I’ve realised it’s been a while since I have updated my blog with our home renovation projects. So, I want to share with you another huge project we took on during the Summer last year, which was our Bathroom Renovation. (I can’t believe where the time has gone!)
Redesigning our bathroom was the second biggest project we took on for the Summer of 2018, which was in desperate need of a makeover.
When we moved in to our lovely little home in July 2016, we were having to live with this bathroom. Picture; yellow and orange walls, divided by a dark brown, tin dado rail, a very dated peach suite. (We actually thought it was white at first, because of the yellow and orange wall colour clash taking the attention away form the peach!) Dark navy carpet, and a (gross) dark navy shower curtain…this was just the start!
Therefore the bathroom was extremely dated, which was evident to;
- The size of the bath! It was HUGE! And not the right size for the space at all. It took up the majority of the space, and was not a pleasure to stand in to shower, let alone have a bath in!
- The (leaky) taps were that old, that you literally couldn’t undo them or tighten them to stop the leaking. There was one tap for hot water, and one for cold. Which left you either washing your handing in scalding hot, or freezing cold water.
- The fact that there was a navy carpet freaked me out – goodness knows how long that was there, and how often it had been cleaned…when did carpet in bathrooms go out of fashion? Thank goodness they did!
- The size of the sink. It was tiny, and hidden in the corner, as well as being swamped by the bath size. You felt very claustrophobic brushing your teeth, or washing your face in it.
- There was NO storage. Very much like the kitchen situation, which we only discovered when we moved in.
Anyway, the list goes on. In addition you can imagine after 2 years of living in this original bathroom (from when our home was built in the early 90’s), we were able to really focus and envisage what changes we could make to this room. To really maximize it’s potential.
However, there were a couple of factors to consider when we redesigned this space;
- It’s the only bathroom we have in the house. And whilst it’s a small room, we needed a bath still involved in the renovation, because it is an ideal first home for couples that want to start a family. Obviously a bath is ideal for this.
- We wanted maximize the bathroom space, as well as create more storage space in the room. We do have a cupboard in the bathroom, which we used for storage up until now. But this should ideally be our airing cupboard, (which is another project we need to add to the to-do list).
Our Process;
Going forward with our Bathroom Renovation, it was from Hubby Finn (Dominic) that the amazing ideas that came. I really can’t take credit for this…only the interior finishing touches – naturally.
The Bath
Firstly, rather than having an extra long bath, like the peach one we already had, Dominic researched to find a smaller bath that would actually fit along the width of our bathroom walls (measuring at 150cm wide). In other words we could switch the new bath round 90degrees, from it’s original position and make it flush against the back bathroom wall. Therefore creating a lot more floor space elsewhere in the room.
We sourced our new bath, and the bath panels from Victorian Plumbing.
The Sink
By moving the bath, it meant we needed tomove the original placing of the sink. We knew our toilet was going to stay inthe same place (but replaced with a much nicer one, of course), which meant wehad a nice space between the toilet and bath to have for our sink area.
This is where it gets creative. Dominic researched basin and drawer units that were ideal for storage, as well as catered for a decent sized basin.
B&Q had the perfect solution, where they had a floating/wall mounted unit that was provided in a range of widths. One of which was a perfect width to fit in the new designated space.
Added Storage
This wall mounted storage unit is perfect with two wide and deep drawers to fit and store all of our bathroom cleaning and ‘beauty’ products in. It’s actually difficult to fill up the drawer space!
Above all, we were also able to get out hands on a mirror unit that was the perfect size to go above the sink unit, which (wait for it!) also had the ability to store bathroom items in.
Therefore, we literally went from no storage at all (a part a from our airing cupboard), to a two drawer sink unit, and a two-door mirror unit.
In addition the airing cupboard is free for us to hide our wash basket in, and dry our clothes in. Perfect!
…Although I do need to add a couple moreshelves in here to really make use of the space. Another project for later thisyear, I think.
The most amazing thing about changing thebath and sink around, is that we both can be in our bathroom now, without itbeing a squeeze. Even the sink is big enough (like a his & her sinkcombined) for us to brush our teeth together. That’s true love right there!
The Flooring
Next, it was time to get rid of our ratherdisgusting navy blue carpet. Hooray! I cannot tell you the joy I felt as thiscarpet came up! I really am not a fan of carpet in the bathroom, it reallydoesn’t bring a comfort to me at all.
