Planning A Bathroom Reno? My Reno Experience...

Planning and tackling a renovation of any size is hard work - but in my eyes a bathroom is the hardest. You don't get a second chance, once those tiles are laid and the fittings installed that's it, there is no going back! You want to do it right and only do it one time.

You may remember my bathroom renovation that we did late last year? Here is a refresher for you:

++ I spoke about my inspiration and ideas here

++ The before photos

++ The after photos and big reveal

So only having one bathroom in our house it was a big deal when renovating - we had to rough it for a few weeks with no shower or toilet, there was a few hiccups along the way and we made it out at the end with a fabulous new bathroom that I LOVE.

I thought I would give you a little insight into the bathroom planning I went through and things I had to consider when designing and making the big decisions. 

Here are my tips when planning a bathroom renovation:

|| What do you need in a bathroom? ||

Work out what you need in a bathroom versus want. I needed a real bath, not a coffin bath as we named it (yes it was built IN the ground!), more storage and a larger shower. You might consider things like:

++ More natural light

++ Storage

++ Adding or removing a bath to gain or save space

++ Adding a second sink if you have a large family

++ A wall mounted vanity to save space and give the illusion of a larger, lighter space

STORAGE - I installed these floor to ceiling recessed cupboards into the wall. There are push close doors, so they look completely seamless you don't even realise they are there!

|| Okay, now what do you want in a bathroom? ||

I had a set list of wants...

++ A large showerhead

++ A ceiling mounted showerhead to save space in the actual shower and give a 'cleaner' look

++ Niche cut outs along the bath to be able to put soaps, candles, decorative items

++ A above mounted sink, I am tall and didn't want to be bending down further than I have to!

++ A wall mounted tap, just because!

There is a definite difference between the two lists.

Now that you have listed your wants and needs, you start to see where you can spend and save money! You will also find your limitation of budget and need to make compromises. If you shop around and get some different quotes like I did, you will start to see that the bathroom you 'need' versus the bathroom you 'want' are very different in price. This is where compromise comes in. 

CEILING MOUNTED SHOWERHEAD - If budget allows - do it! It feels like you are standing under a waterfall each morning. Bliss!

|| Decisions I made ||

I chose to design a bathroom that incorporated alot of my 'wants' - here are some of the ramifications of those.

++ A ceiling mounted showerhead meant that the plumber had to run extra piping up the walls and through the ceiling. This meant added labour and material costs.

++ Having a niche cutout along my bath meant extra framing work the carpenter had to do as well as extra materials costs and labour from my tiler from all the extra tile cuts he had to do

++ A above mounted sink mounted to a free standing wall mounted vanity meant that the waste pipes had to be located in a certain position and I could not find a vanity that had the correct dimensions...I spent days looking for the right fit and finally I came across a perfect match that was a third of the price of others I had been looking at. But this cost me two days holdup in the renovation process as I didn't have my fittings ready and therefore the other trades were held up.

You can see that sometimes the 'wants' and the changes associated with these can be costly and sometimes a little time consuming. I was also adamant on using a particular brand of tapware that was not in stock and was on backorder, this too cost us a few days in lost downtime for trades. My biggest tip is to have all of your fixtures and fittings chosen and purchased/onsite when you start. This will minimise any delays and downtime for trades.

NEW BATH - Saying goodbye to the coffin bath when we threw it into the skip bin was the best feeling!

|| The inevitable ||

There are some things that are out of your control with a renovation, like the weather for instance. You would think that being an indoor renovation the weather didn't matter? Well it did! Being late November it was  hot an humid here on the Gold Coast and that meant that all of our waterproofing wasn't drying and setting. We had to put industrial fans in the space to try and speed up the drying process - the waterproofing then took an extra day to dry once again we had a delay and there was nothing we could do but wait!

Our home is roughly 30 years old, so once we started pulling apart the bathroom in demolition we found there had been a long term water leak that had damaged the timber work under some sections of tiles. We then had to install new sections and this takes time, but more importantly extra money. It is unforeseen and therefore with any renovation you should always allow a little extra money for these types of issues.

Working in the Construction industry, I understand that delays happen. You have your trades booked for a certain day, then when this changes they may not be available the day you require them. This happens, so you need to be prepared to tack on a few extra days onto your schedule to allow for this. Don't set expectations that are unrealistic!

ABOVE MOUNTED SINK - The added bonus with an above mounted sink is the bench space you gain. I have heaps of room on both sides of my basin to place things!

My biggest tip?

Be prepared and have extra finances available if things go over budget. Nothing worse than a half finished renovation!

So there you have it - some of my tips and things to think about. It is a massive project and time and planning needs to go into it!

If you want to see more of my house, you can see some of our completed projects here - of course as always there is more to come! A renovation is never complete! 

Here are some fabulous styling tips on how to decorate your bathroom too!

HAVE YOU TACKLED AND SURVIVED A BATHROOM RENO? 

What would be some of your top tips? Are you happy with the outcome, do you love it or are there some design regrets?

I would love to know, leave me a comment below.

If you have renovation project that you have tackled in your home then touch with me - I would love to hear from you! It could be a bathroom, living space or even the backyard. I am sure Glamour Coastal Living readers would love to see and I know I would Let me know if you feel like sharing! x

Linking up with Essentially Jess

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