how to make a very dated bathroom bearable on low budget?

[vannah]

Our new house has the most hideous bathroom, very grannified wall tiles, awful vinyl on floor, grey 3 piece suite... and we have had our budget for the bathroom wiped out by our awful buyers who robbed us at the last minute of the sale.

Can wall tiles be painted over? Cover up vinyl with something else? I was thinking maybe some ikea cheap mat/rug type things...

any suggestions to make it bearable for about 2 years. It functions ok...
thanks

I have no idea how much cheap vinyl is but it might be worth buying the cheapest stuff you can buy and just replacing it out right.

As for the tiles you could scrap out the old grout and regrout. It would make the tiles look clean and new.

Yes you can get tile paint. Vinyl is cheap to replace with other vinyl which may not be your ideal but at least it would be new and you could choose the pattern/colour. I don't think you can do much about the colour of the suite but the rest you can change cheaply.

thanks both, will look up tile paint now..

Get tile paint (paint slowly and carefully), work with the grey theme but make it more modern, deep clean does wonders, new shower vurtain, new vinyl, new taps if you can, nice mirror, nice accessories. You can buy a white suit for under £200 and basic tiles from £5m2 if you have a handy DH.

You can tile over tiles - we got tiles from Homebase for £7sqm. They have them in beige or grey. Depends on your budget!

Embrace the retro-value, add flying ducks and knitted-dress toilet roll holder lady for 80s-chic?

Personally, I'd paint the tiles, rip up the floor and replace with a mat/rug. That way it will look like a WIP and I find that easier to live with Bloody buyers, damn them doing it to you. Can you afford a massive piece of mirror to cover the entirety of one wall? That can have an amazing effect to change a feel.

Is there a wooden floor underneath that vynl lino flooring, asda and ikea do affordable mats and towels to match. We have same problem but our suite is a light brown mushroom colour. We painted floorboards, added Aubergene coloured mats 'n' towels big mirror (from other room) and new accessories

All for under £30 from Asda!!!!

We are also living with a very dated suite (avocado and corner bath, lovely!!).
We havent done much but did change the flooring (was revolting carpet).

I would do the floor and maybe paint the tiles and get lovely towels/bath mat, mirror, new loo seat, posh soap etc.

If you are going to change it in two years IMHO its not worth re-tiling or doing anything too major.

Changing the floor will make the biggest difference. Cheap lino, see if you can find a local fitter, offer cash in hand for a discount.

Ask on freecycle for lino offcuts if the room is small, also worth a punt for tile paint - someone might have some leftovers? Or tile stickers, especially if not every tile on the wall is patterned, then you can just cover up the hideous ones.

Charity shops for towel rails / soap holders etc?

Making a feature of the grey could work!!!

Bright coloured matching towels, bathmat and shower curtain from QD / Primark etc would be cheap but make it all look "tied together".

However if you can POSSIBLY save the money on another area of your budget, spending it on the bathroom makes a lot of sense. I was told this by a relly who is a property developer.

painting the tiles can make a huge difference. however it really is worth investing a little more time and money to get the best finish. i have found that using tile paint alone meant that the finish chipped quite easily - annoying when the tin says it is a one-coat system.

i would use zinsser BIN as a primer, it's shellac based, you don't need to sand the surface (although you must make sure the tiles are thoroughly clean and dry before you start)it also dries quickly and you can paint over it after 45 minutes. this primer gives a really good, smooth base for the top coat - i would use tile paint as it is in a bathroom - and also improves the adhesion of the top coat making it much less likely to chip. although paint looks and feels dry after a few hours it will not be properly cured for a few weeks so it is well worth being careful for 2-3 weeks until you are sure the paint has cured.

BIN is quite expensive but it goes a long way and gives such a good finish i think it i worth it. especially if you need the tile paint to last a couple of years.

for the floor - it depends what is underneath. if it is wood then you have the option of exposing that if it is in good condition. painted floorboards can also look very good. or you could go for a vinyl again - most bathrooms are small enough to be able to buy an offcut, you might be able to find a nice quality offcut. rubber floor tiles can also looke quite good and they may not be too expensive if the floor space is not too big.

if you have a grey plastic bath panel to match the suite then you could replace this with an mdf panel painted the same colour of the tiles. another small change that makes a huge difference.

i have seen some simple bathroom makeovers where the avacado/peach/yellow/anything but white suite has looked amazingly better once the walls and floors have been neutralised.

i would think white tiles would look best as they would give a crisp contrast with the grey suite. you could then add in any colour accessories and towels you like - brights probably best as anything too pale could look a bit insipid. chuck in a few nice stainless steel accessories and i bet it would look great! if the taps have seen better days then it is amazing the difference that replacing them can make - you can pick them up quite cheaply in the sales and fitting them is a diy job if you are any way handy.

sorry for the very long post - i think i got a bit carried away! good luck with your bathroom makeover, let us know how you get on.