Talk to me about bathrooms

[Feezles]

DH has unexpectedly suggested we can redo our horrible, tired ensuite bathroom. I am thrilled, because I hate it – but that means I now need to decide what I want, and I am all of a dither.

So – hit me with your ideas for small bathrooms! It needs to contain a loo, basin and shower enclosure. The current shower is 760 x 760 and can’t be bigger (boo). I want something that looks sleek, dramatic, luxurious and (maybe) a little bit different. I love a Pinterest hunt as much as the next person, but I don’t even know what to search for a the moment!

Things I am dithering about include, but are not limited to: tile the whole lot, or stick to paint on some of the walls? Have the same tiles on the walls and the floors, or have different? If different, should have I have LVT or stick to traditional tiles? Big rectangular tiles or something funkier (I saw some hexagons that I liked recently)? Is slate good, or terribly passe? Where should I look for sanitary ware?

Budget isn’t unlimited, but neither are we on a shoestring. Any thoughts, advice, or general bathroom wisdom would be gratefully received!

I'm no expert but I'll throw in my ideas!
I would prefer fully tiled.
Different in floor and walls but obviously matched.
I think the big rectangle tiles would look to heavy and overpowering,in a small space, also the slate, a bit heavy.
The hexagon tiles sound very interesting as long as not too large.
Sanitary ware, just check out various places.
Just my taste, someone else may think differently!
I think, for me I'd go white, silver fittings and maybe silver grey flooring.
Hth.

Lurking as am about to tackle almost exactly the same...did look on Pinterest but couldn't see much that would look good in such a small space.

In terms of sanitary ware, look at "compact" loos. They have a shorter projection and are designed for small spaces. Also, a sink on a vanity unit provides essential storage space and these come in smaller sizes too...

As it's a small room I would tile the whole room. When we replaced our ensuite, we chose the same grey tile in 3 different sizes, large rectangles on the wall, small mosaic rectangles inside the shower cubicle and square tiles on the floor. 10 years later it still looks good. However, last year we removed the mosaics from the shower area - the constantly discoloured grout was driving me mad so DO NOT choose small tiles in the shower.

We have hexagonal tiles on the floor in the family bathroom and they look very effective.

We have panels instead of tiles in both our bathroom and ensuite, no more discoloured grouting. Both rooms are small. In the ensuite we used the panels in the shower cubicle, splash back for the basin and windowsill (as used to have tiles on that). Went for shiny panels to help reflect light and then painted the rest of the walls.

That shower cubicle sounds really painful. Could you have a wet room instead? The sort of set up that’s in the photo attached.

In terms of finishes, modern/funky/traditional etc I’d make sure it flows from the bedroom and the rest of the house. So similar colour scheme and style. Eg traditional for a traditional house or modern for a modern house.

Thanks for the ideas so far!

JoJo it's okay when you're used to it. I'd love a wet room, but it's a no-go - the floor isn't deep enough to accommodate the pipe work. I can't even have a low profile shower tray (sob!)

I do love that photo though - those tiles are gorgeous!

Inneedaholiday - I've seen those panels, I know what you mean. I'll have a google.

Tattiepants, I spotted some lovely grey tiles, it's definitely something to consider. I think DH might prefer more colour though.

Bluesheep - thanks for the tip! I had no idea such a thing existed!

Never attached photos before, so hope this works. Blue example is our bathroom and pink is the ensuite. In the bathroom photo you can see in the reflection in the mirror we have the panels ceiling height all round the bath

I’m getting my new bathroom in a couple of weeks but I’m fretting big time about it. I’m now telling myself it’s like wedding dresses or rings. No such thing as the perfect thing....I hope so anyway! Those tiles in the pic look beautiful and I’m now wobbling about my choice

What tiles have you chosen, Polkadot?

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/1964441-Can-we-do-a-bathroom-lessons-learned-thread

Just a thought, can you definitely not have a lower shower tray and could moving the layout increase the size of shower?

