Just renovated the en suite but not sure about it. Please help

[Harbourlife]

So we bought a house 5 years ago and I decided to find a builder who will renovate our en suite as was fed up with cleaning the grout and the tiles (we live in the area with hard water). It wasn’t looking too ugly, but mouldy in places and some tiles started to discolour.

Our builder talked me into installing the panels instead as it will be super easy to clean. Now the work is completed, I’m not sure if I like it as it looks a bit cheap🤔

The house is 10 years old and we will be planning to move in about 7-8 years time because of the school situation.

My question is: do you think the en suite looks tacky? Would you buy it if you liked the rest of the house? Everything works well and I like how clean it is, but really started doubting myself whether I should have gone for tiles instead.. oh dear!

I’ve attached the before and after pics.

Its fine, we have those in all our bathrooms and we get lots of compliments about them. The only criticism I have seen was on here when some snobby MNetter claimed that you would never see them "in the kind of houses featured in Homes and Gardens magazine"
Plus so easy to clean and no grotty grout

This is my third house with panels in the shower ( installed by us). We originally had them because some lunatic ( me) had put small mosaic in the shower cubicle and discovered the joy of grout pens…

The colours are restricted but you can get some, depending on what is in fashion ( I’ve got sparkly teal ones this time , I love them, very smart with darker teal walls and some white tiles imho) . The best thing is that you don’t have to take the existing tiles off, you can just panel over them, so saving money, time and mess.

@Ineedanewsofa there is actually more design and colour choice for panels than tiles but you have to know where to look. Bathroom places tend to stick with what would appeal to a large demographic.

If you look at Rock Salt Prints they have a lot of very in your face choices alongside more sedate ones. But they will print any image from shutterstock or any online stock image library photo so hundreds of thousands of possibilities. Plus they custom make the size panel you want too so the image is central rather than cutting down a panel and having a lopsided image.

https://rocksaltprints.com/product-category/acrylic-wall-panels/?v=79cba1185463

@Allthegoodnamesarechosen just seen your love for panels which I am pleased about as we are about to instal them in our en-suite too. Might be worth looking at somewhere like Rock Salt for future projects.

OP yours looks great but your blue wall colour does not go at all. You need to pick out a tone that matches in or complements the new panel.

I don’t like those particular panels but I would far prefer something like that which is easy to keep clean rather than difficult tiles. So I would appreciate the update you have made. A refurb of a small bathroom would be the least offputting thing for me in a house purchase anyway. I wouldn’t stress too much. And yeah, maybe a bit of colour would bring some warmth.

My LL installed dark grey panels in a hard water area and after getting sick of using half a bottle of limescale remover a week, we just stopped using them. Take note, those in hard water areas!

thank you. I will definitely consider it for our future house. I guess the colour is not a big deal for the new owner if we move one day. :)

Thanks for your comment. Yes, our main bathroom is nicely tiled so I guess the en suite is just for me and my husband.

We actually installed the water conditioner as well. Hope it makes the difference!

I like the panels better than the black tiles - it's a shame your builder didn't try to align the marbling on the panels though, I think that would've made them look a bit more elevated aesthetically.

I think it looks really good and you have a good sized shower for an en suite!

I agree, it’s much cheaper and faster that way. I still like the tiles though 😊 at least we have them in our main bathroom

My plumber also tried to convince us to get sheeting. We went with tiles, but I think his main reasoning was it's so much easier for them to install. The tiling in my bathroom took the majority of the time for the whole job.
I'm hoping I won't regret it when it comes to cleaning. But we did go for very large tiles?!
Anyway, yours looks good.

That sounds dreamy, I am jealous!

I agree. I’ve learned from this experience and will definitely be more precise with what I want next time. It’s a pain to find a normal builder. Ahh!

I definitely recommend the water softener, made the difference to our tap water.

It should be ok, we have large tiles in our main bathroom , looks great. But it’s much easier to clean and we hardly use it

I think they look really nice. Yes the paint might have been a bit better in a warmer, creamy beige colour, but it looks a smart room. We are considering sheets in our next house. We have large tiles now, which have been great, but the grout drives me nuts.

In 8 years it will be a fairly old en suite anyway. It's not going to put anyone off buying though, it's a good sized, well laid out room & that's the key.

I don't think the colour of the floor to panels work together but it really doesn't matter. Some nice towels and a plant will be nice.

@Harbourlife Thank you 😁 x

It's nice, lighter and easier to clean, plus in 7-8 years time you'll probably be wondering if it needs replacing again before selling

@Harbourlife It was probably me that mentioned H&G but I would also have mentioned value of the house! That’s the key point. It’s expectations. If you are looking at several £million you might look at a different finish.

I think it looks ok apart from the matching. You might like to know that companies like Porcelanosa do large format tiles and you have very little grout as they butt up to each other. I’ve never cleaned grout in my life in 5 bathrooms in this house. We also have a water softener. Plus great ventilation. So what you choose is dependant on house style and value, as it nearly always does. It’s 100% better than the black.

I am not sure the colour of the walls goes with the sheets. They could do with a warmer neutral paint colour as they aren’t a grey/white marble.

What towels and plant pots should I buy? In a warmer colour?
thanks!

@Harbourlife Actually I think it’s the floor colour I’m not sure about. It just looks a bit disjointed.

I agree, it's the floor, not the walls.

I love panels. So easy to keep clean and they always look good.
Agree with other posters though. The paint would be better in a warmer colour

I don't mind the panels at all but the flooring and wall colour doesn't go with it. Not style wise or colour wise. You should have had lighter colour and a more modern look on the floor tiles and a warmer colour on the painted bit. I would have also chosen a sink unit with drawers underneath so that you didn't have to have that freestanding shelf there.

I think you cannot go wrong with white towels. I have a stone floor and Mizzle (F&B) on the walls in one bathroom and we have pink and white striped towels in there. I quite like that. You could jazz it up with Missoni towels. We use these in a cloakroom with De Nimes (F&B) paint on the walls. Looks interesting. I never have pot plants. I use glass bowls or pots or nothing.

What storage do you have? Any wall cupboards?