I feel like I’ve been saying our bathroom is ‘done’ for a while now. But what with a few last minute snagging issues (a window where we forgot to buy a handle, a mirror we couldn’t find etc) it has taken a little while to feel ‘complete’.
I want to start by mentioning how difficult it is to actually ‘photograph’ this room. It’s actually quite narrow and most of it is hidden behind corners. The room was originally a separate toilet and bathroom, both quite unuseable (the door to the toilet opened onto the staircase, and the ceiling under the toilet actually caved in shortly after we moved in) and there was a large water tank behind the bath deeming a third of the bathroom redundant.
I’m not really one for Before and After photos, I often prefer to be looking forward and show the finished result but thought these pictures might be useful to get an idea…
The first thing to be done was to make better use of the space, without doing any major (and costly) construction work. We knocked through the toilet wall, got rid of the water tank (with a brand new boiler and, in fact, new central heating system throughout the house) and extended the doorway. This larger doorway actually made a huge difference (and one we’d never considered before). The floor and ceilings all needed to be levelled as the rooms were at different heights.
We were lucky with our builders, who started just after the new year and plumbed, tiled, fitted the bathroom suite and painted the room. So we actually did very little, freeing us up to work on other things.
We knew we wanted these tiles, after seeing them on a few Instagram accounts. They actually come as large tiles, so very cost effective per square metre.
We bought all the tiles from Topps Tiles and most of the fittings from Victorian Plumbing. Originally I was after brass fittings but when it came down to time restraints and money (we had to choose quickly as we couldn’t have a hot shower until the room was sorted!) we went for chrome fittings – especially as I fell in love with the sink, which had chrome legs and taps.
I have always wanted a Burlington sink, and drooled over them in the Hoxton Hotel’s bathrooms for ages. It’s definitely the priciest thing in our bathroom but I also think it’s the main thing you look at. And the thing about this house is that we’re now buying everything with a long-term plan and this will (hopefully) be our forever home.
I had pinned loads of black bathrooms on Pinterest and was excited to do something bold in here. This paint is custom-mixed by Dulux, and it’s actually inbetween a charcoal and navy tone and in the bathroom recommended finish so it has a slight sheen. We tiled up until 2/3 of the wall so it wasn’t too dark and finished off with black hardware in the room such as the towel radiator, towel holders and the window.
We bought a double glazed UPVC window rather than timber sash or black aluminium to save money as well as ease. It wasn’t a big window space and it’s covered anyway, and in fact the wood effect black window looks quite good.
I love basket bags for hiding all manor of sins. A wonky tile (underneath our sink!), bleach, cleaning wipes, spare toilet rolls…I use this Ikea one for all these bits and bobs under the sink.
I know it probably seems silly to have pictures up in a moist room, but I love having a few more personal items in the bathroom. None of these are expensive but I think adds a bit of personality to perhaps an otherwise stark monochrome room.
Needless to say, we love the new room and it is definitely our most appreciated room in the house after going without hot water for so long…
It’s beautiful! Even though I rent and have no intention of buying (probably ever) I still really enjoy your interiors posts. Your home is going to look amazing when it’s all done! I especially love the walls and that sink, wow x
Thank you!! Yes we are so lucky to be able to get this house, all lucky circumstances, and although it’s hard sometimes I know it will be worth it! xx
Hi Alex, beautiful bathroom! Sounds like it was an enormous relief to have it done quickly.
I have a spare full size floor sample (in the slate version) if you’d like it to replace the wonky tile? Your builders should come back and sort it for you. I’m just down the road from you, so if you do need it, send Chris down on the bus!
Rhi x
Haha! Do you know what, when we still don’t have a working kitchen and cant take our shoes off until we go to bed, it doesn’t bother me anymore – funny how your worries move on when you have other things going on. A year ago that would’ve driven me insane but now I just cover it with a basket!
So lovely, Alex! I love the bold colour and the prints on the wall! We were without hot water for 5 weeks and when we got our bathroom finished, we were so excited! Enjoy it! Looking forward to seeign what you do with the rest of the house.
It’s so hard to explain how hard it is, filling up buckets from outside, not being to do any DIY for fear of not being able to wash hands after etc! A bathroom is so, so important and makes me appreciate it all the more now! x
I’m following your house renovations with keen interest. We bought our house nearly three years ago…the bathroom is still outstanding (very functional but also very ugly!) Love what you did here! Well done for actually finishing a room – something I find hard to do!
Thanks Aileen! The builders including the tiling and painting in the price DEFINITELY helped with finishing a room! x
Love the tiles so much!
http://styledfortheoccasion.com
I love, love, the paint colour. Our bathroom needs doing up and I’d like to see if it would work for us, probably not as our ceilings are a lot lower than yours.
I think high ceilings definitely help….seen a few pictures on instagram where they’ve apinted the ceiling too and looks amazing! Tiling up the wall also helps ‘lift’ the colour so it’s not too dark x
It looks absolutely fabulous. And I am super jealous of that black and white diamond H&M bathmat in the first photo as I only found it a few days ago when it was already out of stock! I will keep refreshing the page in hope…
Little question… do you have your pictures professionally mounted or do you do it yourself? I’ve done a few myself with card and they just don’t look as good! Thanks! 🙂
Thank you! So Wilkinson do frames with the mount already inside – genius! xx
I love the bathroom – stunning and very aspirational. With the exposed bulb light fitment did you have to buy a special bulb? Asking for my mum who plans to have two hanging either side of a bed in her house and she’s debating over whether the bulbs will be too bright. Thanks x
Very chic interiors from your mum! This came with this bulb so not sure – you can get different types of brightness with bulbs so maybe ask in store x
Gorgeous bathroom ! It did look a bit grim beforehand…..
Just wondering – how stable is the ladder shelf? I quite fancy one myself but I’m worried it would slide down the wall.
Oh it’s very stable!! Not slipped once x
What a lovely space! We’ve had a picture on our bathroom wall for ten years with no signs of moisture damage – we do have a ventilation system though. At the end of the day, if yours do get a bit wrinkly then they’re easy to change.
I love the way your wall tiles are staggered, it just adds a little something. Not to mention your floor tiles…
Just a thought, we have a squeegee from Vipp (danish company) for our bathroom that is stylish for keeping our shower as limescale free (how sensible were black tiles?) as possible. You can buy replacement rubber blades for them, ours is at least 5 years old and hasn’t needed to be replaced yet!
Oh good to know!! The build up has already started and in no mood to be religiously scrubbing! xx