Copy the look: the bathroom of interior designer Droika Engelen

Droika Engelen, interior designer, content creator and mom of a daughter, recently built her own dream home in Schoten, Antwerp. Due to her energetic personality, she found it important to create a quiet environment at home especially for her and her family, one without too many stimuli. She succeeded with a simple trick: she chose one color and material palette and continued this throughout the entire interior of her home. From the living room and kitchen to the bathroom and even the guest bathroom.

Conviviality trumps

With ten years of experience in the construction industry, Droika started her own business as an interior designer in 2023. A choice that has since yielded several beautiful interior and architectural projects. In late 2022, she completed her own home, where she was responsible for the design and realization of both the architectural design and the interior. “Before this, we lived in an apartment that I had also completely designed myself, but back then black-and-white interiors were still very much in demand. In our new home, I especially wanted to incorporate coziness and warmth. Thus, in terms of materialization, I quickly knew I wanted to work with walnut wood and microtopping, a decorative concrete-look coating used as a finish for walls, floors and furniture. Black faucets and light fixtures provide the necessary accents throughout the house.”

According to Droika, that coziness is a trend that has been on the rise for some time. “I think that's another positive consequence of Corona. Everyone started remodeling, and bathrooms are really allowed to be more homely, luxurious and atmospheric these days. In addition, the selection is also much wider. Showrooms for tiles and plumbing offer an enormous amount of choice. Which I also find one of the great advantages of Facq, by the way. Facq has a variety of products and has such an extensive brand portfolio that you can always find your taste or style.”

High-end, affordable tapware

As an interior designer, Droika closely follows all new trends and materials and knows better than anyone else what's on the market. Although that doesn't always turn out to be an advantage when you're designing your own bathroom. “For our bathroom furniture, I designed a total of as many as eight different variants. Because you're in the business, you know what's possible and you often like everything. All those different options just makes choices very difficult.” Choosing the crane work, on the other hand, did go very smoothly. “I have been working with Paffoni for years for my professional projects because they are so interesting value for money. Paffoni products have high-end finishes, a sophisticated look and yet are affordable. You also have a wide choice of colors, ranging from classic chrome and brushed stainless steel to black and bronze.”

Enough storage space

When designing the bathroom, storage space was a particularly important aspect. “In the apartment where we used to live, we had a standard base cabinet with drawers for a hairdryer, makeup and medication. But because I didn't have enough space to store all my stuff nicely, my sink always became one big mess. That's why this time, in addition to the base cabinet with drawers, I decided to provide two additional column cabinets.”

Because this was a new construction project, Droika had complete freedom for the layout of her home. “I knew from the beginning that, for hygienic reasons, I didn't want a toilet in the bathroom. Because we were not tied to existing rooms and dimensions, we could change the entire floor plan and enlarge and reduce the bathroom until everything fitted perfectly. So we finally decided to hide the toilet behind a door in the bathroom.”

Shower and bathtub

When choosing a bath, Droika's eye fell on Flint, a freestanding model from Aqua Prestige. She chose a matte white version in duroxite, a high-tech composite material that, due to its excellent insulating properties, keeps your water warm for an extra long time. “The bath has a beautiful, organic egg shape and goes very well with the microtopping and black faucets. It gives a warm, yet sleek result.” In addition to a bathtub, a spacious rain shower by Paffoni was also provided. “Especially with young children, I find that having a bathtub really adds value anyway, but if it has to go quickly, a shower is so much more practical. I also notice this with my clients. If there are little kids in the house, they often opt for both. In other situations these days, a more spacious and luxurious walk-in shower is more often chosen instead of a shower and bath.”

Tips from interior designer Droika

Don't just blindly follow trends, but see what materials suit you. Microtopping, for example, requires quite a lot of maintenance, which is not like tile. If you are someone who does not like to clean or is not often at home, then I would not recommend microtopping. The same goes for black faucets, which are often much more susceptible to scale.
Extend your faucet work throughout your home. In this way, you create unity and tranquility in a very simple way. To further enhance this feeling, you can also have the same color reflected in your lighting and door handles.
Do not just start a bathroom renovation yourself, but work with good professionals. Rely on reliable partners and also check references beforehand.