Money saving ideas for remodelling your bathroom

Bathrooms are often the last room in the house to be considered for renovation, mainly due to their function and a perceived lack of versatility of the space. However an old and tired bathroom is a quick way to ruin the tone you are trying to create in your home. It doesn’t matter if you have a stunning living room and an immaculate kitchen, if guests pop to a bathroom that is dingy and old-fashioned, it will undo all your other efforts.

While you may not be ready for a complete renovation, there are easy ways to add vitality to a room and thanks to modern day technology, quick and budget-friendly ideas are readily available. Regardless of the size of the space you are working with, everyone can achieve aesthetically clean lines with pleasing personal touches. We reached out to some of the best known interior bloggers to hear their suggestions. 

Everybody imagines a bathroom which is flawlessly perfect with clean lines and a calming effect. The only way to come close to achieving this is through an efficient use of the space. If you are really austere with the items you keep in your bathroom, then you are halfway there, however most people find their bathrooms scattered with the clutter of life and are desperate to keep it hidden. Hence the saving grace of the untidy soul, storage. It makes things more hygienic as it is easier to clean, visually it keeps the room calmer and closer to your original design. Nancy Mitchell understands the issues surrounding bathroom storage in her storage idea guide for Apartment Therapy: “Storage is always at a premium in a small space, but nowhere is that more true than in the bathroom. There are so many little odds and ends — makeup, razors, hairbrushes, toilet paper — that you just have to have, but where in the world do you put all that stuff?”

Getting things off counter tops makes a room feel instantly more de-cluttered and there are a variety of different styles that can fit any bathroom aesthetic. Melissa from 320 Sycamore chose floating shelves for their clean lines. However inverting brackets adds a physical barrier to stop items falling off the shelves as well as a decorative element. If you are looking to contain lots of smaller items, consider hanging spice racks and restrain the necessary items in jars.

The downside with shelving is it leaves everything open on display. If you don’t wish to advertise your battered old hairdryer, a couple of rustic baskets not only hide your possessions from display but also make it easier to clean the shelving. If you are considering the jar option, find old and vintage glassware and arrange it in a haphazard manner to avoid a uniform look. 

Rearranging your cabinets will free up a surprising amount of space and a thorough clean-out is the best way to begin. A cutlery tray in a bathroom drawer is a fantastic way to organise your belongings while hooks and drawers inside cupboards ensure you maximise your space.

Often compact, freestanding storage units can clear a staggering amount of clutter and fit unobtrusively into any bathroom. A little bit of extra storage can go a long way towards achieving a beautiful space. 

The quickest way to make a big impact in a small space is through the walls and floors. While a lick of paint can instantly brighten and rejuvenate the walls, the inconvenience means we often put off the necessary. Whether you are looking to add a little colour or tidy up the marks of a room well lived in, you can alter the entire appearance of you bathroom in a mere weekend. 

There are a couple of easy ways to update any tiles, which instantly modernises the area around the walk in bath or shower cubicle. Tile decals are a great way of adding colour and pattern and offer a lot of versatility as you can arrange the decals anyway you like, in rows or at random.  This site has some great Moroccan and Spanish style tiles if you are looking for a Moorish theme. Alternatively if you are looking something a little more ambitious, a coloured grout will subtly add a vibrancy to any bathroom. This has seen an upswing in popularity after the Japanese technique (Kintsugi) of fixing broken pottery with metallic coloured lacquer became more widely known. 

For a quick and easy way to add gravitas to a bathroom, consider a darker floor tile. Though it is a temptation to keep things white and sparkly, adding a little bit of contrast can do wonders. Deanne Mroz painted bathroom and foyer floors black that instantly add depth and a crisp finish. Deanne feels “Overall, I am SO happy with the new look! So much better than the old tile, seriously. Also, the overall feel of the foyer is so much warmer and welcoming than the old grey and white sterile look they had going on when we moved in.”

While lower lighting may disguise the many flaws in your bathroom, it also does very little to rejuvenate the room or keep it feeling fresh. It also makes it difficult to apply makeup, shave or even effectively clean and can lead to other hazards, as you may not notice a wet floor or a protruding tile and this could cause a fall. There are different ways to improve your lighting, and make it a focal point of the bathroom. 

With many people trying to save space in bathrooms, light is an important factor. A curtain with fabric bunched up on each side, not only reduces the amount of light in the room (it will inevitably still cover part of the window) but also the space.  They are also less hygienic, with curtains quickly getting dusty or the fabric suffering from the humidity of the room. Opting for blinds as opposed to curtains, relives all these problems. They are space saving and often made of more durable fabric if for bathrooms. They also maximise the window light and come in a variety of patterns to suit any style. 

While you may not notice how old-fashioned your light fixtures are, as soon as you start overhauling other areas of the room, they will soon stand out as tired. A completely modern piece of lighting could look equally odd if you are not going for that theme, however a feature piece of lighting can create a focal point that enhances the rest of the décor. The lighting Justina Blakeney used in her master bathroom, ties into the ‘Adriatic Sea’ motif with both colour and shape. Though they are not particularly central to the design, they are timeless. 

Image Credits:Jane, yuri ono, Alexey Klyukin, Lizzie Benton, Your Best Digs