Please help de-NHS my bathroom!

[VeryLittleOwl]

I've bought a house which has a downstairs bathroom installed as an accessible wetroom by the council for the previous owner and it basically looks like it belongs on a hospital ward.

My original plan to get it looking a bit more normal was to install a dark Karndean floor over the non-slip wetroom floor, but when I went in to speak to the flooring shop today they said it couldn't be done because there isn't a 90-degree angle between the floor and the wall, the floor curves up and has been run under the wetwall. The only way to get a floor in there would be to strip out the curve, which would probably mean removing all the wetwall as well, and I can't squeeze replacing all that into the budget.

My bathroom guy is delighted, because he's been telling me repeatedly that it's an extremely good job, it's a couple of thousand pounds'-worth of work and I'd be nuts to change it. We've already removed the shower enclosure and are going to put up a big glass screen around the dipped shower area in the floor for a walk-in shower. It's left some holes in the wetwall, so those three panels are being replaced with a contrasting darker colour. The toilet is being replaced with a new one, I'm getting some nicer taps for the basin, and the radiator's being swapped out for a big chrome towel rail.

What else can I do to make it look more homely and less institutional? It's a big room and feels quite cold and clinical. I think I need something in the gap between the loo and the sink, but what?

A massive rubber plant?! A mirror? Storage?

A sluice? sorry

Ps be thankful it was well done...
We had a house where the conversion was awful and when we took the (rotten) floor up we discovered it was a miracle none of us had disappeared through the floor whilst reclining on the loo!

Paint?

Colourful blinds might help too?

A cupboard around the basin would help. I would also have a storage/shelving unit with bright towels on. Perhaps paint the walls a bright colour.

It's a lovely big space.
Could you have some storage built in all along the wall where the sink and loo are to incorporate them?
You could have a unit between the two windows too.
A window treatment of some kind and a towel rail would help.

Open shelves between loo and basin to store brightly coloured towels on, mirror/ stuff on window sills, a wicker chair draped with red silk dressing gown if you really want to get unclinical 😁 Honestly, my imagination would run riot in a room like that - just haunt bric a brac stores for ideas - good luck!

Lots of plants, maybe hanging ones, a big mirror and some under sink storage. I like bright colours so maybe a colourful blinds.

I'd go with the wetroom floor and change the fittings. I'd buy a dark wooden bathroom unit and a huge potted plant for that gap. Can you add in some more interesting tiles as a feature, maybe greeny blue to pick up the wetroom floor? May not be possible.
www.houseandhomestyle.co.uk/product/dark-wood-bathroom-console-storage-cabinet/

All brilliant ideas, thank you (maybe not the sluice )

Can you paint over wetwall? I didn't realise. That would help a lot. It's got a very high-shine glossy finish, I assumed paint would simply go streaky.

I'm probably dim but would it be possible to lay some tiles and create a false skirting board to cover the gap?

If not may I suggest rug rug rug!

(Should have said, and apologies for the drip feed, this is going to be a holiday let for the next 10 years or so until we're too old to chase sheep around any more when we'll move into it, so plants are possibly out unless anyone can recommend something that's extremely low maintenance.)

To be honest I think it needs wood to warm it up- an oak bathroom storage sink unit - some oak shelving, plants, candles, mirrors. It just needs stuff to fill the space

A nice tall storage unit in between loo and sick next to window, a nice blind, big mirror if possible?

There are people who will pay for this sort of facility in a holiday let.

Itbemay
I don't think sick by the window is going to enhance the space 🤣

Yes, I echo the previous poster. Market it as an accessible holiday let (if enough of the rest of the property is still accessible).

As a parent of a child with disabilities I follow a few different Facebook pages with disabled children, getting a wet room is always a major undertaking emotionally as well as physically usually they personalise them with shelves, pictures and colourful accessories.

Like a pp said, people will pay for these facilities. Use it as a selling point for the holiday let. I have a friend who can't go on holiday without this kind of bathroom and it's sometimes so hard to find. I don't think it'd necessarily put anyone off a holiday let as long as it's clean and in a good condition.

I believe cactus are very low maintenance to brighten the place up 😁

Could you put self adhesive floor tiles over the flooring? And maybe some window film over the shower screen?

As for plants, Ikea artificial plants are definitely your friend in the bathroom. Cheap, hardwearing and hugely realistic

There are people who will pay for this sort of facility in a holiday let.

This is a good point, people who need accessible wetrooms still need them on holiday. It could actually be a plus point/USP whilst it’s a holiday let. As someone who doesn’t need an accessible bathroom it wouldn’t put me off, either, I don’t usually choose my holiday cottages for the bathrooms.

The problem is the rest of the house isn't accessible. The lady who lived there was sleeping in a small room off the kitchen on the ground floor, which has now been demolished to make a big kitchen diner. There's a big step into both the front and back doors and because the house was extended massively in the 1930s there are two very small half-landings to negotiate before you get anywhere near a bedroom.

I would start by painting anything you can in a nice colour and as others have suggested get some blinds and storage, a nice mirror, maybe a nice bright patterned shower curtain, chair to stack some towels on and some baskets of soaps or nice candles and a picture. In due course you could replace the sink unit for a larger one with storage underneath but I agree that a wet room in a holiday let which is accessible is a massive bonus so you wouldn’t want to affect access to the shower for the time being.

I'd look at putting a vanity unit in there instead of the wall hung basin - a painted wood one would make a huge difference to the space.