DIY PROJECTS: New Bathroom Update

So, you might remember from a few months ago, our whole house was turned upside down as we had a new bathroom fitted. This was a big BIG job that involved pulling down a wall, totally moving our back door and we also went without running water for a couple of weeks, which a horrific experience…. I haven’t even talked about the dust or the mess. I think you get the picture, it was not fun. However, it was TOTALLY worth it. Our bathroom isn’t finished yet but I’m loving it so far.

Since then, our new bathroom suite has been fitted and I’ve enjoyed looooong, hot baths however, it hasn’t all been smooth sailing, nothing ever is when it comes to DIY, right? Choosing the actual bathroom suite is one thing, but making it look relaxing and beautiful is whole other ball game and has been a tricky one. Do you remember I wrote this planning post? Well, after writing that we still had two big decisions to make, we knew we wanted to keep the Victorian styling but still hadn’t decided on two things – the colour scheme and the flooring.

Firstly, let’s talk about the colour scheme. We decided on green and went to B&Q to buy the paint using those little paint swatches. We found one that looked like a gorgeous muted light green…… mixed it up, brought it home and when we got home and saw it in natural lighting it was actually BRIGHT lime green. Trying not to be put off we painted one wall with the green and left it for nearly a week to see if it ‘grew on us’…. But no, every morning I would stare at it from the shower and think how awful it looked – it couldn’t stay.  We decided to paint it our trusty Farrow and Ball shade, which we love so much we have painted our living room, bedroom and now the bathroom in it. It’s just a great neutral shade that will go with anything, so we can make each room different with pops of colour and ornamental elements.

(You can still see a hint of green in this photo – next coat it will be gone!)

Next up was the biggest decision of the whole bathroom – THE FLOOR. This really does set the whole room’s style and was a big decision. We knew we wanted a victorian look, but couldn’t quite decide on a pattern. We spent a good few weekends going around our local flooring stores and it was a really close call between our top two designs. I loved some these vinyl designs, I was thinking a subtle grey and white pattern, or something quite neutral. The great thing about vinyl is that it’s durable, easy to clean and quite low cost, compared to other options we had seen.

However, Vee had something else in mind – she had seen some old fashioned chequerboard tiles (see photos!), complete with the decorative borders. Not such good value for money, expensive to lay and not easy to keep clean so I tried to convince her that vinyl might be the best option. It was a close call, but being the pushover I am (and avoiding a domestic in the middle of a tile store) we went for the tiles in the end and I have to say, they actually do look pretty damn gorgeous.

One thing we did agree on was under floor heating (which is a-mazing) we’ve had a whole system fitted under the floor that has a whole timer system, meaning I can set it for the morning and before we wake up the bathroom is toasty warm, it’s the best invention ever!

So, this was a bit of a ramble about the latest additions to our bathroom, but it’s getting there! I’ll be doing a full ‘finished tour’ post when it’s all done – not long to go now!

Post written in collaboration with Carpetright, however all bathroom tales of woe, domestics, dust and sponge baths are my own. Sadly.