The bathroom - from drab to fab (hopefully!)

FINALLY, we’re starting our bathroom renovation. I’m thrilled. I’ve hated this room the most since we moved in. It’s tiny - barely enough room for half a person, let alone two! It had lovely (that’s sarcasm) sunflower tiles which I had to paint over when we moved in cause I couldn’t handle them, a window that doesn’t close, no exhaust fan (just an old vented ceiling covered in some spray-on concrete-like stuff) and a super-heavy door that also won’t close because it’s back is tiled?!!? Who does that? Weird.

Before: drab and falling apart vanity

The linen cupboard takes up most of the room! It's going

The huge shower will be replaced with a bath/shower combo

The PC items (I don’t actually know what PC stands for, but that’s your loo, vanity, shower etc) are just a vanity and a shower. A linen cupboard takes up a huge chunk of the room, so whoever designed it didn’t make the most of the space. There’s no toilet. That’s in the old garage which was converted into a bedroom and is on the other side of the house. And no bath. I LOVE baths and was devastated to leave my old claw-foot bath in our other house when we moved.

I made up several plans and was actually surprised when the builder said it was doable - we’re going to fit a bath, shower, toilet and vanity in the tiny 1.8m by 2.2m space. Ok, so the shower and bath are combined, but still…

Tip: If you’re clueless about where to start a renovation, call your local hardware store or trade centre (like a plumbing place) and ask them for recommendations.

SHOP TIL I DROP Before any building can be done, I’ve got to organise my PC items so I shop, shop and shop some more for tiles, towel rails, a toilet, bath, vanity, taps… Don’t feel you need to head immediately to the nearest bathroom renovation centre. Hardware stores sell a lot of the PC items (Bunnings rocks), BIG W sells taps and mirrors; and Howard’s Storage World has great towel rails and bits and bobs. I was happy to spend on the vanity and taps, but for everything else, I was happy to buy the cheapest piece to fit the space. In the end, I spent up big at Bunnings on the wall tiles, taps, toilet, bath, exhaust fan and vanity. I bought some feature mosaics for $10 each at Amber Tiles (on sale - bargain) and the floor tiles from CTM. I also ordered a window and frameless mirror.