add some tiles or a strong paint colour to the wall to add interest if you felt you space was lacking. Or a vintage cupboard in which to store towels and loo rolls etc. Modern bathrooms love a bit of vintage to add character.

This bathroom, in the El Fenn hotel, in Marrakech,  is full of character but it’s simply done. Yes the silver bath is the big ticket item but it’s the pink tadelakt walls which bring all the wow factor. Tadelakt is a moroccan plastering technique which is expensive but beautiful and so soft and smooth to touch. You can use a limewash paint for a similar effect – try Bauwerk and have a read of Kerry Lockwood’s post on how she used it in her home.

And, once again, the wall is the easiest part to change so you can keep the fairly classic black and white tiled floor and the bath, which will have been expensive and swap the paint. And before anyone comments on having space for an armchair in a bathroom (I wish) this bathroom is in the corner of a bedroom so it’s all open plan and explains the chair.

From silver baths to copper and this is the newly refurbished bathroom of Nicola Broughton and isn’t it just gorgeous. Again, a classic black and white floor but laid in a more dramatic herringbone pattern and grey panelled walls. Then the basin stands on a vintage table which is easy enough to do (or your plumber) as you just cut a hole for the waste. Nicola has gone for matt black taps here which go with the floor and is the perfect antidote to the shiny copper bath. This feels classic with a modern twist, or perhaps modern with a nod to classicism. Either way, I think it will stand the test of time but, if she wanted to, the wooden panelling would be easy to paint in a different colour to ring the changes as the black, white and copper, will be happy to sit with a variety of other shades.

Finally, back to the freestanding bath, the classic Edwardian style basin and the subway tiles in brick formation. here the wooden floor and rug bring all the colour and personality to the space and, once again, you could move that runner to a bedroom or a hall and replace it with something different if you wanted to ring the changes.

So it turns out that this post was about how to decorate a bathroom while keeping your options open for inexpensive changes should you get bored after a couple of years. Fit that into a google headline.