Understanding your space and planning are important tasks to undertake if you are looking at upgrading bathrooms.
I was recently involved in upgraded a townhouse bathroom. Working in an area where everything is designed to be compact and save space restricts the options you have. Still, by thinking creatively, and always keeping in mind what we wanted to achieve, we did achieve a fantastic result.
Starting with the floor, we stripped back to the basic wood – a lovely, warm, rich brown wood called rimu, a New Zealand native. We stripped back all the materials that over the years had been used to cover up the original tongue and groove floor, such as particle board, a million tacs, and lino, and had the exposed wood sanded and varnished to a grade to deal with the expected bathroom wetness level.
Because our wood has so much warmth and character, we were advised to paint the walls brilliant white, to replace the previous yellow. I was concerned that this would prove too cold, but it harmonised beautifully with the wooden floor, and provided the perfect background for splashes of colour introduced by our bathroom accessories.
We chose to keep the wood theme and had to have installations, such as our vanity, custom-built to fit the space restrictions. We also could choose only one type of toilet due to the plumbing construction, but stuck to the basics of pure white porcelain. I have a great weakness for way out toilet seats, so we currently have a deep, blue acrylic seat inlaid with shells and star fish, but if the novelty ever wears off, this can be replaced by a good quality white seat.
The shower we chose is a metre-by-metre corner unit with rounded glass doors, opening into the centre of the room and avoiding the feeling of being shut in a corner, especially to move in and out. My elderly mother stays with us occasionally and appreciates the ease with which she can access the shower. The size of the cubicle is ample, and the moulded corner shelves and even a ladies’ footrest (for shaving) mean there are no sharp corners.
A skilled and experienced plumber did the tricky fitting work for us, and ensured we had a top class job done, minimising the risk of leaks, especially from the shower pan. Our plumber, who has worked in the UK and New Zealand, advised us to use local materials where possible, and to avoid cheap imported fittings, as they are not likely to last as long and not be designed for our conditions. Buying cheap products is false economy, unless you wish to change more often – and then you must be prepared to pay the greater price over time. Our plumber also insists on safety glass in showers, and refuses to install shower cubicles that do not have this.
Our bathroom has very much been kept to the three basic colours – the warm brown of wooden floor, vanity, doors, and skirting boards, the white of walls and porcelain, and the occasional chrome of taps and other plumbing items. This gives us the flexibility to change accessories to suit our mood – colourful towels and bathmats, soap and toothbrush containers, even the toilet seat. We currently have a rose quartz light shade and a silver metal white box-framed mirror to complete our look.
Tags: bathroom accessories, bathrooms