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 😊

Make sure your shower has a hand-held attachment as well as rainfall head - really difficult to clean otherwise.

Drawers under the sink are far more practical and accessible than cupboards.

Square sinks are b***s to clean - residue seems to cling to the corners.

Know whether you’re in a hard or soft water area and choose fittings accordingly - dark fittings are a nightmare if you have limescale.

If you need more storage, think about metal pole shelves - airy for storing towels but will also hold baskets.

Shower and bath niche to store items. Hate things being placed in shower caddy’s or on the shower floor. Mirrored cabinet with hidden storage.

I had no idea it was called a shower niche but definitely built in shelves in the shower.

second rainfall and handheld.

I like a wall mounted toilet.

heated flooring and a heated towel rail that’s easy to isolate from the general heating system.

I have shaving sockets in my cupboard to charge toothbrushes but recently bought a new one and it’s t only came with a USB which is irritating. Not sure what the solution will be for that. I don’t want my toothbrush charging outside my bathroom.

If you have a local bathroom design company its worth booking a consultation with them - mine was really good at playing around with the 3d software to show me how things would look and fit. I ordered through them and they collate and check everything before it is sent out and when there was a problem with a cracked shower tray they sorted out the new one and took away the old one. They gave me a decent discount off my bath as well as I found it at a really big discount on the rubberducks website.

Can someone share an image of wall panels please? I have no idea what these are but they sound amazing!

That sounds like a pretty easy fix.
You can get a replacement shaver point that also has a USB fitting. It's only the front cover that needs replacing.

Built in storage - we have a niche in the wall for our shampoo bottles which I love and a vanity storage sink. Rainwater shower with a handheld shower head as well makes cleaning easier. Anything but white grout to not show up the dirt (I personally hate the wet room panels I think they're ugly). We have vinyl on our bathroom floors, it's easy to keep clean and is warm underfoot. A heated towel rail is also a must if you have space on the wall for one.

This may get lost as your post is busy! But get a water conditioner rather than softener. We have haclyon one. Remove bit of pipe, it screws in place of the pipe. That’s it. Ours is where mains comes in so does whole house. No salt, lasts forever, no maintenance. Water softener needs the flushing the system quite often and uses a huge amount of water plus puts salt into our waterways. Please get a conditioner!

Do you have a link for the glass panels please? Do you mean in the actual shower?

I know what water softening is, and water filtering. But water conditioning... no idea... what does it do exactly if it's not softening or filtering?

"works by altering the structure of limescale-causing minerals, transforming them into a non-scaling form that doesn't adhere to surfaces."

My plumber suggested either this (called a scaleout I think) or conventional water softener, and advised that the softener (while more expensive and harder to maintain) was preferable in a very hard water area.

How funny, I’ve literally just been to a bathroom designer and he also suggested this when I asked about softeners. Because of how our house is set up, he didn’t think a softener would be suitable but suggested one of these.

Sounds like you’re been happy with it? X

Literally just got back from one, he was super helpful and it’s great to visualise things in 3D. I’d tried with some online/ AI tools and got nowhere as they were very clunky!

Thank you all for these ideas, they’re all brilliant. It’s actually harder when you’re starting from scratch and there are no existing fittings to just replace.

I'm so worried about getting it wrong!

It's pretty interesting! It doesn't use salts etc, just sits as a part of the pipe coming in at the mains, or you can remove a bit of pipe and fit it anywhere. Ours is about 15cms long and slightly wider than the actual pipe. I'm sold on it as no limescale, no further costs, no environmental harm, doesn't use power. It ionises the water so the calcium in the water coming in has its properties changed so it can't stick to the pipes, or anywhere like taps etc. It also removes limescale within the system, if you already have some. (inside pipes where you can't clean) Ours is a Halcyan brand and they have a pretty good website which explains it better than I can! Water is essentially 'softer' but no change in the taste etc.

A tall ladder radiator is a must, & I wish we'd asked for a toothbrush/razor charging point.

Put the shower controls near to the entrance to the shower ... so you don't have to jump back to avoid the initial cold water.

You need good water pressure (or a pump) for a rain shower to work well

I prefer tiles to wall panels, but really large ones to minimise grout lines

Choose non white grout and non white sealant

Towel rail - make sure it’s got enough spaces, some only have a couple of large gaps which means hardly any towels fit on

Boxed in cistern but with an easily removable shelf on top for access

Niche in shower for shampoo, you can buy pre formed niche liners to make it more waterproof and easier for builders

Wall cupboard can be recessed in between studs in stud wall - shallow but ideal for bottles

Vanity unit with deep drawer not cupboard

Wall hung loo and vanity for easier cleaning

Shaver socket to charge toothbrush, ideally hide it in a cupboard

Consider where loo roll holder will go

Squeegee if you have hard water.

Shower tray and cubicle is a safer bet against leaks and overflows than a tiled walk in shower

Wall mounted sink taps make cleaning easier but harder to fix if something goes wrong

Have you noticed less limescale since you had it @CookiesAreForSharing? all our loos/ taps/ water outlets have awful limescale.

Some more awesome points, thank you everyone!

I did want a shower niche but worried will add more time/ expense/ hassle with the shower panels. Teen daughter says she’s fine with an over door hanging thing (although they’re much less aesthetically pleasing!).

I think someone mentioned rimless toilets, are they good? @Tasktalkmonkey I think?

and comfort seat, does that just mean it’s a bit higher?

Interesting, thanks

I think this was me.

We have rimless and yes, they are great. Much easier to clean. Ours are also wall hung above the ground, so very easy to mop understand on the floor.

The comfort height is a few cm's/inches taller than a regular toilet seat, but doesn't look like a disabled one. My knees are shot and those few cm's make such a difference. Also handy for older relatives. I really notice how low other toilets are now.

Apologies I read back and found your name but was too late to edit again, thank you @JDM625 😊

are the comfort loos still good if you’re shortish eg 5 foot ish?

and does the rimless still flush well? Water just comes out from one point, not all the way round is that right?

what has my life come to that toilets are now fascinating

I would say yes to an extractor fan, preferably a low noise one that comes on automatically with the shower. Another voice of experience in counting on teens to open a window especially in winter. Thousands of long steamy showers later, we're literally cleaning mould off the ceiling with bleach.

Heated towel rail with underfloor heating preferably a rail you can use with a timer so it can be run separately and you can air towels for a few hours in the summer.