Let me be the first to say it; this bathroom makeover reveal has been a long time coming. Trust me, I’m well aware of it. However, I am my own worst enemy.
January has been a very slow blog month. If the blog was my partner, it would have packed its bags and left by now; both from the lack of attention and the fact that I missed our anniversary. Can you believe it? The blog is (over) one year old!! Happy belated birthday to us!
It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about it… I’m always thinking about it. The blog, I mean. It’s just that sometimes, the boring stuff has to take priority. I count plumbing a bathroom as number one on my list of ‘the boring stuff’. I love DIY. I love being creative, I love designing, decorating, faffing to make things aesthetically pleasing. I hate the invisible work. The behind the scenes stuff. The important stuff that makes the pretty stuff actually work. It’s boring. Plumbing is not fun. Especially when you decide to buy non-standard fittings from overseas, and plumb it all yourself*. When you have to wait 6 weeks for a basin waste to arrive, it kinda knocks your schedule. Saving money is great… but it can come at a cost. Your sanity.
*just a side note; plumbing standard fittings, and moving pipes was actually surprisingly straightforward. Youtube and knowledgeable dads on the end of a phone line, are a great help!
If I could offer one piece of advice to those who plan to DIY on this scale, it is to ensure that you have a clear schedule ahead. Don’t start it on the run up to Christmas. Big planning fail.
Anyway, after almost 3 months of living in a dust-covered hovel, we are slowly returning to normal. Anyone who has decorated will know that it is not just one room that DIY affects, it is the whole damn house. I openly admit to ignoring housework when I have other tasks at hand. It’s amazing/shocking what I can turn a blind eye to.
The Bathroom Makeover Reveal
Lets go waay back, to when it was nowt but a box bedroom…
Aaaaaaand now…
TA-DAH!
Planning the bathroom makeover was a bit different to the rest of the house. Rather than look at pretty pictures, then come up with a plan, we were led mostly by budget. There was no point in drawing out a slipper bath or a herringbone floor, only to find that it was out with our budget. So, we shopped.
The first purchase was the shower. It was really the catalyst for the whole project. I spotted it on ebay and bought it right away. The brass taps were a bugger to find, but again, ebay came up trumps. I’ll cut a long story short… the entire bathroom suite was bought on ebay. Anywhere else would have blown our budget. We had to buy items that we could customise, otherwise we could’t afford the bathroom we wanted.
Then we blew the budget. We absolutely fell in love with the ceramic tile herringbone floor in Tons of Tiles, so went ahead and ordered it. But isn’t she pretty? *sigh.
When Needs Must; DIY
If anyone reading this (in the UK) has tried to source a reasonably priced brass or black quadrant shower cubicle, you’ll know the struggle. Basically, you can’t. Even a ridiculously priced one is a struggle to find. So, what do you do when you can’t get what you want? That’s right. Cry. Then DIY it.
It was risky, but it worked. Every piece of chrome was sanded by hand, using fine grit sandpaper, before getting two coats of etch primer. Two top coats of black BBQ and Stove spray paint were then sealed with spray lacquer (used for vehicles) and left to cure for about a fortnight.
So far, so good. No scratches or chips. I’ll be sure to keep you updated though.
The plan was always to paint the outside of the bath. The issue was always ‘which colour?’ Initially I wanted to go for green. Then we decided to go down the burgundy route… purely because we had seen one in a fancy shop and liked it. It just wasn’t us though. Then Brian saw a terracotta one on a tv show, so took a photo to show me. We loved it. Not only was it a break away from the cooler tones we have elsewhere, but it would act as a visual link between the warmer wood tones in the hall cupboard/magic attic stairs, and the fireplace in the bedroom. Yay! We went for our old favourite, Valspar, choosing Foxtail, as it wasn’t too orange, nor too brown.
Adding Character
To tie in with the rest of the house, and to give the room a bit of personality, we opted to panel the slope of the ceiling, to allow the newly boxed in pipework to flow seamlessly around the space. I used the same decorative bead to finish as I have used in the hallway (here) and bedroom (here). The dark stained tops were old pine wardrobe sides, found in the shed… presumably furniture that was once used in number 69. I love that it has found a new life back indoors.
