Bathroom Design Ideas

Floor heating is an excellent option for that extra room in the house, such as a bathroom. It means you do not need to take up wall space with radiators, which can also be a pain if you are adding a new ensuite as you will need to get the central heating company in to move pipe work and install new radiator points.

Underfloor heating can take away all of this hassle and can be incredibly simple to fit, especially if you go down the route of using a heat mat electric system. This has no moving parts and is installed on top of a layer of insulation, for example Marmox, before the floor tiles or laminate are fitted on top. You then need the services of an electrician to connect up the heating mat and the thermostatic controls. This solution helps create warmth in the bathroom, which means the room can be used for more of the year than you may initially have thought, especially if you ensure that any solid walls are also well insulated to prevent heat loss.

You could also choose to have a wet underfloor heating system installed in your bathroom. This system uses heated water fed into pipe work, however it must be installed at build stage as it needs to be set into the floor, and then the concrete screed is poured over the top. However, it will add an extra degree of warmth that will make the room welcoming for longer periods of time when your relaxing or unwinding.

Contemporary bathroom wall accessories are rapidly becoming as trendy as ‘must have’ kitchenware.

It is of crucial importance to always have a coherent view of what the bathroom will look like as a whole. Buying one expensive item and finding it clashes with another is to be avoided, whenever possible.

For example, towel racks, once a merely functional part of the bathroom, now come in a multitude of styles far removed from a simple heated metal bar. Indeed, at the top end of the market, towel racks may even incorporate mirrors and shelves. Select one that best blends in with your other fixtures.

Similarly, the old bathroom mirror, tacked up on the wall above the sink, is a thing of the past. Experiment with full-length mirrors or one made up of several smaller ones. Surround it with lights or choose a groovy frame.

Heaters are another case in point. Instead of hiding it away in a corner or burying it next to a vanity unit, why not mount it on the wall? As most now feature built-in timers, imagine how luxurious it will make the bathroom on a cold winter’s morning.

Lighting is another accessory fast becoming stylish. Forget the traditional centrally mounted ceiling lamp. Festoon the bath with hanging lights or install an elegant metal rod with multi-directional lamps.

Finally, if your bathroom is one of the smaller rooms of the house, how about mounting an extra cabinet on the wall? It will greatly increase space for bathrobes and towels and keep the rest of the area free to relax in.

The bathroom is the place where we go to relax, to forget the travails of modern society, an oasis of calm in a frenetic, confusing world.

Unfortunately, especially for those with children, it is also a potential safety hazard.

Small children love to run around, anywhere and at all times. This is as true in the bathroom as it is in the kitchen. Thinking of this, you may well decide to remove the glass toothbrush holder and your favourite glass knick-knacks from the shelf and side of the sink. Ceramic soap dishes are also something you may well choose to throw out.

Why children are so fascinated by keys is one of life’s mysteries. Having the key in the lock, inside the bathroom door, is courting disaster. If it is not swallowed, it will be turned, leaving the child either choking or cheerfully running a bath to splash around in; with you on the outside.

Bathroom floors, for fairly obvious reasons, tend to be wet, which means slippery. Ceramic tiles are a particular concern, turning into a skating rink after every bath time. Rubberised bath mats, strategically scattered over the floor is a good idea.

If a child does manage to turn on a tap, it will be the hot one, so regulate the temperature on the boiler. This may be a nuisance, but will cut down on potential scalding.

Finally, we come to hairdryers. You may be running late for an appointment, having to quickly style your hair in front of the bathroom mirror, become distracted and leave the hairdryer on the side of the sink. Result – disaster.

Refurbishing a bathroom can be an expensive affair. A new bath or shower unit can set a house owner back a considerable amount of money, but even if you cannot afford a total overhaul of your existing bathroom, replacing an old and lifeless vanity unit can do wonders to even the most jaded of bathrooms and not cost the earth.

There are as many different vanity units on the market as there are bathroom sinks. It is therefore of crucial importance that you have a clear idea of which of the many types will best fit into your existing bathroom.

Although this is true of many of the other accessories in your bathroom, the vanity unit deserves especial care, because of the composite nature of the fixture. In general the unit consists of taps, a washbasin and mirror. These all need to fit into the overall layout of your bathroom.

Also, choose a size that will be suitable. Although storage space is, of course, the main reason why vanity units are chosen in the first place, there is no point in buying one that is too large. This will only defeat the entire object of the exercise, an uncluttered bathroom.

For those who need a great deal of storage space and have the room to do so, a traditional cabinet style should prove sufficient. Conversely, someone with more limited requirements may find the pedestal style more than adequate for their needs.

Tiles are one of the favourite means by which people renovate their bathroom floors. They are easy to clean; functional and easily adaptable to help you create your own bathroom design.

Tiles laid out in geometric patterns are extremely stylish, while laid diagonally, with a splash of contrasting colour, makes for a striking and original look to any bathroom.

Tiles are also extremely durable. However, accidents do occur from time to time and the look of smashed tiles is not something that anybody would willingly put up with for long.

The average homeowner is generally helpless when confronted by the prospect of removing bathroom tiles, yet a few easy steps should put courage into even the faintest heart.

First up is to remove the grouting that surrounds the smashed tile. For this you will need a reasonably good quality utility knife and some grout remover. Be careful, if you drop any of the remover on surrounding tiles you may well have to remove and replace them.

The next step is one that involves a quick prayer. If the tile is old and has been stuck down with glue, it will be tricky to remove. If this is the case, hammer a hole in the tile and chisel around the offending object. Do not be too concerned at causing some damage to the underlay, as this will be covered by the new tile. With any luck you will be able to simply prise away the existing fragments.

Finally, be sure to thoroughly clean any detritus off the floor before slotting the new tile into place, making sure that it lies level with those surrounding it. Leave for a day before completing with a new layer of grouting.

This is the million-dollar question, just how easy is it to fit underfloor heating and can you do it yourself? Quite simply, it really depends on your own skills and knowledge. Electric underfloor heating is the easiest system to fit, especially now that the use of heat matting has been introduced. The matting is very thin, which makes it a good choice for an existing room, as you can take the carpet up, add insulation and heat matting to the top and then re-lay a floor of laminate over the top. The finished floor level will not be too different from the rest of the house; you may have a small lip between the rooms, but nothing more prominent.

Underfloor heating is more appropriate for new builds, as the upheaval in an existing room would be phenomenal. The whole floor would have to come up and pipe work has to be set into the floor, so this really isn’t the best option for existing spaces or for the DIY enthusiast. In the case of a wet underfloor heating system you are looking at skills in plumbing and electrics, while for heat mats or cables, only electrical skills are required. If you can employ an electrician and help with some of the foundation work yourself, installing an electric underfloor heating system may actually be quite straightforward. It then becomes simply a question of whether you have the skills required to lay the floor covering.