Can we do a bathroom lessons learned thread?

[dontcallmemam]

My Pinterest and Houzz are full of gorgeous bathrooms but thinking practically are there any good tips?
It seems a decent extractor & an open window are important.
Good flooring?
Adequate storage?
Any tips gratefully received.

Reading with interest here because the bathroom is my next big change for this house.

How much hassle is it with moving sinks etc? Regarding plumbing? We have a huuuuge bathroom but with two massive windows which mean there is bugger all wallspace - and I want to put in a separate shower cubicle. Now, if it was up to me, I'd take out the bath no problem but everyone has advised me not to... In case I want to move in a few years.

I could block up a window... Or move the sink.... Or move the bath.... Gah! Too many choices! Any recommendations for a complete reorganisation?

I totally loathe our shower cubicle. Wish I'd gone for shower over bath.

Maybe you could have a shower somewhere else?

If you have a small bathroom that needs retiling, don't get.your made-to-measure cupboards to fit round the toilet made until the room has been re-plastered and tiled, as it may end up nearly 1 cm smaller...

Amtico tiles are good but the patterns may vary from the samples of 'slate' and be mostly brown - we hid those under the bath.

A big shelf over the hidden toilet cistern is handy for storage and easy to lift out when the cistern needs opening.

A fan as well as a window would be good as in winter no-one remembers to open the window.

totally agree wtih never go for a white tiled floor - we were in a rented house with one and it nearly drove me mad trying to keep it looking as clean as it was

Haven't read the whole thread but can I recommend slate tiles? Weren't slippery, always looked clean, looked v cool.

no no no to sinks that are bowls on a plinth. It's over. Glass sinks never look clean. You need storage unless you want bottles everywhere.

Something that we came up with in our old bathroom was having the bricks chipped out in the wall next to the bath and then having it all tiled so it looked like a sort of inbuilt shelf. Saved having bottles all over the side of the bath collecting hair spiders and looked great.

Don't buy anything from the range of loo roll holders, baskets, rails etc that stick to the wall without needing fixings - they don't work!

Curly, good point but the sink is already in the toilet bit iyswim - we could even, potentially, have space to put in another toilet and sink in the bit with the bath. But it would be quite crowded.

Hmm.

Regarding moving a sink - it isn't that hard, we had it done here. They have to re-route a couple of pipes is all.

But if you have floor tiles it will mean they have to come up.

Another endorsement of inset shelves for shower. Or at least some sort of shelf at shoulder height. So many times I've found myself in someone's fancy pants shower cubicle and nowhere but the floor to put all your stuff, then having to bend down with water running in your eyes to get anything.

Also agree that if you must have a fixed rose shower head at all then you also need a flexible one. So much easier for cleaning the cubicle, for starters.

Think of karndean floor and not tiles.. Warm, look fab and everyone compliments us on it. Also barely needs cleaning, shows no marks, a quick mop over once a week.

Think carefully about big baths... they take a heck of a lot of water to fill and you never fill them as much as you want because of this. If I'd have realised this I wouldn't have got such a big bath - it seemed like a good idea at the time.

Lots of storage - have recently done 2 bathrooms and the storage is the best thing ever. Lots from my bedroom can now go into my bathroom freeing up more space in bedroom.

Go as neutral as you can bear... it's far more restful when lying in the bath with a big glass of wine

if you haven't got a big budget, spaff what you have on taps- I'd say get tiles from Wiiiiiickes or similar, but Grohe/Hansgrohe taps/showers

never get ANYthing from Fired Earth without looking elsewhere first

and don't get a fuckload of tiny metro crackle glaze tiles. It costs a fortune AND you need to seal 'em

NEVER use laminate flooring the bathroom.

I have underfloor heating but the sensor is in my bedroom - therefore the bathroom does not heat up as the bedroom reaches the target heat before the (north-facing bathroom does) - it makes for a cold bathroom. One of my other en-suite bathrooms has the same problem but has a heated towel rail which runs off the hot water (heats up as the water does) which keeps that bathroom really cosy. Also I have a separate shower and bath - NEVER use the bath so what a waste but may be handy when selling the house. Oh yes, we have very big tiles but the grout gets mouldy - it's revolting but I cannot keep on top of it - we have ventilation but still mould - I think I'd have panels or something in my next bathroom: easier to clean. My main bathroom bath does not have a shower attachment in it - don't know what I was thinking but it would've been really handy for washing kids hair.

Lots of storage
Powerful fan with the motor fitted away from the bathroom so it's quiet. It can either be in line or at the exit point.

You can never have too many towel rails.
When DC are older you will have a houseful of teenagers who seem to soak up more water than a sponge adults and a proper towel rail per person is essential.
Hooks for bathrobes.

If you're hankering after a big bath, make sure you have a water tank big enough to fill it.

I'd have it as one room - think the separate ones are a bit strange looking

YY to large water tank
YY to darker grout (certainly not white grout)
YY to extractor fan
YY vinyl flooring

I went for large wall tiles as it seems to make the bathroom look bigger. I actually managed to source the tiles cheaper on the internet as I had found Topps Tiles quite expensive.

I went for these taps and they have not been very easy to keep clean. They always seem to have drips on them. Look fabulous but not very practical on a daily basis.

As all the bathroom is white I went for a contrasting wall colour picking out the colour from a piece of art work that I love.

it may not seem adventurous, but chrome for taps and fittings is much more hear-wearing that brass, nickel, gold or enamel finishes (unless you use an acid cleaner instead of a bathroom spray, which damages them all, even chrome)

and individual bib or pillar taps are a lot more reliable, and easier to fix, than ceramic taps with a joystick or quarter-turn knobs and levers. They also generally give a better flow and fill a bath faster (though if you have a combi boiler you may want to fill the bath slowly so the water is hotter).

pop-up wastes leak.

hard-wearing

Two things I have that I'd recommend that haven't been mentioned already:

• move the light switch to a proper switch outside the room to avoid yucky mucky strings.
• a heated, lighted mirror - it doesn't steam up whilst I'm in the shower so I can see in the mirror without waiting for it to de-steam or having to wipe/smear it

One thing I regret is the size of the thing the water comes out of in the bath. It is too big and gets in the way a little in the bath.

Re: separate or one room, if it is the only loo in the house, I think separate is preferable (visitors cannot use the loo because someone is in the bath type scenario), but if you have another loo then combined is better.

bathroom light switch pull cords:

Not everyone knows that they generally have a plastic egg a couple of inches down from the switch. This unscrews and you can remove the string and wash it or change it for a new one. If you wish it can be a different colour, or length, or a piece of velvet rope or a brass chain. The short piece of nylon cord above the egg isolates it electrically from the switch.

there is never any need to tie up a too-long string. You can pull it out of the egg or the end button, tie a new knot, and cut off the excess.

I second the heated mirror. I love ours, DH can steam up the bathroom all he wants and I can still do my hair.

Separate showers, separate sinks, deep fast-filling bath, hooks on our heated towel rack for our robes, heated floor, soft-close toilet seat.

We were told not to have a pop up waste if there's someone with long hair in the house...v hard to get all the hair off!