Also finding a new purpose, is the upcycled vanity. Bought on Gumtree for £30, it has been given a new lease of life. It took a bit of adapting to make it work, but it was worth it. The delicate moulded detail gives so much character and provides a contrast with the simple styling of the sanitary ware and fittings.
For the walls and panelling, we also went with Valspar paint in a satin finish. No surprise, I’m sure, that we kept with the grey theme that unintentionally runs throughout the house. I promise that we will be bringing colour in elsewhere. We have big colourful plans that we are VERY excited about. But for now, this is the perfect tone to complement the floor tiles and the bath colour. It works so well with the brass fittings too. This was a custom colour that we had mixed up specially. Valspar can colour match any item or swatch that you bring in. It’s like magic!!
A simple cornice has been added to give a bit of interest to the upper portion of the room.
Now that the bathroom makeover is complete, it’ll be so nice to finally be able to enjoy this space, without having to think about what is still left to finish off. Just to be able to close the door, light some candles and relax in a hot, deep bath.
Once I re-hang the door, that is.
Malcolm, your new bath is fabulous! Love the paneled detail on the walls and sloped ceiling, your color choices, fixtures and wood grain tile. This tile is very popular here in the U.S. and is often laid with very narrow grout lines that match the wood color. This stuff was very high cost when it first came out and color choices were limited – the sky’s the limit now and you can get just about any color/wood grain imaginable at reasonable prices (though install is pricey, especially with the herringbone pattern, unless you can DIY it). Your house is a true labor of love and a joy to look at on your blog. I also enjoy your written comment, it is as if you are right in the room telling me what you did and inspiring me with your creative ideas. Also love your colored renditions of your designs – they are art in themselves. Can understand your frustration with contractors, trades people. I recently had a completely self-contained addition built onto my daughter’s home. She and her family live in the country on a 12 acre farm with room for her horses. I designed my new place (it forms an L shape with the back of the existing house) with an open floor plan – great room (living/dining/kitchen), with a divided common entry (one into my daughter’s place and one into mine), a laundry room, master bedroom, bath and walk-in closet. They had redone their house last year so we could match siding and paint colors, exterior doors, roofing, concrete floored porches with planked ceilings, posts and railings, etc. We now have a 32 foot roofed porch that runs in front of my living area to the existing house as well as a covered porch to the double entry. We replaced her dining room window with a French door that opens onto the uncovered porch area, The back of her house faces East, so we have a perfect area including a huge gravel patio, with lovely landscaping she did, that is shady in the afternoon and a super place to lounge or entertain. (We can enjoy sunrise from this area or sunsets from her front porch). Since I have two French doors in my living room area and one to the deck off my dining, white walls and vaulted ceiling, I finally have the light filled home I’ve wanted for years. Even with the problems I had with the builder (my “S” list is almost a long as yours), I am pleased with final result. I bought a lot of the fixtures, lighting, ceiling fans and such from build.com and wayfair.com – if you can order from them, they have excellent selection, customer service and prices (much better than many of my local sources). I also ordered an electric fireplace insert from fireplaces.direct that heats very well and has realistic logs, flames (adjustable), different colors, with a brick look interior. This saved me over $3,000 from the cost of a gas fireplace. I had this one built into a traditional type surround but they also have ones that come complete with mantle/surround, as well as log and grate sets that just sit in an existing fireplace. Thank goodness for the internet – you can find almost anything. Again, I do enjoy your postings and look forward to future ones.
God that’s gorgeous and the floor! I now finally know what flooring I want when my bathroom is finally ripped out and thrown in a skip.
Here’s my £34 make do bodge http://thisishut.blogspot.co.uk/2017/06/budget-34-bathroom-make-over-before-and.html Not sure if that links but, bathroom in my blogs search box brings the monstrosity up.
You DIYed pipes from all the way across the house? Wow. I think one of the best parts of your blog (& your house) is that it isn’t all pretty aesthetics and “Design”. You’re really doing the work to make everything well so it will last. I don’t watch tv shows about renovating houses, where everything is up in a week & might fall down in a year. Watching your progress is an education and a treat!
Aw thank you Jen! I know what you mean about those hurried tv shows! I do like to make sure that everything I do has longevity…sometimes a hindrance as that’s why I often avoid colour. I can go off colour very quickly.
