What to consider when renovating your bathroom

So, you’ve decided to or thinking about renovating your bathroom; this is an exciting prospect, it can better your daily routine, increase value on your home and improve the overall aesthetics; but how and where do you start? How do you pull everything together and make the right choices?

In today’s blog I am going to give you the run down on all that you should consider, and give you the advice I give everyone, to best achieve a bathroom renovation on your own.

LAYOUT AND SIZE OF AMMENITIES

Before anything is added to this space, the layout is decided; this is the most important aspect of the design as it will determine the functionality of the space. Firstly you need to determine what is going in the space, are you including a bath, toilet etc. and what items you would like to prioritise. Perhaps you would like to increase the size of your vanity, this may mean getting some plumbing work done to move the location of the vanity or it may mean slightly reducing the size of the shower and bath to accommodate the vanity. When you are deciding on your layout you need to confirm the size of the items going in, this way you can ensure everything is balanced and fits in the space; if you are renovating your bathroom you don’t want to squeeze everything in and end up with a space that doesn’t function.

So, you need to decide on your priorities, what you will be okay with slightly settling on, and the sizes and locations.

HOW TO MAKE YOUR COLOUR SCHEME FLOW

Creating a colour scheme that is cohesive is so important in achieving the final look you are after; as you can see in the image (right) there are 3 main colours used: grey is the primary colour, matte black is the secondary, and brass is the tertiary colour. This bathroom has been created so cohesively, each colour applies to certain types of materials, grey is the body colour that is also linked again in the vases and pots; black is used on the timber fixtures and brass is only used on the tapware/metal items (the wall sconce is a great example of the colours being balanced by specific uses).

As I have pointed out the bathroom has had a lot of planning go into it, that is the key! A lot of people start their bathroom with the tapware or tiles, from there a great way to ensure everything is cohesive is to make a flatlay with samples of all your selections, this way you can get a feel for how the space will flow and how each item will coordinate with eachother.

TILES AND GROUT

There are so many different trends out there when it comes to tiles and grout, there are lots of stone look patterns, natural stone tiles and so many feature tiles.

When it comes to picking tiles the main difference in the products are ceramic versus porcelain, as plain and simple as it gets is that porcelain tiles are made using finer raw materials, are a more dense product and are fired at much higher temperatures than ceramic tiles; porcelain tiles are the higher quality, higher end product.

Why are porcelain tiles better or more popular?
Porcelain tiles have a rectified edge which is much straighter and ‘sharper’ than a ceramic tile, this allows a much more seamless joint and thinner grout lines. Porcelain tiles can be more expensive to install due to levelling clips being used to ensure the tiles are perfectly level. Porcelain tiles can also be ‘full bodied’, this is where the colour continues all the way through the tile and if the tile ever chips it will be much more discrete.

FEATURES

There are various ways to implement features in a bathroom, this can be through tapware, baths, vanities or tiles.

When creating features in your bathroom you want them to be wow factor but not jump out at you or not age well; a more simplistic feature for a bathroom could be coloured tapware, this can blend with the rest of the design to create an overall wow aesthetic rather than one point of feature.
Some other features can include a freestanding or stone bath, these can be gorgeous features for a space and add an elegant high end touch.
Vanities available today have incredible designs on them, from concave/routed cabinet profiles, to stone tops and awesome basins, they can be a source of pattern, colour and amazing wow factors.
And finally tiles, if you are going to do a tile feature in your bathroom, either a lay style that continues on all walls for a gorgeous aesthetic, full feature wall, or half shelf nib wall is a great option for a trendy, cohesive feature; something to avoid when doing features is feature frieze tiles and vertical feature strips, these are still used today, however, your bathroom will appear at least 10 years old if you implement this feature.

TAPWARE

Tapware can really dress up a space - or down!
There are so many colours available on the market today and each creates a different aesthetic, as well as colours there are many different styles - from federation, pin lever, tap sets, mixers and more.

When selecting your tapware and accessories you can discretely mix between ranges but always keep the style cohesive, such as if you pick a square basin mixer keep the square profile through the shower head and arm, as well as towel rails and more.

HOW TO ACHIEVE THE STYLE YOU WANT, ON A BUDGET

When it comes to creating an attractive bathroom it certainly doesn’t require expensive products, this bathroom for example is using what can be one of the most inexpensive wall tiles - if you haven’t had any luck bringing down the price it is possible to create the same look as your inspo pictures by changing the size of the tile or making slight compromises to make it on a budget.

Do you want to include some premium products and just see the numbers going up and up?
The way to achieve this is by mixing high end items with some more inexpensive items; perhaps you install a drop in bath instead of a freestanding bath, or gorgeous tiles with a more simple vanity, I will often include some discrete little items from Kmart amongst high end items as it saves on budget in the long run.

TRADES

Trades are the most important part of your project, this needs to be the first part of budgeting for the project, don’t compromise on the quality of your trades as this will determine the quality of your finished product.

Maintain open communication with your trades and ask them plenty of questions about the process before getting started; one of the main topics you need to clarify is the timeline of the project, when each item needs to be purchased by (such as tapware is required before tiles) and get them to write everything down for you, so everything can flow smoothly.

There are so many factors to consider and so much work that goes into a renovation, I could talk about these topics for hours. Make decisions so you will be happy with the end result and the money you have spent; if you get stuck, remember I am here to help if you need it!