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 😊

We just have the main cold water tap in the kitchen, plus the outside tap, unsoftened, and all others are softened.

Japanese Toilet and one of those wooden deep baths that you sit in up to your neck on a ledge. Steam shower. Sauna. The works.

Biggest shower cubicle you can get! Underfloor heating, wall hung basins and storage and wall hung rimless toilet. Mirror with inbuilt toothbrush charger. If you have the space a double basin is great. Ladder towel rail. Good quality fittings such as Vado or flova.

Why? I'm buying house with just rainwater shower, and must admit I have my doubts about it. I usually tie my hair up, and angle shower head so my hair doesn't get wet, when I don't want to actually wash it.

This is our shower unit. Our bathroom is only a couple of months old, have followed some of the advice here except no underfloor heading, used v large tiles and grey grouting.

Hope the picture passes inspection. A small bathroom, so the statement tiles are in the shower and on the floor. Other walls are cheaper white tiles, though still grey grouting just a lighter grey

Have hooks now for flannel etc. shower has semi-rainfall, two types of jets and hand-hold shower on a hose

Ooh I want one like this, is it Victorian plumbing? I'm now put off as the reviews of it are really bad :(. Saying the paint chips and they are really fiddly to install?

Hair catcher.
deep shower tray - a rainfall shower will more likely need better drainage and at some point a shallow tray will overflow (usually hair blockage).
Bidet if you have room - good for shaving legs, washing feet, cooling feet, etc etc. Teenager loved it - though wondered why we put a low sink in!
lots of ventilation.

With a rainwater head your whole body is getting wet all the time. It's hard to brush conditioner through, and shave. With a microphone one you can more easily adjust the height and direction, and it's easier to wash the shower walls/door down just before you turn it off.

Do you have to have a separate drinking water tap?

Don't get brushed brass fixtures... we did and it looks beautiful BUT it was a nightmare getting it all to match. Brushed brass comes in many shades apparently! Even when buying items from the same store. You have to see it all together to know. I found this out the hard way.

Backlit mirrors are great for a softer bathroom lighting option. Especially the ones with the demister pad.

Thank you; as I thought. I don't use conditioner, or shave, but it clearly is less controllable. Will have to be changed, asap!

Great thread for me as on a similar path.

No, we get cold drinking water from the unsoftened normal kitchen sink cold water tap, and softened water comes out everywhere else (kitchen hot water tap, other bathrooms, loos, and all the water that goes to the combi boiler and for washing machine etc).

To those asking about water softener and drinking water taps. Softened water can be drunk, but its not recommended for babies, pregnant people and those with kidney issues due to the salt. We live in a very hard water area and I don't like the taste of it.

We have a drinking tap in the kitchen, but also installed one in our en-suite. It means I don't need to go downstairs at night for water. Admittedly we were doing a massive renovation, so I'm not sure how easy they are to add retrospectively.

Shower controls at the entrance to the cubicle.
Biggest shower you can fit.
Chrome fittings look timeless.
Drawer storage if you have room.

Lots more brilliant posts/ ideas, thank you everyone 😊

Insignia shower cubicles are fantastic we put them in our en-suites and they are so easy to keep clean and all the steam is contained in them. Huge variety of sizes and shapes so easy to get something that fits correctly.

We had our bathroom done 2 years ago. Generally very happy with it but wish we had gone for chrome fittings rather than black. We live in a hard water area and the black is a bugger to keep clean.

Wish we’d taken out the bath and had a full length shower in the same space. May change it at a later date and then we will change fittings.

Dual fuel towel radiator has been a godsend. Brilliant for chilly mornings when you can just turn it on.

Intrigued by a water conditioner and will investigate this. We haven’t got the space for a water softener but this might be a good option.

Don't get a heated towel radiator. They're so bulky and ugly and don't actually allow things to dry properly. Instead get a pretty normal radiator, a small cast iron style one for example, and put hooks in the wall above it to hang towels to dry. They dry much better hanging over a rad than folded on a heated towel radiator thingy and you don't have an ugly metal thing taking up loads of wall space. Learned this from a top interior designer and never looked back!

We tend to use our radiator to warm the towels when it's cold rather than dry them from wet, though if spread out well do dry towels pretty well as well.

Ours is chrome, tall and thin and fits in well with the modern look of our bathroom, more so than a cast iron one IMO.

Biggest shower you can fit.

May I ask why that's important? What you doin' in there?!

That's sort of what I mean - do we need to be able to drink unsoftened water.

We are having a softener fitted in August and I have no idea how it connects to whatever pipes/taps etc.

Easier to clean. Comfortable to use. Looks fab!