Instead we decided to go for an easy to clean vinyl flooring. When I was thinking about the design and style for this bathroom, I knew I wanted to create a really clean and fresh looking space. Having white walls, a white bathroom suite, with touches of colour and pattern throughout, making this space not look too clinical. This would also make the bathroom appear bigger to the eye as well.
As you know I’m a lover of pattern, and inparticular a lover for pattern tiles.
When we were researching flooring, I wasreally drawn to having a really quirky floor, and we found the most perfectvinyl to suit this.
This vinyl honestly looks like the realtile deal, and I absolutely love the mismatch of patterns, and the colourscheme.
I remember selecting this vinyl flooring at The Carpet Trade Centre (who we went through for all of our flooring with the home renovation, and I highly recommend); where the guy serving us really did question my taste.
To clarify, you will be reassured when you see the final outcome. Choosing a patterned tile effect in a small space, is ideal. Because it brings (our) personality onto the room, which otherwise would be just a white (boring-in my opinion) space.
The Shower Installation
Next we move on to the installing of our shower unit and tiling. Dominic and I are suckers for a good shower, and this element was really important to us within our bathroom renovation.
We chose a shower range from Screwfix that had a wide/flat shower head, and almost becomes a feature in the bathroom, let alone being an amazing shower unit. We have two shower heads; the second one can be taken off its holder, and moved about. Which is perfect for cleaning, washing our hair if not having ‘proper’ shower etc.
The Painting and Tiling
We decided to save on cost to only tile half of the bathroom, and paint the rest. I chose tiles from B&Q, which I felt had a very natural element to them, fitting perfectly with the white suite, and white walls. They almost look like a natural stone effect, and I went for the Ivory colour option, because it looked how a real stone effect can be. Plus, it would compliment the paint I’d chosen for the rest of the walls.
Using white grout, Dominic set about tilingonce half of the bathroom, whilst I painted the other half.
This task was a little challenging, because originally the walls had a small dado rail running around it. Once we removed this, I had to poly-filler and sand down this area, to make the walls smooth again. And then painted with Dulux’s Bathroom Paint, ‘Timeless’ white option.
I must let you know that we didn’t live with bright yellow and orange walls for the first two years. When we moved in the first thing that happened was white wash every wall in the house to make it neutral. This made it easier when it came to painting with our final colour, because I only had to paint two coats, rather than emulsion the walls first.
A small added detail;
One last detail (apart from the finishing touches) to this bathroom to maximise it’s space, was we replaced the radiator for a bathroom towel radiator. Which we actually found abandoned outside someone’s house!
As a result this has been brilliant to create a little bit of extra space, due to it being lovely and slim, plus a place to put our towels on properly to dry.
Then the beauty about the airing cupboard,of other towels we use, and can’t fit on the radiator, can go in there to dryas well!
Simply perfect!
There you have it; our Bathroom Renovationin a nutshell.
I’d like to say a particular huge thank youto Tom from Maynard’s Plumbing, who was our plumber throughout all of ourBathroom Renovation. He is true professional, who was simply brilliant workingon everything that needed doing. Along with providing great expert advice whenwe needed it.
I highly recommend Tom, and here are hisdetails if you’re ever looking for a great plumber.
Thomas Maynard – Maynard’s Plumbing
Phone- 07834420797
The Finishing Touches…
Since completing this project, I have beenable to add beautiful finishing touches to the bathroom, to make it a morerelaxing space. I also need to add a few more items into this space as well.Therefore it’s not quite complete.
I’m also debating whether to add somewallpaper to this space to enhance the area between the airing cupboard anddoor…but this will all be resolved from now until Easter (hopefully).
Make sure you watch this space to see whatlovely interior finishing touches I add to make our bathroom the beautifulcalming space it deserves to be.
I actually look forward to having a bathnow, especially as the weather is getting colder!
Let me know what your thoughts are aboutour bathroom renovation are as well. It’s always great to hear feedback.
[…] the kitchen, living roomand bathroom refurbished mid Summer last year (2018), next it was time for us to conquer our bedroom […]
[…] you (hopefully) have read in my previous Bathroom Renovation Blog Post, we completely redesigned our Bathroom last year. This room was extremely dated and lacked any form […]