Welcome to August’s blog!

We have been busy this month with some extension projects, bathroom renovations, laundry redesign and builds, and working on our new home builds. Today, I thought we could talk about bathrooms and some details that people don’t regularly think about. 

The most important thing to keep in mind when renovating your bathroom is “What do I want?” While this seems like an obvious question, what, who, and how you are going to use the bathroom affects what you need to include. For example, something as simple as choosing a mirror becomes much more important if you’ve got small children or a tall adult as the main user. In this instance, you will need to make sure it is big enough to include all the various heights in the household. In another scenario, if you enjoy wearing makeup, you may want to splurge for a skylight (or maybe a few extra down-lights). Below is a list of items we try and get our clients to think about when designing their new bathroom:

• General considerations

  Some common considerations include considering if your bathroom needs to be child friendly or cater for elderly use. This will affect hand rail placement, size of bath and height of the vanity. Thinking about main purpose is a good place to start when planning your new bathroom.
  

• Spacing, placement and storage

  You first need to consider how much space you have as this will determine what you can include. Would you like a bath or is a shower sufficient and what does the space allow? You want to be able to move around freely. This means considering which way doors swing, where the ideal place would be to place the towel rail and where you would like the vanity. Naturally, the size of all items will depend on how much space is available.
  

• Ventilation and lighting

  Once you have an idea of what you want to include in your bathroom, you will need to ensure that there is ample ventilation and lighting. An extractor fan is a great way to remove steam from the bathroom and can be combined with a heat lamp combo for additional lighting. You should also consider a skylight, if the budget allows, as this a great way to introduce natural light and can also assist with ventilating the space.
  

• Fixtures and fittings

  Choosing the right fixtures and fittings will help compliment the overall look of your bathroom. Having a look through some pictures online is a great way to get some inspiration and to get an idea of what you like. This will help in choosing the right fixtures and fittings that will tie in nicely with the rest of the bathroom design.
  

• Budget

  Knowing your budget is a great place to start as bathroom renovations can be quite expensive and the extra ‘nice to have’ items add up quickly. This is where working closely with a builder that you trust is essential to ensure that you get value for money and the bathroom that you want. Items such as underfloor heating, heated towel rails and automatic skylights are great to have but don’t always fit in most people’s budget.
  

• Planning and execution

  Once you have everything in place, it is crucial to discuss your plans with your builder. It is a good idea to draw up a plan of where everything is to go, including the plumbing and electrical. Being clear about where everything should be, helps to reduce any variations, increases in cost and schedule all the trades to ensure that the project runs well from start to finish.

While this list may look long, you should work with your builder when considering your budget, space, and all the other details above. This is a bathroom we’ve just finished as part of an extension project:

We love the new bathroom and so do our clients! It’s perfectly suited to the client’s individual needs. If you have any questions about bathroom renovations, feel free to email us at [email protected] or give us a call on 0466 454 110!