New bathroom - dos and don’ts!

[WhatAreWordsWorth]

We’ve finally got the money together for a new bathroom. Our whole house has been a renovation project for the last 2 years and it’s the last room that needs doing. It’s a standard, small family bathroom with a shower over the bath. (No room for a separate bath and shower).

If you love your bathroom or if you’ve recently had it re-done, is there anything you’d recommend? We’re already noticing things we wish we’d done in other rooms, and I’m keen not to make the same mistake this time!

E.g. we have really hard water so I’m thinking of sticking to lighter colours/whites and wondering if it’s worth having panelling instead of tiles?

Hit me with your ideas!

And underfloor heating

@NoAuthorityHereJackieWeaver great username and great minds, my huge wine glasses sit perfectly on the edge of our bath

We redid some bathrooms 15 years ago in our old house. Good decisions were ideal standard joystick style mixer taps. Ergonomic, functional and not trendy enough to date.
White brick bond tiles were boring, but never date.
A big wide basin that was comfortable for a man to shave in.
Wall hung toilet was very clean and made the room feel bigger.
In terms of design choices, novelties date. Boring = timeless.

Panelling walls and ceiling, so easy to clean and looks great. Cupboards and open shelves for towels and toiletries. Heated illuminated mirrors. Moveable shower head. Buy a squeegee for the shower walls and door.

@Hadalifeonce

We had our floor tiles put down before anything else. It means that there is a lot less movement around bath/shower.

What do you mean Hadalifeonce?

Underfloor heating
Loo & sink off the floor making cleaning easy
Mixer tap
Heated towel rail ( hang my dressing gown here & it’s warm to pop on)

As for the design, think about the lines and heights as to whether it’s pleasing to look at from the bath and the loo

Get decent extractor fan. We’ve tried several and none have stopped the ceiling paint from peeling due to condensation.

@Whatisapension
Re the alcoves, we did it on the wall where the pipes were so it already had a plasterboard wall built out to go over those.

Are floating toilets any good?
What’s the purpose - style? Are they less strong?

Thank you x

Don't get
a jacuzzi type bath
a shiny flusher for the toilet
white floor tiles

Do get
mirror with integrated light
shelving
grey floor tiles

As for lime scale marks, I find them easy to stay on top of if I clean regularly (at least weekly) using dishsoap and white vinegar (be careful not leave it soaking for more than a few minutes). I would not recommend using bleach for cleaning anything (other than perhaps the toilet bowl itself) as it destroys things and will not get rid of lime scale (it wrecked the shine on my new plastic toilet seat).

Ilovechoc12

Cleaning, I was fed up of cleaning around the pedestal and at the back. A floating loo is much easier

It’s not any weaker

My biggest thing is Don't put the bath under the window, especially if you have a shower over it. Our first house had this, it's so annoying the window sill gets damp, the window would suck the curtain out if you tried to use the shower with it open, and eventually we had a mold issue.
Last two houses, bath not under window and no issues.