Short-term fix for this bathroom?

[CityDweller]

We have inherited this bathroom in our new house. I really, really dislike the red. It actually doesn't look too bad in this photo, but it really is horrible in person. Further down the line we'll probably have the whole bathroom re-done (at least a couple of years away). But in the immediate short-term I'm going to get all the red stuff ripped out and want to have it replaced with something basic and neutral to tide us over. And I'm going to have that massive wall unit taken down (it's a spare unit from the kitchen and looks like a carbuncle on the wall!).

Anyway, ideas of what to do re. neutral but not too-dull tiling or backsplash or whatever to go where the red is? First thought was white metro tiles, but am wondering if there's something a bit more interesting we can do. The units and the side of the bath are a pale beige gloss...

If you're going to re do it anyway I'd just disguise it with some pots, stacked towels etc on the shelf and a mirror above the bath maybe. It's not a colour I'd choose but I could live with it. It's not as though you live in your bathroom.

It's going to cost hardly anything to get it retiled (other than the cost of the tiles) so we're going to do that. Disguising it with clutter would just make it look worse, I think.

I'm going to go relatively boring and neutral. I'm looking for some grey/beige large oblong tiles (matt finish) for the shower (DH calls them 'hotel tiles') and then something to go behind the sink. Any ideas? I looked on Topps Tiles website but couldn't really find anything suitable, but maybe I'm not looking in the right place.

"It's going to cost hardly anything to get it retiled" are you doing the tiling yourself?

Once you have calculated the cost of the tiles, adhesive and grout, and any equipment you may need it is not cheap. I have all the equipment as I have tiled bathrooms, kitchens etc for years in our previous houses. Tiling is not cheap nor is it easy in terms of laying out and working out your cuts before you even put the things on the wall.

The one thing I have learned over the year is to never make do, you either live with something or you completely change it. No inbetween make do that you will then possibly damage when you change the bath etc.

I say this as someone with gold wallpaper in the bathroom it is ugly as sin but it functions as a bathroom and until next year when we can rip it all out, I am not doing anything to it.

please - I just want tile ideas! Not people telling me not to do it! Thanks...

What about very pale green / duck egg blue tiles?

Are they tiles? Could you not purchase a primer and tile paint and just paint until you redo? (I have no experience of painting tiles but I've spent enough time in the paint sections to know its there).

What is the red stuff and could you paint over it rather than re tile?

If I was going to tile I'd start to plan the full bathroom refit and use the tiles I want to use for that. Buy any extra tiles if you'll need them for the refit and store them (in case they get discontinued).

X post with pixi about the tile paint!

With all that white you need some colour to offset. A soft relaxing pale green or grey perhaps?

Topps are pricey - try wallsandfloors online. They'll send you samples too.

I think you might need to ensure any tiles you buy are the same thickness as the panels on the walls now or everything will need moving and refitting. It'll be almost as much work as redoing the whole bathroom - larger tiles need truer walls in order to be flat and true.

It's a large panel - kind of laminate. It has a really nasty finish that you can't see in the photos. It is genuinely horrible. It's like being inside a womb or stomach when you're in there. Not in a good way. I don't think it could be painted over (and/or would look crap if we did).

Why do tiles need to be the same thickness if all the red is ripped off? Person doing the work hasn't mentioned that to me...

I said they might need to be - I've been advised that in order to have a good watertight seal it's better to tile to just below the top edge of the bath and units, etc in order to butt the sanitaryware up to the tiles then apply sealant around the join. It gives a neater finish and if the seal breaks it's the tiles that will get wet first rather than the bare wall.

I think those are aqua or mermaid panels - the plus with them is that there's no grout to clean or go mouldy and they are quicker and therefore cheaper to install than tiles. They can also be cut to fit the shape of the walls instead of skimming or plaster boarding to get them true for tiling. I appreciate you don't like them; some of the other colours and designs are quite nice. They actually look like glass in the photos.

Ok, got it re. tile thickness. I'll take a look and see how the panel has been fitted then before I order tiles.

I have nothing against the panel concept - many benefits as you point out and there are some nice ones on the Mermaid site. It's just this particular colour/ design in this space. It's oppressive and just looks bad!

I'm not trying to sell them to you!

I'm with you about the colour by the way- my kitchen is a similar colour and I love it but in a bathroom it somehow reminds me of a murder scene (a la pyscho).

Murder scene - yes. Aftermath of a bloody birth crossed with Bordello is what it conjures up for me. Not things I want to be thinking about while taking a long relaxing soak!