Any advice on tarting up an old bathroom?

[AndIFeedEmGunpowder]

We have just bought a house that needs work and the bathroom is a bit old and shabby.

Ideally we would love to replace it now, however don't want to spend £££ as we are going to do a kitchen side return extension in next couple of years (can't afford to do kitch now) and I think that might mess with the bathroom as it is above!

Has anyone done this? Do you have any tips?

Thank you

It's amazing how much better you can make it with a bloody good scrub, especially of grubby grout, and a lick of paint. Otherwise, what are the problems? You could replace a chipped sink for not too much money... Probably do it yourself if you put your mind to it. If the plugs or toilet flush or shower hose are a bit screwed, that's even less trouble. If the floor is a bit manky, put a bit of vinyl flooring over the top... Might not be what you want long-term, but at least it'll look clean and undamaged. You could even fork out for new taps now, if you think you could reuse them when you redo the bathroom.

Our bathroom is getting to the top of our list now, but I made some pretty big improvements when we moved in with a new toilet seat, a shower screen instead of the curtain, stripping the painted tiles (they were white underneath), and ditching the carpet and peeling wallpaper. The layout is still wrong, and the original tiles are broken in places, but it'll tide us over until we can afford a full renovation.

My dad had a horrible bathroom. He painted the tiles, with told paint, put in a laminate floor and extended that to the side of the bath. A posh mirror and a posh toilet seat.

I have a horrible bathroom. I put in a dark tile look a like Lino. That improved it no end. I'm not allowed to paint the tiles but you can do it very very cheaply

Thank you Sandhorn. Those are brilliant ideas! It's good to hear the inexpensive things make a difference.

Nothing is chipped and it's all white so not horrendously ghastly, just vv tired and a bit old fashioned. I think painting and cleaning the grouting will make a huge difference, and new plugs etc.

Will look at getting a new shower screen and taps as well, that might make it seem a bit more modern.

Ooh! I didn't realise you could paint tiles Raskova! Would it work for floor tiles too?

I second tile paint. If you do it white you don't need to do the grout seperately. Bit of link on flour. Good scrub. Spangly mirror. New shower curtain/screen. New loo seat.

Link on flour?

Lino on floor!

Agree with all that's been said before and it will make a massive difference for very little effort and money.

When all that's been done treat yourself to some nice matching towels in an accent colour and matching toiletries, and get a decent reed diffuser if you like them, so that every time you go in there it smells nice too.

How big is the bathroom? Our Lino was less that forty quid and if say we have an average bathroom for a three bed.

I'd imagine floor tiles would get scratched too easily but I don't know...

Thank you Bike and Hen. YY to new loo seat and reed diffuser.

All your replies are making me feel much more positive (even a bit excited) about pimping out the grotty bathroom. Spangly mirrors! pretty towels!

Raskova it's tiny. It's a little three bed Victorian house. £40 is bargainous!

Does the bath have a bath panel? We had an all white bathroom (dated though with a shell sink!) and couldn't afford to replace so put a new modern bath panel on and new shower screen plus new Lino. The difference was amazing especially has the old bath panel was wooden and was rotting along the top yuk! And the shower screen was too small and let water spill on the floor so needed replacing anyway.

With Lino it was probably about three hundred quid but worth it for the difference it made.

We went to carpet right. I'm sure you can get it cheaper from someone who isn't them

Haha there is nothing wrong with a shell sink and matching bath

I'm going to look at pics to see if there is a bath panel (don't complete till this week)

I would have LOVED a shell bath and sink when I was 7. And a frou frou ruffled dressing table. True glamour

we used Plastikote spray on the yellowed bath panel we inherited, looks much better

watching with interest as bathroom still grotty

Onelittlepiglet from the shit pics I took the bath panel looks like chipboard! I think it is a genius idea to replace it.

Oh I haven't even seen the pics (am on app) will check them out. It really made such a difference I couldn't believe it!

Ha yes I'm quite fond of the shell sink now... It will be staying for a while yet so it's a good job.

My sister moved into a house with a dark brown bathroom, wooden cladding on the walls and ceiling and a brown carpet (also up the sides of the bath!). There was no tarting up that bathroom - it all had to go!

Oh I haven't posted the pics I will try to do that tomorrow! Although am slightly scared the vendor could be a mumsnetter or a gransnetter and realise I am being mean about her bathroom!

I think even a spangly mirror couldn't save that brown bathroom by the sounds of things