If you were thinking of renovating your bathroom what would you do differently?

[Rescue2024]

Looking for ideas of things to look out for and things to avoid. I’m in two minds of half tiling or full with big tiles.

we have dark grout in the kitchen so I’m thinking the same and if -lasts in the bathroom is a bit too retro.

Wins:

• recessed shelving in the shower for storing shampoo and soap - no bending over!
• towel rails with BIG gaps between the rails so you can actually fit a big towel in and several of them
• hidden lighting on a dual switch when it’s night and you don’t want the big light on
• steam free mirror with lights round it

losses

• wet room - oh my god I hate it so much. The floor is always wet!!! Argh! Have to use a squeegee every time you shower. Stupid idea.
• slate - so stupid hard to clean and shows all the limescale
• putting the shower controls on the far wall so your hand gets wet when you turn the shower on
• underfloor heating - broke within two years and cannot be fixed has been tiled over

Wall hung vanity unit like ikea Godmorgen. I have no bottles/clutter out in the bathroom.

Dimmer switch for lights, chilled bathtime or bright light.

No to fully tiled walls. So cold unless in a really small room and stunning tiles.

Shower controls outside the shower. No more wet sleeves turning the shower on.

I wouldn't get a P shaped bath. They do give you more space, but you have to have a plastic bath panel because of the curve. Our bath panel has yellowed and as far as I can tell from google this is a common problem and little you can do about it. It spoils the bathroom. I'd have a flat side to the bath and get it tiled if I could do it again.

We’ve gone for a comfort height toilet but that’s because I’m the shortest member of the family at 5’9”….

also decided against a wall hung toilet as our rental has one of these and you can’t fix a problem with the cistern easily

We did two bathrooms last year and I did a lot of research, ahem, scrolling Pinterest and I think we got it pretty much right for us:

Underfloor heating.
Biggest towel rail/radiator possible.
Recessed wall in both showers, with light that turns on with the main lights, makes it much easier to see and clean corners.
Biggest shower tray possible, one is 1.8m long the full length of the end wall. Feels like walking into a spa.
Hooks right next to the entrance to the shower for towels and bathrobes.
Shower taps at the entrance to the shower, not under the shower head.
Big tiles with dark grout.

The only thing I wish I'd got is an electric toothbrush socket.

The biggest win was swapping the ancient electric shower for 2 x boiler fed ones. It has considerably lowered the electric bill.

This reminded me when we had fitters round to quote they always asked what type of toilet we had chosen - wall hung was advised against, so was square seats, and the ones integrated into storage.

So I'm going to add "normal toilet" to the list of advice haha.

A little step to lift your feet up.

Ah thank you! I was imagining something quite different!

1 regret was not putting drawers underneath the bathroom sinks instead of regular vanity cupboards. We added a drawer in 1 en-suite, but wish we'd done it in each bathroom.

Storage, the sink and toilet units with cupboards , so useful and easier to keep clean! We also went for dark grey grout, it still looks nice nearly 18 months on, stays nicer than white grout

Tiling the bath panel sounds pleasing on the eye but how do you get to behind it if there was some type of leak?

definitely going to have serious thoughts about the toilet height, never knew it could be a thing.

Thank you for the help so far

Tiled floor, too cold and cleaning grout is a pain

What would you have instead? I have a bathroom laminate upstairs which has rotted and Lino downstairs which just doesn’t look great.

I love my tiled floors, so nice and cool underfoot if I’m hot.
If I’m not hot, I’m wearing slippers so no problem.

I would not put in electric underfloor heating.
We don't use it.
We can't use it because when we did the electricity bill shot up.

I don’t wear slippers m, hate the feel of them on my feet. Ditto socks.

Also I tend to run cold rather than warm and I live in the north of Scotland so cooling down isn’t usually difficult.

I’ve seen some vinyl tiles that look really good in a local bathroom place. They’re like planks of wood. I thought they were real wood until I saw the sign beside them.

Biggest issue imo, is making sure fixings and pipes are accessible.
We got one of those toilets in a unit, and we're just taking it out and fitting a normal toilet in now.

Wall hung looks good, pipes and cistern are boxed in. You can have access panels, but if you use a good plumber, he should pressure test everything. Heated led mirror is great. Dual towel rail so you can have it on a timeswitch in the summer. Tap positioning on bath, I prefer at the end so it's not in the way. A good non slip floor like Altro and most importantly, paint with mould/fungal inhibitor such as Zinsser. Take time picking your sanitaryware, go and visit the showrooms and take photos of what you like and don't like, and get samples. Also, ventilation.

I’m spending today looking at tiles. We have gone for dark appliances so I’m thinking bright tiles on the walls and a wood look tile floor.

I’m so hopeless at colours and decorating, it’s frustrating that I have no idea what goes with what!

I asked the decorator about having a dimmer switch in the bathroom but he said no because of condensation? Is there away around this as I would really like to be able to dim the lights.

if anyone has read my other thread I am sitting here with 2 broken feet so I have lots of time on my hands to look at any ideas 😀

I'm a lurker on this thread looking for advice but might be able to help with the dimmer - we have Philip's Hue in some of the house and I am pretty sure they could go in a bathroom too? The you can control it with an app on your phone or a remote (which could be kept outside the bathroom - it can also be wall mounted so perhaps outside the bathroom door).

What do you mean by appliances? Like you have a dark toilet and bath?

We have the dimmer switch outside the ensuite bathroom.

Thank you I will take a look at the dimmer option.

appliances was the wrong word, I’m full of pain relief for my broken feet so please excuse any typos.

https://www.bathroommountain.co.uk/monaco-graphite-grey-combination-vanity-traditional-basin-with-marble-top-hudson-toilet-with-wooden-seat-1200mm-c78371?parent=V7485 we are thinking graphite grey and then something like this colour tiles for the walls and floor https://www.tilemountain.co.uk/p/carrera-white-marble-effect-rectified-matt-porcelain-wall-and-floor-tile.html

i’m really torn about taps as I know chrome is the easiest to keep clean but the mat black taps go so well against the tile colour. And I’ve also found a graphite bath panels to cover the white bath which I’m in love with!

I’d get a half decent plumber so the toilet didn’t leak through our kitchen ceiling. Apart from that nothing. We’ve got dark grouting and it still looks good. Also tiled floor without underfloor heating - I worried it would be too cold but I never notice it