What to Think About Before You Renovate Your Bathroom

Aside from kitchens, bathrooms are one of the most commonly renovated rooms in any home. Bathrooms might be one of the smallest rooms in the home, but they also are the ones with a lot of potential too. And if you’re renovating and you get it wrong then these decisions will haunt you every single day.

So if a bathroom renovation is on the cards for you, here are some things you need to think about before you do anything else.

Your Budget

Before you do anything else, you need to be clear on your budget: how much you are spending, what you can allocate for an emergency or unforeseen issue that arises, and what this budget needs to cover

Running the numbers first means you can have a better idea of what is possible and what your funds will stretch to. 

Look at the fitting and features you want, price them up, include any bathroom fitters you need to pay for, tools, materials, etc and apply these prices to your budget to realistically assess what you can expect to afford. This can help rule out many budget issues you might come across halfway through.

The Layout

Not all bathroom renovations require the changing of the layout, but if this is something you want or need to happen, then the layout needs to be carefully considered as a priority before doing anything else.

The more you move around, the more expensive the renovation will be. But more than this, you need to know how the new layout will work for your day-to-day activities. Map out the new placement using masking tape and live with this for a few days to see if it’s going to work for you or not. For the most part, working with your existing layout will often be preferable, but if you’re moving things around, it’s best to make sure you know exactly what they will feel like before you commit.

The Materials

The materials you choose will determine the look and feel of the bathroom once it’s completed. It will also affect the durability and the lifespan of the bathroom.

Materials to put more consideration into include tiles, surfaces and flooring, as these need to be chosen with the wet environment in mind. Slip resistance cleaning and better resistance also need to play a part here too.

Next, look at the different finishes you’re considering and see how well these will age. Not all finishes will have longevity and can look tired and worn, and need replacing even a few months down the line.

Storage

All bathrooms need storage, that’s a fact. And if you’re not considering this, your plan will fail instantly, and the result won’t be what you imagine.

Instead of thinking of storage as an afterthought, you need to make sure it’s part of your original plans. You need to think about what exactly you need to store in the bathroom and where this storage will fit into your plans. Recessed shelving vanity units and mirrored cabinets are popular choices and work well in most bathroom designs. But if you’re adding them after the fact, they lose the impact, and you’re reacting to the problem. You need to be planning for it and include storage options as an essential decision before you change anything.