Are you looking to renovate your bathroom?

COLUMN Donna White

Renovate’s interior design expert Donna White takes a refreshing look at designing bathrooms.
Are you looking to renovate your bathroom? A redesign is not just about how it looks – although that is very important – it's about practicalities too. Remembering that a nice hot bath will just about fix anything.
The most important thing you can do prior to the start of a bathroom renovation project is to prepare. This means to know what style you want, to know how to arrange the space efficiently, to plan for good storage, to know how much you can or are willing to spend, and to use the best people to get the job done.
Firstly, understanding the style of a new bathroom you want will give you a design direction to follow. To help my interior design clients understand what style they like, I often ask them to tear out pictures from magazines. However, the resulting collection of images may need fine-tuning as you should always work with the style of home you live in.
Who uses the bathroom will also influence the style and type of items you select.  Ask yourself if it will be a shared space for the family, an at home luxury spa, or simply a practical extra bathroom?

A bathroom should be efficient. So, having decided on the style you want, consider how best to arrange the physical space logically. The way to do this is to draw a simple floor plan to scale 1:20, including existing or proposed units. Refresh Renovations can take care of this for you.  The current layout can be changed, if the scale drawing shows you a better way. 
If you're planning a significant change, such as expanding the space, or the bathroom is part of a major renovation, consulting a renovation specialist is essential.  Council will require architectural plans. A renovation specialist can advise you on spatial issues. They can take the mystery out of colour, pattern and texture relating to floor and wall tiles, vanity, bench tops, lighting, window treatments, and storage.
A home can never have too much storage. So, think about bathroom storage solutions for towels, grooming and cosmetic products, bathroom cleaners, hairdryers, shavers and children's bath toys. Keep clutter off the floor, because statistics show most household accidents occur in the bathroom. 
Few people actually like to crunch numbers. However, establishing a budget is the only way to determine what you can afford. Plumbing, tiling and electrics all require professional expertise, and that costs money. 
My secret is to use every trick in the book – from bright lighting and large mirrors to pale reflective flooring and subtle window treatments – to improve the feeling of space in what is often the smallest room in the house. Wall mounted items are excellent for small bathrooms because you can see more of the floor, giving the impression that the room is much bigger than it actually is.

You might be interested in reading: Bathroom planning checklist.

This article by Donna White featured in Issue 006 of Renovate Magazine. Renovate Magazine is an easy to use resource providing fresh inspiration and motivation at every turn of the page.

 

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*All information is believed to be true at time of publishing and is subject to change.