Planning & Designing Changes To Your Bathroom
Introduction
For the vast majority of us the bathroom is a small room which we consider to be inappropriate for the amount of use it gets, and on the whole we can place the blame squarely on the shoulders of the Victorians who were lucky to use the room once a week.
The Victorian influence has been such that modern home designers only really started to pay attention to the design of the bathroom in the mid 1980's. However all is not lost, with some careful planning and the use of modern bathroom fixtures, even small bathrooms can become the versatile and relaxing rooms that they should be.
The concept of bathroom planning can really be thought of in two ways; renovating an existing bathroom, whilst keeping the existing service points, and starting completely from scratch with a new room with new plumbing, additional fixtures, etc. Clearly the former option provides the easier job, however it can often be harder to plan to fully ensure that all requirements are met.
If you are remodelling an existing bathroom and are restricted by the size and/or shape of the room, you may still be able to make a vast difference simply by relocating the new bathroom suite in a different position to the original.
Bathroom design considerations
There are a number of things you need to think about and plan carefully before you start work. First and foremost amongst these is the size of the bathroom and the needs of the people who will use it. Use the following link for further pre-planning considerations;
Bathroom design tips
Once you've decided on the style of your new bathroom, the type of furniture you would like, and the amount of storage you will need, you will then need to fit it all into your room.
Often the best way is to measure your room and transfer this shape onto graph paper. By measuring the key pieces to fit into the room, and placing these onto individual pieces of paper, you can align them onto the room grid and attempt to fit it all in.
Budget & timing
Having planned carefully your new bathroom remember to not lose sight of the cost involved in having it all purchased and fitted. Always allow for a 20%-25% overspend when working out costings;
- Spend time shopping around to get the best prices for the items you want - you don't have to buy it all from the one supplier, and its often much cheaper if you purchase the items from a number of places.
- Great bargains can often be had with 'end of line' or 'ex-showroom' pieces.
- Try to avoid entire bathroom suites costing just a few hundred pounds, often the quality is very poor. The old adage "you get what you pay for" is never more relevant than when sourcing bathroom furniture.
- Do look online, it is the quickest and easiest way to find the best bargains.
- The expensive 'designer' look that one finds in various magazines is often available, at greatly reduced prices, from different manufacturers with 'look-a-like' pieces.
Finally, remember to account for how long it will take to re-model your bathroom, especially if you are carrying out the work yourself.
You and your family may be without the ability to wash or bathe for days/weeks on end. If you cannot complete the job quickly, try to carry out the job in manageable chunks, where the water supply and therefore use of the bathroom is maintained for as long as possible.
If you do feel that the whole project is too much, then you must of course involve a professional tradesman to complete the work for you. However you can save considerable time and money by preparing the room first yourself by stripping the walls, removing the flooring and old bathroom suite etc etc. If you are confident at tiling then simply use a tradesmen to fit the suite and then you can decorate the room yourself afterwards.
Further information and useful links
- Find a Bathroom Planner near you
- Find a Bathroom Showroom near to you
- Find a Bathroom Taps & Shower supplier near you
- Find a Bathroom Fixtures & Fittings supplier near you
- Find a Bathroom Fitter near you
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