Bathrooms aren’t the sort of places you think much about when it comes to redecorating your home. After all; you don’t spend much time in them each day! But, as time goes on, our once-gleaming and modern bathrooms start to decay.
The one in my home, in particular, was horrible. I never got round to giving it a revamp until the other week. I won’t lie about it; my bathroom sucked, and I hated it! The mould on the walls and ceiling started to grow out of control, despite my best efforts to air the room each day.
Then I started having toilet troubles. The inlet pipe started leaking each time I flushed the toilet. As a result, I had to put a small plastic container to “catch” the water. Otherwise, it would soak the floorboards underneath and go through to the ceiling below.
I also had an annoying leak from my bathtub too. I’d spend a lot of time and money having my hall and landing plastered and painted. But then part of it got ruined by the water leak from my bathtub!
As you can imagine from the picture I’m painting here, I had the bathroom from hell. The worst thing of all is that the bathroom was only refurbished around five years ago! That got done by the previous occupants, and it looks like they paid for a poor quality job.
Today, though, I’m pleased to report that I have a brilliant new bathroom that I love! So, the question is: what did I do to revamp it? Well, there were quite a few things I did to transform my bathroom from hell. Let me walk you through them:
I gutted the bathroom
To save on cost, I decided to hire a skip and gut the old bathroom myself. Anyone that knows me will tell you that I’m quite the DIY expert! Of course, I did rope in some volunteers to help me shift some stuff. But, most of the dismantling (read: smashing up) got done with my own fair hands!
Believe it or not, the task doesn’t take that long to complete. The only things to be aware of are the plumbing. I had to install some valves on the water inlet pipes for the bathtub and toilet. And, of course, I had to seal off the waste pipes for obvious reasons.
Next up was the removal of the old flooring and the wall tiles. It felt a little therapeutic if I’m honest!
I had the walls and ceiling plastered
There was some water damage on parts of the walls and ceiling, so I decided to get my plasterer friend to help me skim them. I thought about doing the work alone, but it would have taken too long!
I fitted new wall and floor tiles
One skill I’m good at is tiling. I chose some nice tiles that gave my bathroom a larger and airy feel, and I began the work. If you’re going to tile your bathroom, make sure you’ve got the right tools for the job!
I chose and fitted a cool vanity unit
Storage space was always an issue in my old bathroom. To be honest, I wasn’t sure how to sort the problem out at first. I then discovered a buyers guide to vanity units on the Web and it helped me to choose the right one for my bathroom.
I chose and had installed a new bathroom suite
My bathroom needed a new bathtub, toilet and sink as I demolished the old ones! I decided to go for a clean, modern look. My bathroom isn’t huge, so I wanted a style that didn’t make it look cramped.
If I had to do it again…
The only piece of advice I’d give you is to check out plenty of different options for your new bathroom. Don’t feel you are just limited to a particular style or brand! Oh, and make sure you choose items that fit in well if you have a small bathroom. Good luck!
