New bathroom must dos and don’ts- ideas please!

[AnotherDeadSparrow]

We are about to convert a small bedroom into a shower room with toilet, sink and shower. There’s no plumbing etc there so it’s a blank canvas. Would primarily be for a teen girl but also any guests.

Any things you wish you had or hadn’t done in your bathroom?

Teen would like a decent rain shower (they all fight over our en-suite), and for it not to be too cold. We are thinking of maybe LVT for the floor as warmer underfoot, and plumber has suggested shower panels rather than tiles.

I’m rubbish at interior design and Pinterest etc so thought I’d ask mumsnet instead! Thanks in advance 😊

Definitely go for wet wall rather than tiles, grouting is a pain in the arse to clean. A towel radiator to dry the towels too.

We had panels put in instead of tiling and they are amazing. Just need a quick wipe to clean and no grotty, mouldy grouting (which was the bane of my life in our old bathroom).

I had my bathroom redone in January with wall panels there so easy to keep clean, so would definitely recommend.
I have a comfort toilet as I'm disabled but the rest of the family say it's better than standard one, it's basically just slightly higher.
Rimless is easier to clean.
Rainwater shower definitely a must.
Anthracite towel rail it doesn't show up the dust like a chrome one.
Chrome fixtures and fittings.
Enclosed shower unit, a lot less condensation fills the room than our other shower which is just a glass screen.

Built in storage and toothbrush charging point if applicable.
Extractor fan.
Hair catcher

I’ve had everything off the floor, so loo and basin hanging on wall - makes cleaning the floor so much easier.

also draw under basin is far easier than cupboard- as you can see in from above rather than crouching down

Lots of hooks for hanging towels and clothes up.

If panels have pipes behind them make sure the panel can be removed as a whole otherwise in the event of a burst pipe you may have to cut into it to fix the damaged pipe. Same with WC with a concealed cistern.

A fixed screen rather than a shower curtain as teens would never pull the curtain properly. Have a proper lipped shower tray if not on the ground floor as otherwise the waste can block with hair etc and flood. I'd also put in underfloor heating if you can (and then the choice of flooring is less of an issue). Also a fan that switches on with the light so that you're not relying on her to switch it on when she uses the room.

Ask me how I know......

My bathroom (no bath!) is small - both my DDs have bigger bathrooms. Me and one DD have used large tiles so minimal grout lines to clean, and grout is dark, so always looks clean. Other DD has small tiles with white grout - looks pretty grotty and high maintenance. I have a shower cubicle, they don’t, just a glass screen. In theirs, water goes everywhere! Not in mine. If you can stretch to it, have underfloor heating. Don’t have copper coloured fittings - they go grotty pretty quickly. We have VADO taps and shower fittings. More expensive but still looking like new 10 years on. Get the biggest ladder radiator that will fit - little ones means that towels take ages to dry.

Do you have a water softener?

Love my panels!

A backlit mirror is nice.

If you have a rainwater shower, get one with a handheld head too. Just the rainwater head is a PITA

Panels, definitely. And stone bath/shower mats.

I am LOVING all these ideas, thank you- just what I was after! Also loving the voices of bitter experience 😂

Those of you with panels, have you had the whole room done in them, floor to ceiling? Or just behind the shower?

Good idea about the drawers from above, I’ve seen some lovely wall hung ones.

probably would get a cubicle as very keen to reduce chances of leaks.

We live in a very hard water area but don’t have a water softener

Yes definitely, good idea

Stone mats? 🤨

My panels are just around the bath/shower and the back of the sink.

Wall panels are great! Especially as we live in a hard water area
If it will mainly be used by your DD then a decent plug / hair catcher thing!
Storage - as much as you can!

Get a bidet if there's room

Honestly, they’re a game changer! I have a very expensive one in my en-suite, and I have THESE from Amazon which are just as good.

You can get much prettier, coloured ones. Just google ‘stone bath mats’.

We also have wall mounted dispensers in the shower. Gives a hotel feel and stops random bottles! Simple Human

Backlit, demister mirror, as long as you can fit in. Some counter top space for doing make up etc. If you have cabinets, make sure at least one is tall enough to fit a normal size bottle of bleach.

We have glass panels instead of tiles. Will never have tiles again. They are the easiest thing in the world to keep clean and look so much better.
Also second big ladder heated radiators for towels.

Lots of good storage. A niche in the shower for bottles of shampoo etc. Nothing worse than a shower with no where to put bottles!

Also towel storage, toilet paper storage etc. We even had our plugs for charging tooth brushes etc built into the cupboard

Hi OP, we had our family bathroom done 5 years ago and had black sink taps, bath taps, plus and shower fitted. It hasn't aged well at all, they look very marked and worn and even once fully cleaned, look dirty again very quickly. If I was to do it again I wouldn't choose them and am so disappointed as they looked great to start with.

Are they squidgy? Do they not hurt your toes if you walk into them? Have never heard of them!