Master Bath with Green Onyx Vanity and Rain Shower

The backlit mirror puts light on your face from the front, which is where you need it for shaving or make-up. A ceiling downlight alone drops shadows under the brow and chin, so it works against you at the basin. The soft glow around the frame also lifts the whole dark wall, since black marble soaks up a lot of light. A magnifying mirror sits on the side wall for close work. The catch with backlit mirrors is the wiring, which has to be planned before the marble goes up.

The shower sits behind a glass enclosure, which keeps the water off the rest of the room and lets you keep a dry zone at the vanity. Inside there is a fixed rain shower overhead and a hand shower on a rail, so you can rinse down or stand under the spray. A backlit niche in the wall holds bottles at arm's reach. Glass does show water spots, so a quick squeegee after a shower keeps it clear.

The WC is wall-hung, with the cistern buried in the wall behind it and only a slim flush plate on show. Hanging it off the floor leaves the marble to run clean underneath, which also makes mopping easier. The tall cabinets beside it store towels and spares behind ribbed-glass fronts. The ribbing blurs the shelves, so the storage stays neat to look at even when it is full. A concealed cistern does mean the plumbing has to be reached through the flush plate if it ever needs service.

The walls are a dark marble, close to black, with heavy veining that gives them depth. The floor switches to a paler marble with grey and gold veins, which stops the room from turning into one dark box. Running a light floor under dark walls is a common trick to keep a dark bath from feeling heavy. Marble on both does raise the budget and the care, since natural stone needs sealing and reacts badly to acid, so no lemon or vinegar near it.

The stone is the biggest line. Marble on the walls and floor, plus a green onyx vanity, is a lot of natural stone bought by the slab and fitted by hand. Backlit joinery adds up too, since the mirror, niche and cabinet lighting all need wiring set into the wall early. The wall-hung WC and concealed cistern cost more to install than a floor model. Loose fittings like taps and the hand shower are the easy part to adjust if the budget gets tight.

Yes, and a small room is a good place to spend on it. You only need a short run of onyx for a compact vanity, so the slab cost stays down while the effect stays high. Keep the onyx to the vanity and use a plainer marble or tile elsewhere, or the small space starts to feel busy. The one thing to plan early is the backlight behind the stone, since a thin, even slab is what lets the light pass through.

It hides less than you would think. Dark marble shows water spots, soap film and dust more than a busy pattern, so it wants a wipe-down after use to stay sharp. Sealing the stone keeps water and product from soaking in and leaving dull patches. The glass shower and backlit mirror also spot easily, so a squeegee and a soft cloth earn their place here. None of it is hard, but a dark bath does reward a little regular care more than a pale, forgiving one.