Make Just One of These Changes to Transform Your Bathroom
Tired of your bathroom? Can’t stretch to a full refurb? Consider a smaller alteration to make it feel like a new room
An entirely new bathroom is a major investment and, if your existing space still functions well, could also be a waste of resources to simply ditch the lot in favour of a shiny new suite. Instead, take one or two ideas from the bathrooms below, from changing your grout to painting a vanity unit or revamping your bath panel, and see how you can instead pimp what you have to make it feel like a new room.
2. Add an arch
This 1970s hammam-reminiscent bath and shower, in a room by Indie & Co, has a designer edge. An arch, set slightly away from the edge of the bath, hides the top of the shower curtain and zones the area, creating almost a side room to step into and giving it a spa-like feel.
Don’t let all that make you think adding a structure like this has to be complicated, though. It’s really just about designing and constructing a shaped stud wall. A good builder will be able to create a clean, plastered arch, though it might be a good idea to enlist the advice of an interior designer to get the proportions right and do any trouble-shooting for you first.
Looking for an interior designer to guide your decor decisions? Find one near you today.
This 1970s hammam-reminiscent bath and shower, in a room by Indie & Co, has a designer edge. An arch, set slightly away from the edge of the bath, hides the top of the shower curtain and zones the area, creating almost a side room to step into and giving it a spa-like feel.
Don’t let all that make you think adding a structure like this has to be complicated, though. It’s really just about designing and constructing a shaped stud wall. A good builder will be able to create a clean, plastered arch, though it might be a good idea to enlist the advice of an interior designer to get the proportions right and do any trouble-shooting for you first.
Looking for an interior designer to guide your decor decisions? Find one near you today.
3. Change your grout
Switching a visual detail as small as the grouting between your tiles can make a surprising difference to the feel of your bathroom.
This sugary pink-on-pink space, designed by Sara Slade Interiors, contributes to the room’s overall midcentury Miami look. To illustrate how much of a change this small feature can make, imagine that hot pink gridline in white, grey or black. It would feel like a different room, no?
Be aware, though, that unless you have plenty of time to spare and a steady hand, tackling it yourself may not be wise. In this case, a professional can be your friend, doing the job swiftly and with pleasing precision.
More: How to Choose a Tiler
Switching a visual detail as small as the grouting between your tiles can make a surprising difference to the feel of your bathroom.
This sugary pink-on-pink space, designed by Sara Slade Interiors, contributes to the room’s overall midcentury Miami look. To illustrate how much of a change this small feature can make, imagine that hot pink gridline in white, grey or black. It would feel like a different room, no?
Be aware, though, that unless you have plenty of time to spare and a steady hand, tackling it yourself may not be wise. In this case, a professional can be your friend, doing the job swiftly and with pleasing precision.
More: How to Choose a Tiler
4. Repaint your vanity unit
Like the bath panel, a vanity unit can make a significant visual impact in a bathroom. Changing the colour of yours is a simple way to refresh the bathroom without having to repaint the walls (though you might want to do that, too, choosing a colour-pairing you love).
It might feel like sacrilege if the prospect involves covering over solid wood, so do a Houzz search for painted bathroom vanity unit to ensure the finished result excites you enough (and remember, wood can always be stripped back down the line).
Even if you have a shiny or plastic unit, with the right preparation and primer, it can be transformed. Spray painting is likely to give you the most professional finish, so seek out a decorator or furniture revamper.
You could always start by just changing the handles, opting for something lusciously bright as seen in this Spencer & Wedekind design.
More: 8 Clever Ways to Use Strategic Colour Blocking in Your Home
Like the bath panel, a vanity unit can make a significant visual impact in a bathroom. Changing the colour of yours is a simple way to refresh the bathroom without having to repaint the walls (though you might want to do that, too, choosing a colour-pairing you love).
It might feel like sacrilege if the prospect involves covering over solid wood, so do a Houzz search for painted bathroom vanity unit to ensure the finished result excites you enough (and remember, wood can always be stripped back down the line).
Even if you have a shiny or plastic unit, with the right preparation and primer, it can be transformed. Spray painting is likely to give you the most professional finish, so seek out a decorator or furniture revamper.
