Stein Vidar Gulløien is a trained painter and decorator and runs Trysil Flis & Malercenter. He’s been swinging hammer, chisel and paintbrush in people’s homes and cabins for over 25 years. He’s in no doubt that folks here in the mountains love their bathrooms.

– Norwegians like to be clean and hygienic, and we spend a lot of time on our personal grooming. We like to bathe, shower and get made up. Yes, and we also like to be comfortable on the loo! he says with a smile.

The experienced craftsman naturally follows current trends closely and has no difficulty describing the state of the art. There are many details such as wall-mounted toilets and built-in shampoo niches.

– Floor tiles have to be large, people want double washbasins, and rain showers are a must. Maybe even a bathtub, if there’s room for one.

Over the years, he’s seen the bathroom become more and more a place of recreation – a personal relaxation department.

– We’ve seen many people putting in cosy armchairs and they want both a sauna and a steam shower. In general, there needs to be more space in the bathroom, Gulløien says.

For anyone dreaming of an exciting new bathroom, the expert has the following advice: begin by sketching how you want your bathroom to look.

– You need to find out what you have space for. Is there room for a bathtub, as well as a shower? Do you want a standing toilet? And what about the washing machine? Make a plan of all the surfaces and decide where you want to have the heating elements or panel heater.

Try out different types of slate. Put together several different surfaces and structures, and see how the combination turns out.

Once you’ve made the important decisions, contact a good plumber who can manage the project from A to Z.

– It’s important to get the technical aspects of the wetroom right. A bathroom is an expensive room, but it can quickly become even more expensive if you don’t do everything according to the book, he emphasises.

One of the big decisions you’ll have to make is what kind of surface you want on the walls. Gulløien says the size of your wallet is often what decides this. But if money is no object, he has one firm favourite: slate.

– Because it’s so extremely durable. You’ll never get a scratch in it. It hasn’t been baked in a kiln in Spain, but has lived its own life for millions of years. This also increases the sales value of your house, he adds.

Gulløien says that there’s a lot more clout in a slate-clad bathroom. And it also gives an avalanche of inspiring options.

– The great thing about slate is that it comes in all sizes and surfaces. From light grey Oppdal to dark grey Offerdal slate, and from the roughest to the very smoothest. A creative tiler can do a lot with that versatility, he says.

He has done exactly this himself. Gulløien describes large slate tiles on bathroom walls and mosaic tiles in the shower. Hewn edges and stepping stones. The sky is the limit.

– Once, we installed a bathroom where the entire shower area consisted of two gigantic slate slabs weighing 250 kg each. No grouting You can’t do that with tiles. No, it’s not the cheapest of material, but you can really be creative with it and over time you find that the cost decrease due to its durability.

He has noticed how more and more people are using many different types of surface. These days, it’s common to find more than one type in a bathroom.

– It’s increasingly popular to mix the old with the modern. For example, a smooth tile on one wall and coarse slate on another. It’s also really stylish to set light grey Oppdal slate against brown wooden walls. This creates a real ‘cabin’ atmosphere, he says, and concludes:

– Slate is, after all, stone with soul.

Installing slate tiles indoors is no more difficult than for ceramic tile. See our installation instructions and advice.