Bathroom renovation! How it works?

lthough it’s usually the smallest room in the house, it is a notoriously difficult room to get right. Maybe it’s because there can be so many suppliers and specialists skills that are involved: the tiles, the sanitaryware, taps and tubs; the plumber, the tiler the electrician et al. The fact is, one all of these elements have been added in, it’s pretty difficult (and expensive) to change them. You want to do it once and do it well. So take your time and do your research. And have a read of the advice gathered from House & Garden insiders and friends – things they’d wish they known, what they learned along the way, and the mistakes they made which they want you to learn from. I’ll go fist.

It was a mistake to get rid of the bathtub. My bathroom is pretty teeny so my idea was to sacrifice the small tub in favour of a larger shower. It would feel more spacious, I thought. It would feel more modern. Who needs a bath, anyway? It turns out that I do, around three or four times a year: maybe once with glass of wine and a book, definitely when I’m feeling poorly and sorry for myself, and also on those damp, cold winter days when the only way of getting the chill out of your bones is to have a bath. But no, I have a shower. It’s a great shower, don’t get me wrong. But it ain’t a bath.

Grout!  Never underestimate grout!  When the builder started filling in between the tiles with the usual creamy-white grout I had a kind of panic. It didn’t look like the picture I had in my head. It sounds perfectly simple, but it makes such a difference. Going for a coloured grout which makes the treatment of these tiles so much more graphic and far less public swimming pool. Insist on the things you love!  I’m obsessed with heat. And I’d always wanted a shower that was also a steam room. Everybody said steam rooms in showers don’t work and break and are hopeless.  I felt like an idiot pushing and pushing on it when I am not a practical person.  But we have steam. And it works. And I heat myself up like a baked potato in it every day. Wood for feeling grounded.  Originally the line above the tiles was just white paint. And I love blue and white; it is the colour palette of summer and the Mediterranean and holidays.  But in London in Winter it felt stark and mean and raw.  This is a cheeky wood effect that is actually wallpaper, so not crazy expensive.  It made the whole room find its footing.  It’s warmer, more contained, it feels both a bit clubby and also smart.