You could always start by just changing the handles, opting for something lusciously bright as seen in this Spencer & Wedekind design.
More: 8 Clever Ways to Use Strategic Colour Blocking in Your Home
5. Freshen up your freestanding bath
If you have the type of freestanding bath that has a paintable exterior, this is an easy change to make. The substantial surface area of the average bath means the new colour has the potential to really change the mood of your room.
Pair a warm tone, like the rich coral in this Built Works bathroom, with a cooler colour (note the blue floorboards here) for colour-wheel contrast.
If you have the type of freestanding bath that has a paintable exterior, this is an easy change to make. The substantial surface area of the average bath means the new colour has the potential to really change the mood of your room.
Pair a warm tone, like the rich coral in this Built Works bathroom, with a cooler colour (note the blue floorboards here) for colour-wheel contrast.
6. Swap your shower curtain
Switching your shower curtain – and, possibly, its bar – can be akin to adding a feature wall. This linen-look drape in a bathroom by popix designs brings soft, natural texture to the functional room.
If a telescopic plastic curtain rail is on your radar, let this chunky brass design pull you towards a classier way to go. Here, it matches the tapware – a nice touch – but it doesn’t have to. Don’t forget to source stylish curtain hooks to match. It’s all about the small details.
Talking of which, consider teaming your new curtain with new towels and a smart bathmat for a bigger change.
Switching your shower curtain – and, possibly, its bar – can be akin to adding a feature wall. This linen-look drape in a bathroom by popix designs brings soft, natural texture to the functional room.
If a telescopic plastic curtain rail is on your radar, let this chunky brass design pull you towards a classier way to go. Here, it matches the tapware – a nice touch – but it doesn’t have to. Don’t forget to source stylish curtain hooks to match. It’s all about the small details.
Talking of which, consider teaming your new curtain with new towels and a smart bathmat for a bigger change.
7. Replace ceiling spots with pendants
Flush ceiling spotlights are common in modern bathrooms, but there’s an alternative option that would add more character. In this project by YARD Architects, how good do the pink hanging fittings look over that midcentury sideboard vanity unit?
Talk to your electrician before selecting fittings, as they’ll need to have suitable IP ratings for safety in the bathroom. Ask them also about options for converting a couple of existing spots into pendant lights, or how you might be able to add these as extras, in a different zone of the room.
Equally, adding wall lights can really make a difference, and installing a dimmer on one of your circuits if feasible.
At worst, the damage to wall or ceiling will require replastering. At best, it may be patchable with suitable fillers and repainted.
Tell us…
Which relatively small change would you choose to transform your bathroom? Or have you already done it? Share your tips and photos in the Comments.
Flush ceiling spotlights are common in modern bathrooms, but there’s an alternative option that would add more character. In this project by YARD Architects, how good do the pink hanging fittings look over that midcentury sideboard vanity unit?
Talk to your electrician before selecting fittings, as they’ll need to have suitable IP ratings for safety in the bathroom. Ask them also about options for converting a couple of existing spots into pendant lights, or how you might be able to add these as extras, in a different zone of the room.
Equally, adding wall lights can really make a difference, and installing a dimmer on one of your circuits if feasible.
At worst, the damage to wall or ceiling will require replastering. At best, it may be patchable with suitable fillers and repainted.
Tell us…
Which relatively small change would you choose to transform your bathroom? Or have you already done it? Share your tips and photos in the Comments.
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Most bath panels should be fairly simple to isolate and remove without messing up floor or wall surfaces, bar the odd bit of tidy-up siliconing. And, because they take up quite a bit of space, this makes them great candidates for “small change, big impact”.
Go bespoke and first have a board cut to size (probably water-resistant MDF or equivalent – ask your pro about formaldehyde-free options, for example). It can then be tiled, either to match or contrast with neighbouring surfaces. This example, by Claire Moran Designs, sits against complementary vertical stack bond tiling, but appears to flow into the matching floor tiles, visually stretching the space.
More: 16 Bathrooms With Vertically Stacked Tiles