Well readers, this has been a very busy week, working with the team who have been renovating the bathroom we showed you last week.
Home and Garden with Helen Devmac
What we have attempted to do, is show that it is possible to achieve a stylish look for any bathroom without laying out a lot of money. Our bathware outlets are surprisingly well-stocked and every look and style is possible.
What is important though, is to plan what is to be done and then come up with a budget and once having done that, you have to stick to the plan and budget.
During the planning phase of this project it was decided that, the wall and floor tiles would have to go along with the toilet. The bathroom needed a new lease of life and for this to happen we had to make careful use of colour. The correct choice of paint would transform the bathroom to a new level altogether, for this we decided to go absolutely neutral.
The look We chose a very pale shade of grey on the walls and tiles, and a darker grey for the floor tiles, this has had the effect of making the room lighter and larger.
The ceiling is rather low but was painted white. This almost austere palette can be easily relieved by colourful accessories and almost any colour will do.
While bathrooms must be clean, they do not necessarily have to be sterile looking, colour brings life to any room or décor scheme. For this bathroom we chose a pale yellow and light blue to contrast with the grey.
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Be inspired by colour and see how the different colours work together, a light grey wall with a dark grey floor is uplifted by soft touches of colour, in the curtain, towels and soap.
All other bathroom paraphernalia like tubes of toothpaste toothbrushes and shaving equipment are carefully concealed behind the glass cabinet.
Natural elements come in with the pot plant above the cabinet and the plants just under the hand basin in a basket container, painted in the same shade of grey as the wall. This bathroom is easy to care for, with a clean uncluttered look. You would be proud to take your visitors to this inner sanctum.
Notice there are no damp face clothes or underwear, pumice stones, toothbrushes cluttering the bathroom. It’s almost impersonal, neither feminine nor masculine, just clean and clutter-free, it is a room for everybody.
LOOK FOR BARGAINS WHERE POSSIBLE
The property owner and her gardener shopped for materials themselves, after carefully measuring the area to be tiled and painted. It was well-worth visiting the different warehouses.
They looked for bargains where possible, and by taking advantage of discontinued lines in tiles, were able to get the tiles at a cheaper price.
Be careful when going for discontinued lines by ensuring that what they have in stock will complete your job.
They visited auctions and house sales and bought the kitchen jar, the woven stainless steel fruit bowl, and simply repurposed these items, the jar became a container for bath gel and the fruit bowl a soap dish.
The set of floral pictures was a perfect find and just completes the look for this bathroom.
Save money in every way possible
When considering any makeover, we have to be careful not to be carried away by undertaking unnecessary changes, save money in every way possible.
They were working on a very strict budget, remember, this is a property which had been allowed to sink into an appalling state by a rather uncaring tenant.
The landlord has far more to restore in order to bring this house back into shape, so money and how it would be spent was critical to the success of this makeover.
Saving money In order to save money, the owner tackled much of the demolition work, with the assistance of her gardener, removing floor and wall tiles.
This was not as difficult as anticipated, wall tiles simply peeled off, but there was a little hammering and knocking about to get the floor tiles out.
This gave them an excellent opportunity to examine the walls for cracks as this is an old property.
They went on to prepare the walls for painting and tiling, and a lot of money was saved by recycling the bath tub, basin and taps. The cabinet and shelving were simply painted the same colour as the wall.
The bath tub which was previously a turquoise blue was resurfaced and painted white, this has brought cohesion to this bathroom, having all the major fixtures in one colour.
They were careful to stick to the floor plan, no rearranging or repositioning of the essential elements that would have affected the plumbing, that would have been far too costly.
While they were able to save money by doing some of the work themselves, we advised that getting a good plumber, electrician and tiler would be money well-spent.
This was great fun and I think the landlord was well-pleased with the result. The most difficult part I am told was sticking to the budget once having hit the shops and seeing the wide range of tiles and bathroom gadgets available.
l Do you have a project you are working on? Let us share ideas email us at [email protected]
