Bathroom renovation please help with doors, vanity and flooring.

[MrBirling]

I've attached pic of my bathroom design. I know there are two toilets on it but one is actually a bidet. You also need to imagine a built in cupboard in the corner at the end of the shower. There won't actually be a glass screen there but a tiled wall.

Please can you advise on the following.

1. Should the door to the cupboard be the same as the door to exit the bathroom. So light oak. Or should it be a painted white door or oak or white Louvre doors. It will be a decent sized cupboard and will end up storing everything from towels and bedding to the hoover.

The tiles I've chosen are dark teal green pic below. The floor will be LVT. I don't want tiles as they're cold and this room is directly over the foundations and so is especially cold.

2. Should I go with a black vanity with wood effect LVT (cheapest option). Or a wood effect vanity with a different style of LVT? Or most expensive option a proper wooden vanity with a different style of LVT.

If you have any advice it would be appreciated as I have never done a bathroom renovation before. (Although if you're not keen on the tiles please keep that to yourself as I've already bought them.)

Do you need a towel rail and a radiator? Check the BTU requirement but seems a bit excessive to me.

I’d consult the plumber before having the big radiator to the left of the door. If he thinks the towel rail will be adequate to heat the room, you could site the towel cupboard to the left of the door instead. Then you could have a longer shower tray to contain the splashes and the warm towel would be easily reached.

Is the position of the toilets fixed? I think it would be nicer to swap the loo/bidet with the vanity so you don't see the loo as soon as you walk through the door.
Have you considered underfloor heating if it is cold instead of an extra radiator?

I'd go white vanity rather than black.

Yes pretty much because above the bidet and toilet there is the window so I wouldn't be able to have a mirror on the wall.

I think underfloor heating would be good but not sure we can stretch to it as current plans are already very expensive.

I know the diagram doesn't show this but there already is a wall at the end of the shower. I have no idea if is supporting or not ... So a bit unsure about taking it down. Limits the length of the shower tray to 1600-1700mm so still a decent length and I can afford to go up to 800 or 900mm width so it won't be small.

I know two radiators might be too much but it is currently very cold in there in winter and never gets properly warm even with the heating on and there is weirdly two towel rails and a radiator in there at the moment. We plan on having insulation fitted on all external walls and under the floor so I'm hoping it will warm up but I would rather have too many radiators than end up with it still being horribly cold.

I don’t like the current layout, I think it functions because it contains everything you want but it doesn’t feel considered in how people use a space.

I wouldn’t want to sit on the loo doing my business whilst looking at myself in a mirror and I wouldn’t want to wash my bits in a bidet whilst looking out of a window. Will the cupboard have sliding doors and which way will it hinge?

I love the tiles though, I have a similar style in a darker teal in my bathroom.

The window is on the wall well above the toilet and bidet. No looking out of it while washing your bits unless you're a giant. Personally I sit with my back to the wall when I use it.

The toilet when you sit on it is below the mirror that is above the vanity so no possibility of watching yourself on the toilet.

not sure yet exactly how the door on the cupboard will be hinged. Could potentially do double Louvre doors. I don't want sliding doors as it limits access.

Also a previous poster said they wouldn't like the bathroom opening and the first thing you see is the toilet. Well the door is hinged on the left so it will be the bath you first see and probably a load of plants.

The vanity looks very small for the size of the room and there is a lot of dead space beside the shower. I’d shift the towel rail to go in the corner by the shower. And then have a double size vanity with worktop on the second unit to give storage and space for toothbrushes etc.

The dead space will be a large built in cupboard for storage so the vanity doesn't need to be big. DH and I never share the bathroom so I don't see the point in a double vanity as just more cleaning.

We've just renovated and had multiple bathrooms to do. Any reason you want a separate bidet and not an integrated Japanese type toilet. We got one and I like it. We've never had a bidet before, nor was it something we culturally had used before.

All our toilets are comfort height, so just a few cm's taller. Much easier on my knees. They are also off the floor, so very easy to clean underneath.

For the vanity, I'd highly recommend getting drawers in it. Nothing worse than bending down to forage at the back of the cupboard. I wish we'd installed drawers in all of them! One is also off the ground so again, easy to clean underneath.

Our doors are all oak in the house, but the bathroom cabinets aren't matching the oak colour. 1 room has a very dark, black/charcoal cabinet and it looks better than I expected. We do have black, aluminum windows though. I think a black vanity would go with your tiles. Have you considered larger tiles though? Less grout and less cleaning.

For safety and to add more space inside, we had the bathroom doors open outwards into the halls. Your room already looks large, but its something to consider.

No advice for LVT, because we have tiles and underfloor heating.

Yes, keep the doors to the same colour (oak or white).

No to black vanity (but maybe yes if you are having black shower cubicle). Yes to wood or wood effect.

Get the widest shower you can - definitely 900mm rather than 800mm. 1000mm even better.

The tiles are lovely. Will it be fully tiled or are you having some painted walls, if so which colour?

LVT for flooring sounds good. Is there an extra layer of insulation that can go underneath to help with coldness? Id go with some kind of patterned tile look in a light colour. Be ware that plain white shows up all the dust 😆

Love the tiles! We've just had similar but slightly lighter and blue. I recommend looking at non-white grout colours as it should stay looking clean for longer. You can also use a liquid grout protector once it's dry to help keep it clean.