You DIYed pipes from all the way across the house? Wow. I think one of the best parts of your blog (& your house) is that it isn’t all pretty aesthetics and “Design”. You’re really doing the work to make everything well so it will last. I don’t watch tv shows about renovating houses, where everything is up in a week & might fall down in a year. Watching your progress is an education and a treat!
Hello Malcom
I’m so happy to hear that you bought your fittings on eBay ,I was looking at them there to but wondered if it would be OK to go that route ,and it is if you did it IMO ,can you share what seller your bought yours from or what style to look for ,we are in an old farm house so updating has to be on budget as we won’t be staying here forever now that husband has retired and we no longer need a farm ,another tip I got from you was to do the trim and walls the same colour ,I love it the rooms look so much less cluttered to me ,and I’ve noticed it since to be a bit trendy now ,thanks for being so inspiring ,oh and we did a styrofoam faux tin tile ceiling to cover an ugly one on the cheap and it turned out fabulous ,I preprinted the tiles before with a spray gun and rust oleum champagne metallic paint and it was so easy to do everyone loves it
Hi Paula,
First of all, your ceiling sounds fantastic!! I love that idea… I might need to do some research! Lovely to hear that I have provided some inspiration. The basin mixer, I found on amazon… I’ll have a look to see if I can find the supplier but the search I did was for ‘antique brass basin tap’. The brass shower was through ebay by a make called enki and the bath mixer comes up very quickly on ebay when you search ‘antique brass floor mixer’. I hope this helps. I will say, the bath mixer doesn’t look as good quality as the basin mixer which is solid!… I am guessing time will tell!
Love this, especially the floor. Can you please post a link to the tiles you used? Thanks.
Thank you so much! Of course, here you go;
https://www.toppstiles.co.uk/tprod47407/andira-burnt-ebony-tile.html
Just wanted to let you know that this is a stunning makeover. Everything fits together perfectly and no, the vanity is not dead looking. I love the look of it all!
Thank you so much for getting in touch Jan… I really appreciate that 🙂
well I am by no means a decorator and the bath is stunning but the vanity while having a lovely shape and form looks dead to me,could you possibly put a wee bit of sparkle on the raised portion of the doors and tiny brass or goldish knobs? I’m pretty sure I’m wrong cause if I were right you would have already done so,but couldn’t resist a couple of cents worth.
Hi Judy, thank you so much. The photographs look a little flat but in real life the marble top and polished brass knobs give it a lift. Sparkle isn’t really our thing 😊
Gorgeous! Especially love the floor. Please tell me that’s not a fake plant. If it’s real do you know what it is? I want one.
Thank you so much! 😀 Do you mean the plant in the pot beside the toilet? It’s a zz plant. Perfectly real and hard to kill. Perfect for me haha!
You win at makeovers! It has a chic and luxurious hotel bathroom feel to it. My favourite element is the panelled slope; fab detail.
Aw thank you Juan! I’m really happy with the panelled slope too… I think without it the room would look a little blank. 😊
Love ALL those fixtures….sink, tub and shower head!!! Props to your ebay shopping skills
Thank you Douglas!😀
This looks absolutely stunning!
I’ve been toying with the idea of replacing our bathroom suite myself. Not sure how much of a project it would be as a DIY job for me to do, but I’d love to give it a go.
We shall see, but seeing yours has definitely inspired me to think more about doing it.
Peter
Thanks Peter! Honestly, plumbing is pretty straightforward if you go for standard fittings. Totally worth the saving 😀
It’s lovely to see great use of what looks like a challenging area , and your use of brass and black is so refreshing. We have just gone through the DIY process of doing our bathroom and it took us eight weeks! Luckily we have a downstairs loo ! Plenty of hurdles along the way but well worth it now it’s all done 😊
An interiors magician! Love everything about this, the level of creativity with both design and budget… just wow-ness! Truly inspired and motivated with my own shoe-string budget and project.
Aw, thank you so much for such a lovely comment! So lovely to hear that you have felt inspired! x
It looks amazing. I really really love the floor- we’re currently looking for a bathroom floor for our wee shower room – I want to click the link but I’m too scared of the price!
Aw thank you Morna! Don’t click the link! haha! It was our one extravagance. Eek! However, Tons of Tiles do a herringbone vinyl tile for a fraction of the price, that looks really good!
