At this year's Ideal Home Show, as well as the wellness bathroom room set, bathrooms were much in evidence as I stumbled across a further three bathroom room sets towards the back of the show. I wasn't expecting to find them, but it's always great to get as much inspiration as possible when at shows like this, and the extra room sets (there were two more kitchens too) did go some way to make up for there not being any garden “room sets” at the show.

I've been sorting through my photos from the past few months - there are too many, I'm starting to think I should show some restraint, but I also know that's unlikely to happen - and I saw the photos and thought they would fit in nicely with a post on my dream bathroom. You know how much I like a loo or two, so it makes a change to think about the rest of the room.

In case MOH is reading I should say I'm not looking to update either of our bathrooms in the near future before he has a bit of a cold sweat, but of course that doesn't stop me looking and taking a whirl around the trends in bathrooms this year. I also know that if we were even thinking about updating our bathrooms, he'd be pushing for a wet room.

We toyed with the idea of a wet room before, but although we were keen it was a while ago (more than ten years!) and the concept wasn't as normal as it is now, and the relative newness in a domestic setting dissuaded us, along with the additional work that we were sure our bathroom would need. Instead we opted for the shallowest shower tray we could get (and afford). It's not as shallow as the one in the photo below, from one of the extra room sets I mentioned above, in the Industrial bathroom and would, I think, still be in the running for our bathroom.

THE INDUSTRIAL BATHROOM ROOM SET AT THIS YEAR'S IDEAL HOME SHOW

I like the geometric patterns, and the mix of tiles too. So I'd be keen to adopt something similar in a future bathroom, and black and white in bathrooms is just a classic isn’t it? All three of those were in the trends for this year, and like many of the interiors trends you’re probably more aware of them than you think you are.

Mixing tiles appeals to the patchwork loving me, but in our shower room we've gone for another classic approach with the same tiles for floor and walls in a natural colour, and while it's a smaller room than any of these room sets looking at these photos, while it’s still perfectly lovely, it does now feel kind of dated.

I need to be careful here, or else by the end of this post I'll have convinced myself we need to update our bathrooms!

House & Home magazine say that matte black finishes are one of the bathroom trends you'll see everywhere in 2018 and I tend to agree with them. The finish was used in the open plan bathroom in the Houzz of 2018, as the photos below show and I was quite taken with it at the time (less so with the open plan approach though) and while it's quite a step away from the traditional chrome it is something I'd consider, and something I think would be a relatively easy sell to MOH too.

His and Hers showers and metallic glamour were two of the trends the Ideal Home tipped to be big this year and while you might think the His and Hers showers is unrealistic - and maybe it is depending on the space you have available - I think I prefer this than a double shower, but perhaps I just like my own space!

If you have the space, the aqualisa electric shower might be one of the ways you could make it work, and incorporate some of the other trends at the same time, as on their site they have the shower, what I call "control boxes" in both a graphite and chrome finish.

METALLIC GLAMOUR AT THIS YEAR'S GRAND DESIGNS LIVE

I couldn’t end this post without including a shot of what is probably my favourite example of the metallic glamour trend. It’s from this year’s Grand Designs Live and part of their lavatory project, which I’ve yet to share here but made me smile, and I couldn’t help but think that Kevin and his team were jumping on my loo bandwagon...

But it’s gorgeous isn’t it?

* This is a collaborative post but all views are my own.

I read an article on the Ideal Home website recently where they predicted the key looks for interiors for this year. I read it and all the while comparing it to my own style. I nodded along to the idea of rich pigments, as I think we can all be bolder with colour in our homes. This weekend I've also read in The Times that these bolder colours could be overtaking our love of grey.

I'm also on board with botanical and tropical prints, with a preference for the former if pushed, which I'm sure doesn't surprise you. And so it makes sense that pineapples continue to be popular, there's still everywhere in the shops. It's a trend I've contemplated, picking them up in the shops to admire, but so far I've not succumbed.

The other trend that makes a lot of sense for me is what has been termed "global goodness" which is how our decor has been influenced by our travels, and we can the article predicts expect to see more of this in the shops. But there were a few I was less sure about, I've still not managed to get on board with the copper trend, and to read that brass is likely to feature this year alongside these got me wondering.

For me brass evokes strong memories of my childhood, and more specifically cleaning the brass in our church on Saturday mornings armed with Duraglit and also polishing the brass step of our front door, and so it seemed odd to me that a childhood chore could return. I think even as I'm writing this I can smell the distinctive aroma of the metal polish.

And so, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to unscientifically test if I could find armchairs, and statement pieces at that, that corraborated these trends. To narrow my unscientific test I set some criteria, and looked at the armchair range on Utility Design site.

Let's start with brass, the trend that evoked the strongest personal reaction. It's not that I don't like brass, it's just that I see it as a little bit old fashioned, and I'm much more of a brushed chrome kind of girl. Or so I thought. This Gubi Beetle chair, named because it looks like an upturned insect, with its brass legs might have changed my mind though. Isn't it gorgeous?

BRASS: GUBI BEETLE LOUNGE CHAIRAll images courtesy of Utility Design — BRASS: GUBI BEETLE LOUNGE CHAIR
All images courtesy of Utility Design

I think the Beetle chair would be a great match for the drinks trolley that I'm now also lusting after. I didn't think I'd want one of those either, but after entertaining at Christmas I can see their value, I'm just not sure where I'll store it the rest of the year...

I thought this Cappellini knotted chair would be a great match for the botanicals trend, and I suspect it's way more comfortable than it looks. But add a botanical print cushion, or two, and this would give any room a stylish update. For me, this chair would be great in the conservatory, but especially the very posh sort you see in the big country houses. Although I'd happily take this chair while I'm waiting - and saving - for the big posh conservatory!

The Glam Dark Woods was another prediction I struggled with. But I think the key word here is glam. Mention dark woods and my brain immediately goes towards the reproduction mahogany furniture, which while I have nothing against this - heck, it's not long since we sold our table, and before we moved here I sold my own reproduction mahogany dining table too. I think I was struggling with how this furniture could be predicted to be an interior trend for this year.

But then I saw the classic Vitra Eames Lounge chair, and I got it. I'd need a snug, or a library, or a study for one of these chairs and I'm sure MOH would be happy with one of these in his dream music room, and I can see how these continue to be so popular - the true stamp of a classic!

GLAM DARK WOOD:  VITRA EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR — GLAM DARK WOOD: VITRA EAMES LOUNGE CHAIR

The artisan trend was another that I could identify with, we have a wealth of talent in the UK and we should be celebrating this. The Artek Armchair shown below is a good representation of that trend, I think, and a similar style of furniture was very much evident in the Houzz of 2018, but more on that another day.

I could go on, and find further chairs to support these trends - but I won't - as I think I've evidenced enough to support the predictions I read about. I've realised that each of these trends is broad enough to find something for each of our tastes, even if our first thoughts are "no, never going to happen" which is where I was with the brass!

But what do you think? Are there trends that you've struggled with, or those you loved but quickly fell out of love with? Leave a comment and let me know.

* This is a collaborative post but as usual all views and opinions are my own.