Katie Wells
How To Plan Your Bathroom Renovation
The bathroom is a place where you and your family start and finish every day. From getting ready for the day ahead to winding down in the evening, the bathroom plays a big role in our day to day. And yet, it is a space that is often bottom of the list for home improvements.
Updating your bathroom design can make you fall in love with your home even more. Being one of the most used rooms in your house, a beautiful bathroom space brings a sense of joy to your everyday routines. Whether you’re looking to do a small upgrade or completely redo your bathroom, we’re here to help you get started on your bathroom renovation.
Getting Started
Before you can get onto the fun bits of selecting your colour scheme and choosing your fittings, there are a few practical steps you need to take that will help you plan your renovation:
Understand your budget
The first thing to do before undergoing any project is to understand how much you have available to spend on your bathroom renovation. This will help you know how much you can allocate to each area of the bathroom and select your products accordingly. Having a budget in mind to start with and sticking to it will keep your project as stress-free as possible as you will have planned for all the costs involved.
Know your dimensions
Measure, measure and measure again. Before you can start planning the layout or looking at products, you need to know the dimensions of your bathroom. It’s important that the measurements you’re working from are accurate to avoid any nasty surprises, like running out of tiles or your furniture unit not fitting the space.
Locate water lines and electrical outlets
To be able to effectively plan your layout, it’s a good idea to first locate any water lines and electrical cables and outlets. Moving or redirecting these will increase the cost of your bathroom renovation, so planning your layout based on where they already are is a good way to keep expenses down.
Plan for the removal of existing fittings
Before any work can begin on your new bathroom, any old fittings will need to be removed from the space. In many cases, your contractor or bathroom installer will take care of this, but it is important to check that this is included in their service, otherwise, this could delay the installation of your new bathroom.
Choosing Your Colour Scheme
Once you’ve got all the practical considerations out of the way, it’s time to start on the fun part – designing the look and feel of your bathroom. The first thing to start with is deciding your colour scheme. Are you wanting a light, neutral, spa-like environment, or are you inspired by colourful, bold and homely interiors?
The colours you choose will impact the atmosphere of the space, so it’s important to create the right feeling while selecting colours that you love. When choosing your colour scheme, it’s a good idea to choose three colours, a primary, a secondary and an accent tone. Once you have your colour palette, use the 60-30-10 rule to determine how these colours are used in the space. Your primary colour should cover 60% of the space, for example in the walls and tiles. The secondary colour should take up 30%, such as your furniture or half-wall panelling. Finally, your accent colour should cover 10% of the space, for example, the colour of your brassware, accessories and lights. Our three core finishes extend across our brassware, accessories and shower fixings, making it easy to bring in a striking accent colour throughout your space.
To help you build your colour palette and decide how to use each colour, gather inspirational pictures to get a vision. For more inspiration, head to our Instagram page to see how others have designed their bathrooms.
Plan Your Storage
Creating dedicated storage space is key when designing any room in your home, but most importantly the bathroom. Being a place of relaxation, you want to keep your bathroom clear of clutter and make sure that any cleaning products or spare toilet rolls are tucked away. The easiest way to add adequate storage to your bathroom is through your choice of furniture unit. Our selection of furniture offers a range of sizes, styles and colours, ensuring that there is a perfect solution for every bathroom size, colour scheme and layout.
For a storage unit tailored to your individual needs, explore our Hackney range. Hackney uses a modular system that allows you to get creative and personalise your bathroom furniture with a storage solution that ticks every box. The Hackney drawer unit is available in a range of sizes and can be combined with a number of shelving units or a second drawer unit, providing a wide range of configurations, styles and storage solutions.
A simple but stylish design, our Camberwell wall hung furniture unit offers a sophisticated modern style. With its soft and soothing colours, Camberwell furniture offers a calming addition to your modern bathroom design. Its double-drawer design creates plenty of space to hold all your essentials. Camberwell also offers the opportunity to bring through your accent colour by matching the furniture handles to your brassware and accessories.
For smaller bathroom designs, opt for the Dalston furniture unit. Bold and sleek by design, Dalston brings alluring design to your contemporary bathroom with its four beautiful colour options and handleless design. The deep single drawer offers plenty of storage space while presenting a refined finish.
Choose Your Basin Style
Once you’ve considered your furniture, you can start thinking about your basin options. Do you want an integrated basin to turn your furniture into a vanity unit, or do you want a modern and stylish countertop basin? Both our Hackney and Camberwell ranges offer both basin or worktop options, allowing you to choose how to complete your furniture unit.
An integrated basin provides the practicality of an all-in-one unit while a countertop basin gives your bathroom a sophisticated and luxurious look. We offer countertop basins in a range of shapes and styles to make your finished design unique. The option you choose depends largely on your desired look but may also be determined by your space and budget.
Select Your Toilet Style
One of the most important features to consider when designing your new bathroom is your toilet, therefore you need to make sure it’s both right for your design style and functions how you want it to. The first thing to ask yourself is do you want a close-coupled toilet where the cistern is attached to the bowl, or do you want a wall-hung or back-to-wall toilet where the cistern is concealed within the wall and operated by a flush plate or button? Answering this will narrow down your search and make it easier to find what you are looking for. You can then start to consider shape and aesthetics.
To help you find the right toilet for your design and understand the terminology, check out our toilet guide.
Add The Finishing Touches
So you know your colour scheme, you’ve got your storage sorted and you’ve decided on all the key fittings within your new bathroom. The only thing left is to add your finishing touches. Bathroom accessories are an essential consideration for any design. Turning a great design into a functional space for the everyday, accessories are the finishing touch that completes your bathroom. But it’s not just about making your bathroom function, accessories also allow you to bring through your accent colour and statement of style. They are a fantastic way to personalise your space in even the subtlest of ways. Our accessories perfectly colour match our brassware and shower fixings to help you extend your accent colour throughout the whole bathroom to achieve a sophisticated and coordinated design. From toilet roll holders to robe hooks, discover our accessory collection to add the finishing touches to your new bathroom design.
