Bathrooms - starting from scratch.

[BlackAlys]

My bathroom is roughly 4m squared and I quite fancy having a stud wall built and tiled and used as a walk in shower enclosure, instead of buying a shower unit - My pet hate are shower doors, glass panels. Think they're impossibly hard to keep showroom clean.

I'd also like to avoid the bathroom ware sold in showrooms - I'd much prefer washstands, clever storage, free standing bath etc.

If I want to avoid shiny bathroom displays, what are my options?!

A wet room would avoid a shower door but a glass cleaning cloth costs very little and cleans smear free so not sure why you can’t keep one clean. Free standing baths are tricky to clean under so check how you position it so you avoid areas of dust you can’t reach but can see.

I ordered ours from Victorian plumbing (different to Victoria Plumb).

we have a walk in shower like that - its great as no glass or rails etc to show water marks etc.

My advice for don'ts is - don't get a tap with a spout style like this - i have to wipe it down every day as water splashs and stays on the flat bit it when you wash your hands etc. it only takes 15 seconds but is a pain to keep it looking nice and I don't think you would get the same issue with a swan neck one

Thanks!
Great advice so far - really grateful.

In our downstairs loo, I had a local carpenter build a corner washstand, got some slate for a counter top and bought a bowl sink off eBay. The effect is simple and lively.

I've yet to see a bathroom that I like in a showroom to be honest - I like individual items - shower heads, free standing baths, but the fitted units really are not my thing.

Don't know where I should be looking - I just know what I dislike!

Bump!

We purchased all our bathroom components separately but stuck to decent brands (Sottini roll top bath, vintage Chatsworth high level gothic style wc, Clearwater basin and Utopia Regent taps) as DH was a designer of high end bathrooms in a past life, lol, so we know not to buy cheap crap!

We wanted an unfitted, eclectic look so also chose a vintage piece of furniture found in an antique centre to utilise as a vanity and have an antique art nouveau mirror over it. Our 'medicine' cabinet is also an original art nouveau piece (an old wall-mounted smokers cabinet) and we have free standing glass/gold shelves from Homesense for towels etc.....

I love eBay and have previously found lots of sanitary ware (Villeroy & Boch, Duravit etc) and taps/shower valves etc (Hansgrohe, Perrin & Rowe, Gessi) there for great prices.....

Sounds wonderful.
Would it be cheeky to ask for pics?!

Any suggestions on where I can look for bathroom ideas that aren't shiny and new and straight out of a bathroom showroom??! I don't know what search terms even to use on Pinterest!

Hi @BlackAlys 😃

Here's a couple of pics of ours.....

And two more (apologies for the quality of the last ones - the camera on my phone, which is my only means of internet right now, is on its last legs 🙄).

Anyway, I can't really advise on search terms - I kind of either knew exactly what I wanted (because of DH's knowledge in the field and discussing brands/his clients' choices etc plus our own years of experience doing renovations, lol!) or else got lucky, ie, the 'vanity' - I had an idea of my perfect piece of furniture to use for this and on my first visit to the local antique centre to hunt for it, there it was 😉 The loo, for example, we'd purchased the exact same design - no longer in manufacture and almost impossible to find - for a previous house, went on eBay and someone was selling an unused one!!! I couldn't believe my luck 😁

If you've a definite idea of what you want - and don't want! - you will find it eventually!

Here's a better - old, from when the bathroom was fitted last year - pic of the loo, showing the gothic detailing....

Crikey @Hebeee that's quite spectacular!!

I have a slight idea of what I want

• hand made off white tiles, natural wood washstand,

I just don't know about a general 'style'.

Thanks for the pics though - wow!

if you go for a wetroom / walk in shower, be VERY careful that it is not going to leak. if you are upstairs in an old house, the joists can easily move by a few mm over time, which makes your lovely wetroom leak & cause rot.

I'd always have a proper shower tray with a bit of a lip at the edge to prevent leaks.

Reclamation yards sometimes have old baths and wash stands.