When I moved into my new flat I knew I needed to do quite a bit of DIY. Most of the rooms needed painting at the very least, but the only room I didn't have to touch was the bathroom. I idly thought
if I had enough money left after furnishing the place, I would look into re-tiling it, but that was the extent of my bathroom ambitions.
Until the DAY OF TERROR. I had a tiler in to do the kitchen, and as he was here I asked him to fit a shower screen in the bathroom (which I'd planned to do myself, but wimped out about drilling into tiles). He pointed out some loose tiles that needed fixed before they caused a problem, I agreed, and then left him to it.
My mum had been in the flat as I was at work. First she called me to say they'd got started and all was fine, then she called me to say she'd authorised the shower being replaced (and I grumbled because it was going to cost an extra £100), and then she called, and in a very serious voice asked when I could come home.
Turned out that the bathroom had been leaking from various points for a very long time. The floor was totally ruined with damp, the bath was cracked, the plasterboard was damaged, and I was very lucky to find it when I did (and not a month or so later by falling through the floor!). The solution - replace the floors and the walls and install an entirely new bathroom. I cried and I cried and I felt more stress than I had in a very long time. But now that can all feel like a distant nightmare... because look at it!
When I found out that it all needed done (and that I was getting kicked out of my brand new flat in the process), I just wanted it done as quickly as possible. That meant I skipped going to any bathroom shops or showrooms, I just found what I wanted online that was in stock and could be delivered quickly, and hoped that my gut instinct would turn out okay!
The first thing I chose was these amazing blue metro tiles (from
Topps Tiles). I'd already daydreamed about blue tiles in my
bathroom planning post, and a reader had commented with a link to these beauties (thank you thank you!), which made the first step so much easier. They were a bit over my budget, but I loved them so much I couldn't resist.
The bathroom units are from
Bathstore - I bought the
MyPlan WC unit and the
Mino sink unit in walnut. In a stroke of much-needed luck they had a half-price sale on the weekend I needed to buy all my things, so I managed to get both for under £300 (which still seems horrific, but they had next-day delivery too).
The floor tiles are
rough stone ones from B&Q - I literally just picked the nicest looking grey ones that were in stock in my local store, but luckily they're really nice in person! The guy who worked on my bathroom (
Top Quality Tiling in Edinburgh) was ace - I would email him the items I liked, and in most cases he could get them cheaper with a trade discount and just bring me the receipt (I have no idea if this is just standard practice when you get work done, but it made my life so much easier!).
I am delighted with my shower - I've always wanted one with a rainforest showerhead, but thought they would be mega expensive... turns out it's not actually that much more! I bought this
Mira shower and it is the VERY BEST THING. You can switch between the showerheads depending on if you want to get your hair wet or not, and it brings me such joy! (I'm aware how dull this post is making me sound).
The little bathroom trolley is actually an
Ikea kitchen trolley! I bought it when I first moved into the flat and it's so handy - I've got other storage in the bathroom for medicine and boring things, but this is ace for having soaps and bath bombs and lotions and potions all in easy reach!
The walls are painted in
Dulux Bathroom Frosted Steel, which I picked up thinking it was white (I obviously did not read the label), and only discovered it was actually definitely grey when the walls were painted. Luckily there's enough silver and grey in the room that it works, and I can pretend it was a deliberate choice!
The hardest thing to pick for this room was (weirdly) the taps. They caused me SO MUCH STRESS. Everyone told me that while I could buy a cheap bath/sink/toilet, I needed to get nice taps... and I realised I had no idea what nice taps looked like. Taps also somehow cost a fortune?! Anyway, I eventually settled on this style... which was sold out, so my plumber picked something very similar, saving me from the hassle of trying to choose again (thank god).
And finally, I knew I wanted my bathroom to be full of leafy plants (and I had a couple of pipes to hide), so I bought this amazing Devil's Ivy from B&Q. It slots in perfectly in the dead space between the sink and the wall, and is leafy and lovely.
I'm so pleased with it, but my god. It's been a bit of a journey to get here!