A new bath­room is a sig­nif­i­cant project in the scheme of house ren­o­va­tion and re-designs, so don’t jump into it with­out ample thought and research.

Don’t under­es­ti­mate what needs to be planned and con­sid­ered when design­ing your new bath­room. When I was ren­o­vat­ing our bath­room there were so many con­sid­er­a­tions I wasn’t able to list them in order of impor­tance, instead I ini­tially focused on the over­all look and ambi­ence that I wanted to cre­ate; that is a great place to start your research if you haven’t already estab­lished your new look. The sec­ond area to con­sider is plumb­ing as costs can mount quickly when mov­ing a bath­room to the other side of the house.

What about an ultra mod­ern look with alot of chrome and glass?  Per­haps if you have an older house and the French Coun­try or the Shabby Chic style is more the look you would like to por­tray. Either way, the points you will need to con­sider are still the same.

I have listed below some areas that really need to be con­sid­ered when research­ing bath­room design.

Floor­ing: A hard­wood floor can look great in a bath­room, but con­sider the impli­ca­tions if the bath over­flows, or just the gen­eral day to day wet and steam a bath­room pro­duces.  In colder cli­mates some home­own­ers pre­fer a bathroom-specific car­pet, yet in the warmer cli­mates, usu­ally only floor tiles would be considered.

Light­ing: Whilst most bath­rooms con­tain recessed lights, or a com­bi­na­tion heat/fan/light sys­tem, don’t go past a glo­ri­ous chan­de­lier.  I ren­o­vated my small bath­room with an all white look with a large crys­tal chan­de­lier hang­ing down. It is a very dra­matic effect that appeals in a mod­ern style as well as the fash­ion­able French coun­try look.

Don’t for­get nat­ural light as well.  Per­haps dur­ing this bath­room ren­o­va­tion it is the time to install a larger win­dow in the bath­room to allow in more light and ventilation.

Walls: Most home­own­ers opt for wall tiles either floor to ceil­ing or half way up. If you are after a more dra­matic look why not think about some funky wall­pa­per, just ensure that you don’t use an uncoated paper as it will not last the distance.If you like to change the look of a room reg­u­larly then wall­pa­per is for you, as it is easy to hang and inex­pen­sive com­pared to re-tiling.

Bath Tub: Do you want a sep­a­rate bath tub from shower, or do you need to put the shower over the tub?The vari­ety of bath tubs on the mar­ket today is fan­tas­tic, no mat­ter the style of your bath­room there will be a beau­ti­ful bath to suit. Remem­ber all those sunken baths in the 70s, maybe they’ll make a come­back? What­ever bath tub you decide on, do your research and look at all options before mak­ing your decision.

Bath Tub & Basin Faucets: Where do you start to think about this vital com­po­nent of your new bath­room?  I think the best place is to decide what you want the faucets and taps made from – chrome, brass, aged brass, etc. That will then nar­row down your options.Bathroom faucets can cost well up into the hun­dreds of dol­lars each, but there are cheaper options so shop around to find one in your budget.Good qual­ity and lower price options are avail­able, so do your research. Hav­ing said that make sure they are made to a qual­ity that will last the distance.

Toi­let: Is the toi­let going to be in the bath­room, or does space allow you to install it in a sep­a­rate room?  The most impor­tant aspect of this deci­sion is the plumb­ing.  Will new plumb­ing have to be laid?

Elec­tri­cal Out­lets: How many do you need and where do you want them?You also don’t want to for­get shaver sockets.Your local area will have reg­u­la­tions that you must com­ply with in regard to elec­tri­cal out­lets, so check what they are and do the right thing, as water and elec­tric­ity don’t mix. Some coun­tries won’t even allow elec­tri­cal sock­ets in the bath­room, so ensure you know your local laws.

Stor­age: Think about what you plan to store in your bath­room.  Will the tow­els need to be housed there or do you have a linen cup­board for them? If you only want to store toi­letries, then you could con­sider a large van­ity with stor­age cup­boards below. If you are one of the lucky ones with a large bath­room space, then con­sider built-in cup­board to hide every­thing away, or even an ele­gant armoire of you have a vin­tage style bathroom.

I dream of the day I can have a bath­room the size of a large bed­room com­plete with open fire­place, a large claw foot bath in the mid­dle of the room and a big comfy sofa … ah keep dreaming.

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