I'd do the cupboard doors the same as the bathroom door, or if you're painting any of the walls, paint the doors the same as the wall.

We already have a toilet and bidet and they're in perfectly good condition. So if we had less space I would consider the Japanese toilet but I'm fine with the bidet which I do use. The reason for the renovation is because the previous owner fitted two baths one at either end of the room that and the fact it is damp and cold. Will look at drawers for the vanity that's a good idea thank you I hadn't considered it at all. Tiles are bought so can't go larger though.

I would swap the siting of the bath and toilet / bidet as I don’t like toilets in the middle of a wall. You will have to turn round to reach the loo roll, and anyone walking in will face the loo straight away.
I would have the cupboard and room doors matching, and I wouldn’t have a vanity for the sink especially as you’ll have a big cupboard right next to it.
https://www.bigbathroomshop.co.uk/milano-elswick-white-modern-rectangular-wall-hung-basin-1000mm-x-420mm-1-tap-hole-70047?_gl=1949oko_upMQ.._gaMTk0NTc2NTIwMi4xNzQyNjUwOTE1_ga_V97F7JBHZWMTc0MjY1MDkxNC4xLjAuMTc0MjY1MDkxNC4wLjAuMA.._ga_RN3FH80X37*MTc0MjY1MDkxNC4xLjAuMTc0MjY1MDkxNC4wLjAuMA..

Thanks will look at wider shower trays I could go up to 1000 if it would be better.

I am considering a black shower cubicle I think they do look nice. Worried it could look dated eventually.

Definitely not fully tiled as I hate that it currently is, i just think it looks odd because there is no need for much of the room. Plan to fully tile shower and then half tile the other walls. I will paint the rest, but colour no idea! Any suggestions?

I need to go and look at LVT because I'm drawn to the wood effect because it will add a little warmth. The room is north facing and never gets a lot of natural light. I know it will never be a bright bathroom so I want to magically get it to look posh but also cosy. I'm dreaming of lying in the bath with the room actually being warm and admiring how clean everything is.

I think due to where the waste pipe is I can't swap them. As the pipework is currently boxed in and covered in a rather disgusting carpet it's not entirely clear. Also the door actually opens so that anyone accidentally walking in will see you in the bath before on the toilet. I prefer a bath with a wall behind me too feel less exposed and more relaxing. I might even put a sort of plant wall between bath and toilet. Depends on how much greenery DH lets me get away with.

Yes I am loving the idea of nonwhite grout. Just need to pick a colour. I will get some protector too thanks that's a great idea.

I like the idea of painting the doors the same as the wall. I think that will look good.

The reason for the renovation is because the previous owner fitted two baths one at either end of the room....

Some people are just odd OP. The reason we renovated, was that the toilet was in its own room. There was a bidet, but it was in the bathroom- at the other end of the hall! 😆

I can only assume whoever had it put in, never actually used it, because I can't imagine someone hobbling the length of the hall with pants around their ankles to get to the bidet!

A tip from a joiner friend ... do not have a door frame inside the bathroom, use tile and trim instead.
I personally recommend tiling window sills too.

Blimey, your bathroom is the size of my first flat 😂

I would match the doors to each other yes. It's a big room so some wood/wood effect to soften it rather than tile/tiles effect throughout is a nice idea. Really up to you whether that is vanity or floors. Black vanity would be fine as long as there is enough black elsewhere to tie into it. I have read some horror stories about black shower trays being hard to keep clean so if you are in a hard water area I would stick to white. You could still do all the taps and the shower surround black.

You'll probably hate this idea but the highest end roll vinyl might be worth a look for the floor, especially if the LVT you are looking at is click rather than the glued down stuff. I think the warmth of LVT is massively oversold. The glued down stuff is pretty bulletproof but I don't like click in a bathroom. Roll vinyl is way out of fashion but I think thick, good quality stuff can look better than entry level LVT and be substantially cheaper too.

Where's the shower opening? From the picture, it looks like at the end near the toilet - if it is, I'd swap it because it looks like it will feel a bit cramped getting in and out, and will also put you farther away from the towels.

If you can stretch to underfloor, I'd recommend it.

Lovely tiles!

assuming the bath will be white I would go white shower tray and vanity, with a wood effect floor. if you can get as frameless as possible with the shower enclosure (should be viable with a solid wall at the end) then it will mean you can keep the colours of finishes to a minimum which will tend to look classier imho. Also less prone to dating than black.

I know loads of people do have linen and even dressing cupboards off the bathroom but i would be reluctant to put bedding in a cupboard in a steamy bathroom personally and would try and work out a way to open the cupboard externally to the bathroom, if necessary adding other shelves for towels and moving the cupboard to where the radiator is if you can't get the external door as the plan is now.

Will be a lovely big bathroom however you do it! with loads of plants against those tiles it will look stunning!

@AuntieDen We have a big cupboard in the new bathroom and I worried the same about putting bedding in there. We've got a really good extractor fan on a humidistat sensor, plus ran the underfloor heating into the cupboard to make it into an airing cupboard.

I'd double check the respective costs of the radiator and underfloor heating - in the bathroom I recently did the costs of installing underfloor and a heated towel rail were about the same.