The bathroom is an incredibly important room within the home; it often follows closely behind the kitchen in terms of rooms that can affect the value of your property the most. The bathroom is the only other room – besides the bedroom – where you are guaranteed to start and end your day. Your dream bathroom will be somewhat unique to you because it heavily relies on your preferences, your needs and, of course, your budget too. This is why we have put together the following tips to help you when it comes to planning and creating your dream bathroom; let’s dive in.
Find Design Inspiration
The first thing that you need to do is to look for some design inspiration. There are so many resources available to you today thanks to the internet, although interior design magazines and TV shows can also be great. You should easily be able to find the latest trends and great features and even learn from the experiences of others too. Try to make a collection of ideas, find things you like and examples of different styles or design features and keep them. After you have enough or when you feel more ready to progress, you can start to look back over these pieces. You might notice that your tastes have changed a little or that they span several styles, in which case you will need to refine your inspiration and edit it down to make more sense.
Renovate Around the Existing Plumbing
Wherever possible, you should always plan your renovations around the existing plumbing network. Rearranging the plumbing and moving pipes can add thousands to your renovation as well as increase the timescale and just generally require more time and effort. Unless the current layout is completely incompatible with your vision for your dream bathroom, it does make more sense to leave the layout as is. If you really want to move the plumbing, then you will need to consult a designer or tradesperson to work out what is realistically feasible and what isn’t.
Waterproofing Your bathroom furniture
The bathroom is clearly going to be more prone to water damage than any other room in the house, and this is something that you will really need to bear in mind. There might be a few design elements that you think are super cute or that you want to include in your bathroom, but they might not be practical. The waterproofs need to be waterproof. This means avoiding hardwood floors – or, god forbid – carpets. Instead, you should opt for materials that won’t warp, doesn’t attract could or allow water to penetrate. Most people tend to opt for tiles in the bathroom simply because they are both practical and customisable. Excel Tiles & Bathrooms have a huge range of waterproof bathroom furniture such as washbasins that are integrated with drawers, including, of course, floor and wall tiles, in addition to all of the other features integral to the design of your dream bathroom.
Remember to Think About Storage
Storage is key to any renovation efforts, but it is perhaps even more important in the bathroom. From towels to toiletries to cleaning supplies, there are a lot of products that you are likely to keep in your bathroom; you need to have somewhere to store them neatly without creating clutter. Luckily, there are a number of storage solutions for you to take advantage of, although it might be worth going custom if you have the budget to do so. Clever storage options also allow you to make the most of the space that you do have. You should always design with space and storage in mind.
Consider the Lighting
The last thing that you need to think about when creating your dream bathroom is the lighting. Natural lighting is obviously always preferable but not always possible, depending on the layout of your house. If you do have a window in your bathroom, try to leave it unobstructed. Your privacy can be guaranteed by internal shutters or frosting the windowpane. If you are not lucky enough to have a window, then you will need to think more deeply about artificial lighting. Overhead lights often come as standard in the bathroom, but you might also want to install mirrored lights; they are both stylish and practical too. You can also find different coloured bulbs to meet your preferences, whether that is bright white lights or a warmer light.
To Sum Up
A bathroom renovation, alongside a kitchen remodel, tends to be one of the more stressful home improvement projects, probably because it tends to take a little longer and cost a little more than most of the other rooms in the house. The tips above are likely to come in handy when it comes to achieving your dream bathroom. Planning well really is key to ensuring that the end result is going to be everything that you want it to be. Whilst there are elements that you can likely do yourself, it would probably make sense to think about hiring a professional.