In our old house the plumber was able to lower our very high shower tray and in our new house swapping the sink and shower round gave us more shower size options. I wouldn't even have thought about it if he hadn't suggested it.

We have a tiny shower room. We have space for a narrow door (700mm) to open fully in front of the shower which is 800 wide. Wash basin and loo to your immediate left. About 30cm between front of loo and sink, but it's fine.
The walls are fully tiled and the walls are the same colour and size as the floor. 4 downlights so the room is always bright and an illuminated mirror over the sink.
The toilet cistern is concealed with a cupboard over the top. Only 20cm deep, but it's amazing how much can fit in it. Slim towel rail on wall behind open door. Wall-hung cupboard under wash basin leaving space for a bin underneath. 20x20 laundry basket which doubles up as a surface to put your clothes on when having a shower. Nothing that doesn't have to be out is out.

Great thread, Fosterdog - thank you! I have learned a lot!

Doctor - possibly. DH is very resistant to moving anything though, because of added cost. We're going to a bathroom showroom at the weekend, so I'm hoping having an 'expert' suggest it might persuade him.

I'll try and draw up some floor plans to post so you can see better what I'm working with.

Helly sounds like we have similar-ish rooms. I'm already thinking wall hung vanity and concealed cistern loo are the way forward.

I have found if you tile the whole lot in a fairly neutral colour it stays perfect for ever and you never think about it. If you do something trendy it will annoy you after a while. In our ensuite we have plain while squres on floor and white rectangles on every wall with a thin black line through it at dado level. We did it 14 years ago and still looks perfect. So keep it sleek and simple.

OK, as promised, here are some floorplans. The first one (with the bathroom door opening inwards) is the current layout.

The second one (with the bathroom door opening outwards) is change I am considering. I've tried to notate what would be different, but the changes are broadly:

1. new stud wall to house a concealed cistern for a wall-hung loo. This would go up to the ceiling and have recessed shelving above the cistern. I'd have some sort of shelf for access to the cistern.

2. main bathroom door reversed, to allow room for the shower door to pivot rather than being corner entry (which I hate - it gets so grubby!)

3. Currently, the sink is set into a worktop that runs wall to wall, with a tiny vanity directly under the sink and just dead open space under the worktop that runs under the window. I would replace this with a wall-to-wall floating vanity instead.

Other things I have considered, but discounted are:

1. Having the shower run along the full length of the back wall, with the sink under the window and the loo where the shower currently is. But I don't think this would work as there would be nowhere for a mirror, and I think the plumbing for the loo/boxing by the current sink could be difficult

2. Having the shower run the full length of the wall it is currently on, including where the loo currently is, having the loo more or less where the sink is and the basin under the window. The would be space for a mirror near the loo, but I'm not sure that works very well. Plus, DH doesn't like the idea. And I suppose I do have to take what he wants into consideration. Sigh

Went through thousands of designs when we did our bathroom & ensuite last year.

Every bathroom designer (and we went to lots) said to have same tiles on walls and floor to make room seem bigger - your eyes don't seem to focus on the small square footage of the floor because the walls merge in if you see what I mean.

Following with interest. What are these bath panels called?

Well, if I'm thinking about the right things, it's these:

igloosurfaces.com/product-category/bathroom-wall-panels/?gclid=Cj0KCQiAuP7UBRDiARIsAFpxiRJ2btG5Zc939ibSXidcOYKdRoL_u4em0EfZgA2WjsTD0GaBBNAmprIaAg1KEALw_wcB

Other brands are available.

Thank Freezles.
They are only 2.5mm thick - so presumably they have to be laid over the top of another flat surface. Are they/glued to it? I'm a bit of a novice ..... .

We had stuff like this years ago - very popular in NZ, but it was more of a thicker hardboard with the waterproof laminate on the one side.

I really like the idea of bath panels (if I can find them in lovely colours) as opposed to tiles and Grout!