Focus on Taps - St James Collection

Taps are a vital focal point in the bathroom, and can help define the style and look any designer wants to achieve. It’s a straightforward decision … if the bathroom is crying out for a classic or traditional look, that is easily attained by choosing taps from the St James Collection. Their designs also work as a stylish emphasis in a contemporary room; especially in the brushed nickel finish. If you want to have a complete St James look throughout the home, they also have taps that are suited to cloakrooms, such as smaller-scale cloakroom basin taps and a mini-mixer.


 
But back to the bathroom … choosing a full suite of bathroom brassware is a big decision. It may involve all the shower fittings, a couple of basin taps, bidet taps, and bath taps. Fortunately, the St James Collection encompasses enough options to suit all possible settings. All taps come in their four famous finishes – Bright Chrome, Antique Gold, Bright Nickel and Brushed Nickel. When choosing basin and bath taps, the first decision to make is between a mixer tap or separate hot and cold taps. If a mixer tap is the first choice, it then has to be narrowed down to a three-hole basin mixer set (where there are three holes in the counter-top, basin or wall – one for the cold supply, one for the hot supply and a central spout which mixes the two supplies to the desired temperature) or a single hole basin mixer, where the hot and cold supplies are fed into one fitting. Within those options are cross-top handwheels or lever fittings to turn the tap on and off. The choice involves England (all metal, available in all four finishes plus black metal) and London (with black or white porcelain) styles, both of which are super-stylish and very desirable. As far as choosing bidet taps are concerned, there are two options; a mono bidet mixer (which of course, has a matching pop-up waste) with two handwheels or levers, and a very discreet single lever mono mixer – it comes in both the England and  London lever styles and has ceramic disc technology.  If you live in a low-pressure area, all the St James Collection taps are offered with screw-down operation, which solves that annoying low-pressure problem!


 
Regarding bath taps … as we’ve mentioned before, the type of bath that’s being installed must be absolutely a final decision before choosing taps; the options available include wall-mounted, deck (i.e. on the rim or ledge of the bath) mounted, a wall spout … the range includes 15 different bath tap options in total. Creative designers love using a three-hole bath tap with a classical spout in a contemporary setting, and a long-reach spout looks stunning too, especially if combined with a double-width basin. A freestanding bath may need standpipes as well as a set of taps – standpipes are the tall pipes containing the hot and cold water supply pipes from beneath the floor up to the taps/hand-held shower/bath filler. This choice would undoubtedly create that ultra-desirable ‘wow factor’ look. Telephone-style handsets (which again, can have white or black porcelain detailing) with a flexible shower hose and striking bath filler make the bathroom look exceedingly glamorous and inviting … just right for a soothing soak! If the bath is placed against a wall, the combination of a wall-mounted bath filler and engraved concealing plate is particularly spectacular.

For further information, head to the St James Collection website here, and request a brochure.