How I Curate My Space: Charlotte Mensah’s Serene, Spa-Inspired Bathroom

“Living a busy lifestyle is all fun and games, but we must strike a balance,” considers Charlotte Mensah, hairstylist, founder and creative director of her eponymous haircare range. For Mensah, there is one room in her house that evokes the sense of serenity required to create this equilibrium in her hectic schedule: “My bathroom is the perfect room in which to relax – it’s the best part of my day,” she says. “We all need space so we can unwind and get some time to ourselves. I love the relaxing presence of water; my worries are always left outside the bathroom, and some of my best ideas come to me while I’m having a shower or a bath.”

Clean lines, fresh, muted tones and an elegant marble finish come together to create a contemporary, aesthetically pleasing contrast to the period features of her property in Notting Hill – “easily one of the most beautiful places in London,” Mensah says of the area she has lived in for the past 30 years. “The bathroom is one of the first and last places I go to each day, so I wanted it to be beautifully designed. A lot of my inspiration came from reading magazines like Architectural Digest. What I wanted was a crisp, airy and comfortable space; a spa, a haven – and that’s exactly what I got. The natural light and pristine white-marble palette are both calming and energizing,” she adds.

Indeed, two neutral, grey tones offset the white to create a color scheme that’s understated and refined, but bold enough not to be boring, “which was one of my initial worries” when renovating the room, Mensah admits. Instead, the minimalistic purity of the space “has an extremely powerful effect on my mind… I can bear testament to the way it changes my life on a day-to-day basis.”

With a husband and children at home, plus a busy working environment to contend with in her salon, Mensah’s bathroom provides an oasis of “guaranteed time to myself every day,” she says. “It’s critical to both my morning and evening routines. Whether it’s styling my hair, applying makeup, removing makeup, or just pondering, the space helps clear visual and mental clutter, paving the way to total relaxation.”

It’s a room that hosts “several therapeutic properties”, but while adornments are kept to a minimum, Mensah loves using candles to create the perfect ambience, “placing them at strategic points” to enhance the overall tranquillity of the room. “Just as our bodies are, our minds can be equally cleansed in the bathroom,” she says.