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Tutorial - Bathroom design - style

Bathroom design is something I deal with on a day to day basis. It is my day job, I spend a lot of time thinking about bathrooms....funny really when I have only done a makeover on mine and not a full reno!!! So I thought I would go through some of the processes you need to think about. In this ongoing series I will be taking you through style, design, tiles, lighting, do's and dont's and anything else I can think of!

Part 1 - Style

OK this one is going to be a little difficult to define as I have noticed that it is very much a country by country thing and although I am based in Australia, blogs have a world wide audience, so be aware that some of my advice will be Aussie skewed.

In Australia we have a tendency by far to go for quite a modern sleek look in bathrooms. The top of the line is quality stone, porcelain or glass tiles with custom vanities, solid stone baths, European tapware, wall hung toilets with in-wall cisterns and large frameless glass shower screens. All very sleek, clean and minimalist.

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freestanding baths are right on trend and marble tiles add a timeless luxury

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the frameless blade shower screen is very now but you must make sure that the water is well contained in the area, linear grates are perfect for this situation with the fall to the back of the shower. Word of warning, if the blade is not long enough you will get a lot of overspray into the bathroom.

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Pure luxury, a room with a view ... quite a masculine bathroom with the dark wood surfaces both on the floor and ceiling. The different surfaces add interest and texture to the room.

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large format tiles, built in cabinetry, double basins, freestanding baths all of these make a top quality contemporary bathroom

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glass splash back tiles, good lighting and double basins

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Asian influence with special artistic touches, never be afraid of displaying works of art in the bathroom as long as you have good ventilation. This bathroom does lack natural light which can be a drawback at times but sometimes it is unavoidable.

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This is something I do a lot in bathroom design, I run a feature tile over the floor up the bath and on one wall, then use a less expensive white tile on the other walls. More bang for your buck!! plus it is not overwhelming, this pietra grey marble is very dark and would have been overpowering in such a small space.

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One of the big new trends for ensuites (if there is room) is a his and hers vanity rather than one large one with individual mirrors above each basin

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the individual mirrors allows for easier lighting either side of the mirror

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no arguments with separate vanities.

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my personal preference is for something a little bit more traditional but not quite so grand as the bathroom above. There are not too many of us that can afford to use this amount of space!

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this is probably a bit more like it but I would tend to avoid carrera marble on the bench tops as from experience they don't stand up well to makeup stains.

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this is just gorgeous!

When planning your bathroom consider who will be using it.... is it a family bathroom, a master bathroom a small en suite. A lot of people like to put in double basins in the family bathroom but realistically they are only used by one person at a time, most kids (especially as they get older) are not interested in sharing the bathroom while they are in it!!! Different story for the master bath, if you have a large enough room it is definitely a good resale point.

Also to consider is the bath, there really should be a bath somewhere in the house and the most likely place is the family bathroom as they are needed to bath young children. If you have the space include one in the master bathroom/en suite as a little bit of luxury but don't compromise the space if it is tight, you are better off going for a large double shower.

More will be discussed in part 2 on design. Coming soon!

Loo make over

OK the smallest room in the house has already had a mini makeover but what do you do when you have some free time on the weekend and it is raining and cold outside AND you are in a self imposed no shopping (as in not spending money) mode.... well, you could relax....read a book.....watch a movie....but nooooo.... I have to do a room makeover!!

I know I am nuts but as I said it had to cost nothing and what the heck....

I decided on stripes....

lots of masking tape...

only 2 stripes... I have no reason for that amount

I was just going to do the white stripes but it didn't look right (nothing like designing on the run!)

so I decided to use the stencil from my bedroom and the same paint as the wall colour...

the prison mirror was already in here, I have had it for years

the wall tiles are painted, I did it at the same time I did the bathroom makeover, when I can afford it this little room and the bathroom will have a proper reno. Unfortunately for now the floor tiles will have to stay.

The photos are a reminder of my trip to Italy a few years ago...so everytime I go to the loo... I have a little view! I need to do some sort of window treatment, that will come in time. I am not sure how long this look will last, I guess it depends on the next wet weekend when I have nothing to do....

Linking to parties at...

Mod Vintage Life
DIY by Design
Savvy Southern Style
French Country Cottage 
Finding Fabulous 
Delightful Order
Funky Junk Interiors
Tatertots and Jello 

Before and after - bathroom

OK.... so you have seen my kitchen, it was the one thing  in my house that I didn't do on a tight budget, the consequences were though, that I ran out of money for the redo of the bathroom and it was ugly and I mean UGLY!!! 

This is how it looked when I bought the house....nasty....but the dilemma is (yes I know I have a lot of decorating dilemmas) what could I do with it with practically no money??

Do you love the combination of colours, green tiles with the occasional floral tile randomly thrown in, a few pink touches and blue bath. Then there is the unusually shaped custom vanity with the return end at a weird angle... the blind that must have been new in the 70's and the rusty radiator on the wall or the slanting mirror.

So it was time to gird my loins and buy a bigger power tool!! I do own drills, jig saws, sanders etc but now it was time for the big boy .... a circular saw (OK I know a drop saw is bigger but this was big enough to always worry me that I would cut off my fingers!!).

STEP 1 I removed the basin and top of the vanity and rebuilt the side return to square it off and make it into open shelves. I made a new top out of cement board and trimmed it with decorative timber on the edges and tiled the top in white mosaic tiles. Finally I got the plumber to put in a new counter top basin and mixer tap.

STEP 2 I sanded back the peeling ceiling and painted it white and the walls got a couple of coats of a fresh pale green.

STEP 3 Time to tackle the tiles, I used a 3 part system to paint the tiles on the walls, this does not work on the floor tiles which luckily in my case are quite pretty green and white mosaic. The paint is by White Knight.

Clean all the tiles thoroughly with the White Knight tile and laminate cleaner, do not miss this step!

Once dry prime all the tiles, this will allow the paint to stick, I painted it on with a small roller.

Finally once the primer has dried for at least 4 hours, topcoat with either the tile paint for a gloss finish or the laminate paint for a matte finish, this can be applied with a small roller and then brushed off lightly with a good quality brush

STEP 4 I then tackled the bath, this would need something even tougher...again from White Knight Tub n' Tile a two part epoxy paint. Read the directions carefully or the surface may fail.

You must follow the instructions for preparation. Thoroughly clean the bath and then sand all the gloss surfaces and clean again, wash and allow to dry. Mix the two parts together then tip half into a tin, seal and put in fridge. Allow the other half to sit for an hour then paint the first coat. I painted with a brush, it is a self leveling paint and you will find that the brush marks will disappear. Allow to dry. The second coat must be used between 12 and 36 hours after the first coat. Allow 5 days before using it.

STEP 5 I finished the bathroom by replacing all the tapware with simple chrome taps, a mirror from Ikea and a painting I have had for a long time.

So here is the end result.... I am very happy with it....  it has gone well for over 2 years now!!!

I forgot to mention the cute little crystal pendant lights that I added to hang down and help light the room plus the extra details I added to the doors of the vanity to give them a shaker look and new knobs. Hope you like the new look....it wont last forever but it will do for now.

Linking to