Bathroom renovation - where to start

[VintedoreBay]

I've got contractors booked to renovate kitchen and bathroom, living room, attic room and hallway. Starting Jan.

Kitchen all sorted but bathroom - omg totally haven't sorted what I want yet! Got a couple of weeks....and I've no idea where to start.

I think I want some colour and some pattern tiles on the floor.

I want a sink with storage, new loo, new straight bath (double ended I think) and separate shower.

And I think I want black taps and hardware (is that the word) but only if they're easy to keep clean and looking good. Are they? Or is chrome better? God I'm so useless.

Looking for low maintenance, easy cleaning so I guess....large tiles on the wall and floor?

Help! Can you tell I'm new to this renovation malarkey?

Can you show me your bathrooms? Point me in the right direction?

I think blacks taps will look as hideously dated as the large greige tile trend very soon, so would avoid.

I've never heard of greige...was it a typo, did you mean grey? Or....what is it?! 🤔

A combination of grey and beige.

@KnittedPond I have never heard that before but it sounds hideous 😂

I agree re black taps. They’re also hideous to clean - show up every splash of water and if you’re in a hard water area will get limescaley fast. Terrazzo is another current trend that will date fast I’d say.

We are also doing ours in the new year and I think I’m going to choose a supplier and then use their design service - cost is usually deducted from price of products you ultimately buy so will be free if you’re going to buy from them anyway.

Hmmm, I find chrome shows up every splash and gets limescaley fast, too. Which would be better or worse though? I am in a very hard water area.

@Grinchinlaws by bathroom design service, do you mean something like Wickes or Homebase?

I don’t think so with black taps. We have two black taps, in kitchen and utility. I tilt one is 5+ years and kitchen 2+ years old. Both look as new, no marks, no water marks ever. Ours are Villeroy and boch

Are you in a hard water area?

@VintedoreBay - we get limescale on bathroom chrome taps and use water filters on hot water dispenser that get filled with limescale. It’s not the worse area for it, but it definitely shows on our chrome taps and water marks yet no marks on The black ones.

You do need decent black taps though. Cheap brands are often just a coating with scratches off over time. Ours are like hard anodised black. There have hidden pull out tap also

I like the idea of large tiles and your free standing shower. Black taps will date, I think. Can you choose a non shiny chrome? Hop in your new bath for size and think about how you will clean behind it if it is not built into a hob.

I like softer, warmer floors than tile - so consider vinyl, cork etc as well as tile for floor. Consider storage behind mirror, lighting near mirror and where you want power points, towel rails and hooks for practical use. Consider what you see upon first opening the door!!

I like a light coloured bathroom. Visit many bathrooms and decide what colour you love.

I love interior design and I'm creative but i really struggle with bathrooms. I think because there seems so much to think about but it helps to break it down and start with tiles and metalware colour. Once these are chosen the rest is easy. Do you need to think about layout or is it already in place?

Are you any good at mood boards? That helps me get my ideas together and see what works. But ultimately go with what you like, don't worry about trends etc.

Online shops i've used for bathroo s are...
Mandrian Stone
Porcelain superstore
Victorianplumbing.co.uk
Tikamoon.co.uk

We spent the most on tiles and taps/shower than bought cheaper toilet and bath and I love our bathroom.

We went for brass tapes and they look beautiful.

Is cork appropriate for a bathroom floor, given that it would get wet?!

Your builder should have a preferred bathroom/plumbing supplies store that offers a design service. Go there, look at stuff, tell them what's important to you, and they'll come up with a design. You will like some parts but may want modifications. The design will evolve till you know what you'll be happy with.

General points: keep it simple. Stick to fittings that are functional and won't date.

My personal preferences:

Walk in shower rather than bath with shower above
Large tiles - porcelain - same for walls and floor
Large heated towel rail

@VintedoreBay i haven’t done it yet but I was looking at Drench because I’m pretty sure I want to get my sink and bath from there. Need to do more research though.

I think whether you go for chrome taps or black you're going to struggle regardless if you're in a very hard water area. Could you get a water softener fitted in you're booking plumbers to come to the house anyway? They're fairly small, mine is stashed in a corner in the cupboard under my kitchen sink. It makes keeping things clean so much easier without all the limescale deposits. If you're looking for low maintenance it might be worth considering aquaboards rather than tiles- I always think tiles are such a pain to keep looking clean as the grout goes grimy. They'll also have the benefit of feeling a bit less chilly in the cold winter months: https://www.interiorpanelsystems.co.uk/wall-panels/aquabord-pvc-panels/
If you really do prefer the look of tiles then consider grout in a light grey colour rather than white- while grout seems to discolour pretty fast. Also consider a wall mounted loo and basin- they make it much quicker and easier to give the floor a quick mop.
If you've got the space then go for a fixed shower screen rather than one with a sliding door- they're much easier to keep clean with a quick squeegee. I had a sliding door shower screen in a previous house and it was literally impossible to keep completely clean, there were corners you could only clean by taking the whole thing apart.

If you're unsure which brands to use there's lots of threads on here in which people recommend bathroom brands that might be worth you digging out. Also look at the Which website, they have Best Buy brands with recommendations for every element you'd need for a new bathroom.

For low maintenance a floating toilet and floating sink mean it’s super easy to clean. Our sink has large storage drawer underneath with toothbrush charger hidden inside so can charge out of view. Floating toilet is also rimless inside for easy clean.
90x90cm tiles, less grout to clean

Lusso stone is a great brand for basins and baths. They are an investment but very well made .

We went for white, clean lines, chrome taps. The floor looks like wood (fools everyone) but isn’t. The best of the very best decisions ever was to have aqua boards in the shower.

Images

Please could you tell me exactly what kind of flooring you have?

Also, did you get tile effect aqua boards or just plain white? Gloss or matte? Thanks!

What's aquaboards?

We have wood effect laminate flooring currently from previous owners of our house but it's installed terribly and it's all warped around the edges and looks sh*the!

Aqua board is marble effect. I think the flooring was called Alpine something or other. It feels like vinyl under foot, looks like wood but is porcelain

It’s glossy and it’s not contoured like tiles. Our new bathroom was installed into and around our previous tiling. The tiling was fine except in the shower area, we could have had it all regrouted but decided to cover it with the boards.

So on my photos that tiling you see was done in 2012. The grout was just cleaned. The new bathroom suite went in this year