The result is awesome Malcolm! You did much better than professionals ahah. Do you have ebay sellers to share with us? I’d like to put wall mounted taps but what we can find in the stores in France is quite ugly or too expensive. Also, did you ever experienced leaks or whatever? It’s said that if you don’t choose Grohe or Hansgrohe, you’re gonna have problems… Thank you, and congrats 🙂
Hi Jeremy, thank you so much for messaging. Great to hear that you liked it. I can no longer find the ebay sellers unfortunately, however, a search using ‘floor mounted bath tap’ throws the bath one up pretty quickly. The shower is made by ENKI, so is easily found. The basin mixer was actually amazon, ‘TRUSTMI brass basin tap’. I cant vouch for quality yet, but I have never used Grohe or Hansgrohe and have never had a problem with any of my fittings. I will say that the shower and basin mixer both feel to be very good quality, whereas the bath mixer feels a little less so. Hope this helps!
Absolutely love it! Your style really nails being fresh and modern while also in keeping with the elegant ‘bones’ of the house.
Thank you so much!! Exactly what I was hoping to achieve but so lovely to hear someone else say it! 😀
This is beautiful!! Thank you so very much for painting your chrome black! I’ve put that forward a few times with the husband to obvious raised eyebrows so I can present this to hIm! Brilliant job, it looks incredible x
Haha! Well, I can tell you, it is standing up well… not a chip or mark. 1-0 to you I think! 😀 x
Your bathroom is fantastic sure it may have brought you to tears but well worth it
My god! This is amazing! And I cannot believe you made it a bedroom to a bathroom yourself!! How on earth did you know where to start??
Aw thank you Melanie! We had the plumbers in for the re-routing of the pipes upstairs, from there we did the rest.
Wow it is just perfect in every way. Attention to detail is A+. Feels luxurious.
Thank you so much Patty! 😀
Amazing what you do! Love the creativity and use of space. The flooring really finishes the space. Love your grey paint color. Is there any way you can get me the “formula”.
Gorgeous! Love the carpentry and floor. As your house is older, did you have to do a sub floor with plyboard or similar so you had a level surface to tile onto? Just wondering as I have a Victorian house and always worried about movement and wonky floors so never braved floor tiling on a top floor/over floorboards…
Hi Emma, thank you! 🙂 Yes, I laid a 12mm plywood subfloor, just to make sure that there was no movement. I’ve used cement backing board over this in the past, for areas exposed to water. I didn’t the last couple of times and it was fine. Just ensure that the original floorboards are secured firmly first. Though I must add I am by no means an expert. XD
Wow!! I am absolutely in awe of your talent!!! What a seamlessly layered space with such an attention to detail. It looks so expensive and beautifully finished! Lots of these 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼 from me xx
Aw Sarah, thank you so much! High praise indeed coming from you!! xxx
Bathroom looks amazing, my Eyes went immediately to the floor, it is so beautiful and looks like wood but amazed to find out that it is tiles. You and Brian can now enjoy this space in your lovely home.
Thank you so much Karen! We were totally against the idea of ‘faux’ wood tile…then saw this. Love at first sight. 😀 x
That sink! Love it 😍
Thank you Mhairi! Considering the budget was tight, I’m really pleased with it. 🙂
It looks lovely, and the herringbone floor looks great, I thought it was wood. I do wonder about the practicalities though. How easy is it to get to the boxed in pipework, the electrics for the shower, and the toilet cistern if needed? Also, I can’t see how you flush the toilet, is there a button out of shot?
Thank you. No, it’s tile. Very easy to keep clean.
Sorry Julia, I only saw the first part of your message. There are access panels for the pipework to be able to turn off if needed. Shelves are removable to be able to access from above too, making the cistern easy to access. The shower isn’t electric, its a thermostatic valve. The flush is just out of shot…it has been sprayed to co-ordinate too..incase you were wondering 😉
Aah, very neat, and lovely.
Thank you 🙂
It’s stunning. I love the stylish simplicity of it and the colour of the Bath is fabulous!
Thank yo so much 🙂
Wow Malcolm, just wow! Huge kudos to you for all that DIY, what a journey. Your resulting bathroom is an absolute triumph! Every detail is gorgeous! 😍😍😍
Thank you Meera! Got there eventually! haha!