How to Plan For Your Perfect Bathroom Space
A bad bathroom will lower the value of your home; a contemporary, restyled bathroom has the potential to add 4-5% to your asking price. And if you’re not selling, getting your personal bathroom right adds value to everyday life. The bathroom has evolved to become a space for relaxation, pampering and winding down from daily stresses, so why not start planning a bathroom that’s perfect for you?
The Dream Bathroom Vs The Reality
For most people, the dream bathroom involves languorous sofas, a free-standing bath, clever storage, and exotic plants. Unfortunately, the reality tends to be somewhat more compact and planning a bathroom needs to take this into account. There’s no reason though, why a small bathroom can’t meet your needs, fulfil – most of – your dreams, and provide a space you’ll love spending time in.
With our step-by-step guide you can start planning your bathroom right now, and the My Build My Way team is here to support you whenever you need them.
Table of Contents
- What Do You Need From Your Bathroom?
- How Much Space Do You Have?
- What’s the Aesthetic?
- Get an Expert’s Opinion
- Think About Storage
- Find the Mood of Your Bathroom Lighting
- Choose Your Colours
- Which Flooring Finish?
- Schedule the Work
1. What Do You Need From Your Bathroom?
Whatever you do, don’t start dreaming up your new bathroom in your current bathroom; you’ll get hijacked by all the problems you think it presents. Instead, find yourself a comfy spot, and answer two questions to start out:
- Who will be using the bathroom?
- How do I want to use the bathroom?
If it’s a family bathroom, you’ll need to factor this into your design in order to achieve the space you need. Think about what fixtures and fittings, colours and lighting could give you the space you desire; find images of bathrooms that inspire you.
2. How Much Space Do You Have?
Create an accurate plan of your empty bathroom by taking accurate measurements of walls, windows, door and any odd architectural features you’ll need to take into account. Once you have a template, you can try out different layouts without being hampered by the bathroom furniture you currently have.
Work out what size everything needs to be for the layout that comes closest to your perfect bathroom.
3. What’s the Aesthetic?
This is the point when planning a bathroom becomes more than just a personal dream. Your choice of aesthetic will emerge from looking at images of bathrooms, remembering bathrooms where you’ve felt good, and talking to friends about your ideas.
You may be thinking about a hybrid approach such as Japandi or considering a more vintage look. Talking this through helps you to visualise more clearly, and work through the implications of your choice.
4. Get an Expert’s Opinion
The way you want your bathroom to look should be starting to come together now. Before taking practical steps to make it happen, though, it’s worth getting some expert advice on your plans. My Build My Way can provide a skilled designer to produce the architect’s drawings that will unlock your bathroom’s potential. If your budget doesn’t run to that, you could talk to your plumber, or ask for some guidance at a local bathroom centre.
5. Think About Storage
Managing the products that can clutter up a bathroom, is an integral part of planning a bathroom. Having stylish cabinets or cupboards allow you to keep half empty product bottles, razors, and toothbrushes out of sight except when needed.
If you’re including a shower space in your bathroom, think about elegant wall niches for shower gel and shampoos.
6. Find the Mood of Your Bathroom Lighting
In every other room of the house, you most probably have both a bright state, and more low-level lighting. There’s no reason why this shouldn’t be the case in your bathroom. One practical consideration is the proximity of your bathroom to your bedroom. Having bright lights flashing on and off in the middle of the night can be horribly disturbing.
Think about having motion sensor lights, so you don’t need to find the light switch in the middle of the night.
7. Choose Your Colours
Light, bright colour schemes are popular in bathrooms, maybe because they’re associated with fresh air, cleanliness, and spa spaces. Think about complimenting your lighter walls with a natural stone finish, or a light grey shading.
Decide where you want to add splashes of colour; plants are always a mood-lifter in bathrooms, or bright, stylish prints for the walls.
8. Which Flooring Finish?
Tiles always look good in bathrooms, and they’re easy to keep clean. Choose bold patterns to draw the eye against the plain, neutrality of your walls. If, however, you’re planning to enhance the luxury of your bathroom space by adding underfloor heating, choose a flooring finish that offers excellent thermal mass. Microcement provides just that, as well as offering an elegant, seamless finish for walls, shower spaces and floors.
9. Schedule the Work
The people you select to create your bathroom will spend time in your home. It’s important, therefore, to get personal recommendations where you can, and take the time to follow up on references before taking anyone on.
Or you could let My Build My Way do all that for you. Once you have your plans in place, we can source local builders, who can work to your timeframe, and – most important – have been through our verification process. We’ll gather quotes and show you the 3 best, along with information about each of the building companies.
About My Build My Way
My Build My Way is your introductory service, putting you in contact with the best of your local building companies. We work with some of the UK’s biggest building companies to ensure that we can find the best contractor, at the best price, for your bathroom. We’re cleaning up the construction industry, so private clients get to work with top-quality builders, and avoid the scammers.
Our service is absolutely free to use. Like to find out more? Call us today on 0800 2465453.