DIY bathroom - lessons learned, please.

[PerspicaciaTick]

We've finally decided to rip out the family bathroom and start afresh. DH, in his wisdom, will be doing the work himself.
So what lessons have you learnt through bitter experience, which might save us heartache, money and possibly our marriage?

With thanks and much

This is really helpful for me - lots to think about.
Thanks all

Cq snap, except I was in early pregnancy so suffering from morning sickness, with a potty training toddler, and I also went to stay with my parents

If we were doing it again I would insist we got someone in to do the tiling as it took forever.

If your dh is a foot taller than you, don't let him fit the shower head so that the lowest setting is too high for you.

Our bathroom is tiny and we tiled around the bath and shower up to the ceiling, and a splash back behind the sink. The rest is painted. We went for neutral tiles and colourful paint so it would be easy to change the colour scheme in future without retiling.

Snozz

Oh and on the subject of tall DHs, also don't let them hang the mirror until you've checked the height of it.

Standing on tiptoe to apply make-up every day is a pain in the arse. But never mind, it's the perfect height for him to shave in

We did our bathroom in our new house last year. I kept the big cupboard in favour of storage over a separate shower cubicle. Part of me regrets it because the original cupboard is crap and needs properly sorting out but we also have a downstairs shower room as well so a shower cubicle wasn't needed. I don't actually use the bath or the shower over it, I go for the shower cubicle every time. Think about what you and the people in your house actually use and prioritise that.

We got a lovely P shaped bath because I wanted a bigger area where the shower is and it is good, but it takes a stupid amount of water to fill a bath (they aren't frequent here anyway so not too much of an issue).

I like my glass shower screen with a towel rail on it.

My toilet is a back to wall toilet because the horrible pipe at the back that gets really dusty is hidden. If you get one of these check the toilet seat fittings! We have one from Victoria Plumb, had a useless plumber who fitted it, then told us after it was probably the wrong size seat (it definitely is) and he hasn't fitted it tight so it wobbles about. The issue is the sodding seat doesn't unclip like most of them, the fittings are underneath and to change the seat would mean the whole unit having to come out so I am just living with it, but it does annoy the crap out of me.

We tiled around the bath to the ceiling and around the sink and toilet. We have built in units, a back to wall toilet next to a sink with a cupboard underneath then another slim cupboard with a drawer next to it. It looks really tidy and everyone has commented on it. All bottles and bathroom crap is put away.

We have white tiles, medium size and very slightly bumpy to give a bit of texture, the grout is a light grey and looks so much better than white. We also have a line of turquoise mosaic tiles in the middle to break up all the white, they actually worked out cheaper than the little border tiles I was going to have. The walls are then painted a light blue. It's all blue and white with nautical accessories and the floor is vinyl and looks like wooden slats and they are textured so it looks like real wood. I love my bathroom even if it wouldn't be considered fashionable (I don't know if it would, I just go for what I like).