How do you go about choosing new bathroom & colour scheme

[Littlemiss74]

I’m so rubbish at this, hoping for some help please. Our bathroom fitter has had a cancellation & can fit us in end of the month. Our current bathroom is practically unusable apart from the sink so we’re desperate to get it done.
We have the toilet, bath & shower over bath sorted but I would like a vanity unit for storage, xpossibly in a colour with basin (max. 500mm wide) so still need to source that.

We need to decide on a colour scheme & pick floor & wall tiles. Me & dh are rubbish at anything remotely creative. Should we pick the vanity unit first and then find tiles that go or tiles first? Also, the room is currently tiled all over but I thought it might be be nice to have some painted wall in parts to add some colour. Would this be ok?

I’ve looked on pinterest for ideas but they are often quite ‘out there’ & not really realistic for us with 2 kids (one a teenager).

I just can’t seem to put anything together. Would really appreciate any tips or advice as he’s coming in a couple of weeks to start!

I understand. Pinterest and Instagram are great but as you say ideas can be somewhat ‘quirky’ and not always realistic to family, property and budget.

But great news that your fitter can do the work for you sooner than you expected!

Personally I enjoy Style at Home / Your Home / Home Style magazines which have many real customer home features and lists products used and suppliers. The mags cost just a couple of £’s and have given me much inspiration so I’m sure one or other would help you. I’ve seen several room styles/designs that I’ve really liked and found it helpful to have the wallpaper/paint/various items listed along with price and supplier. I believe either one of these mags will address all the points you make about colour schemes and what to do first and how.

Not sure if you are in UK but victorianplumbing.co.uk has bathroom style illustrations, ikea.co.uk has an ‘inspiration’ section on its website where you can view suggested styles and also view images uploaded by customers showcasing their rooms, same with toppstiles.co.uk which also has a virtual visualiser so you can select your room and see how certain tiles will look on the floor and walls, either half tiled or fully. Great little tool! Plus, most of the bigger name paint and wallpaper suppliers have illustrations of products in room settings.

A bathroom can either be warm and zesty to invigorate or serene and restful to help you unwind and relax, so starting point might be to consider how particular colours make you feel. Monochrome black and white is classic and very easy to do, but then you can introduce colour with plants, towels, soap, shampoo/conditioner dispensers, tooth mugs etc. Maybe a couple of prints on the wall if you only half tile.

Happy to help you look for suitable pics for inspiration if you can give an idea of the colours you like…

Pick the most expensive things first, as these will be the permanent things in the room. Then pick a tile to coordinate. Leave paint until last as it’s relatively cheap, and there’s a huge range, and you can get a precise colour mixed if you want. I’d even pick accessories and towels before the paint. (We have half tile and paint and I really like it. I think it’s not as enclosed feeling as all tiles).

I’m not particularly gifted at decorating so I find it helpful to stick to simple rules and formulae. I would stick to three colours - a neutral, a main colour and a complementary colour.

Don’t plan a colour scheme before you’ve shopped around and seen what is actually available. I’ve done that the wrong way round before and it’s head wrecking!

@Littlemiss74 I found Houzz.com or .co.uk useful for styles of bathroom, colour, tiling etc, for example :
httpss://www.houzz.co.uk/ideabooks/bathrooms

Pick your sanitaryware first. Decide if you want contemporary or traditional and try to match the shapes, if contemporary, try to match the shape e.g. square bath and square loo.
I like tiles part way up the wall, then wall colour can be changed easily. Plain tiles and floor mean you can have any colour on the walls.

Good advice from @thelegohooverer.

Regarding colours etc, dh and I will go into the showroom and pick up xyz colours which we like. I take little or no heed to current fashion.

Tile shops often have samples you can take home.

Instead of looking at pininterest etc, look in Rightmove and have a nosey around houses and see if there’s any bathroom styles you like there. They may be more everyday.

If you don’t have fixed ideas, I’d go to a bathroom showroom and see what you like the look of. And then copy it (within budget) as closely as possible. It minimises the decision making.

I used to do this when first choosing home furnishings. I find it easier now, having done it so many times, but when I got my first place, it was basically Laura Ashley from top to toe, as I really liked their things, they were within budget and I didn’t have to think too much about it.