Is your Bathroom ready for an update? Are we talking a make-over or a full scale renovation? Either way, here's where we can help!
In 2021, we started our house renovation with the bathroom. We shared the entire process on our social media platforms, and you may have spotted us on ITV's 'Save Money: My Beautiful Green Home' where we showed our journey to not only creating a budget friendly bathroom, but also making it as eco-friendly as possible. We got top tips from the industries best, and over our bathroom blog series, we'll jot them all down for you to follow!
Lets leave the eco part for another day... this blog will focus on how YOU can save money creating that hotel lavish bathroom for your home.
Rather watch? Full Bathroom run down here...
Don't skip the basics!
We won't dwell (too much) on stating the obvious... Saving money will come from doing most of the work yourself, but when we say most, we mean MOST. You shouldn't be afraid of attempting new DIY skills yourself, you can end up saving hundreds to say the least, and anyone can learn.
The daunting aspect of a bathrooms are:
a) Time
b) Quality
Both of which create an illusion of fear when it comes to DIY. DON'T BE FOOLED. You can live longer without a fully functioning bathroom than you think.. if you are willing. There are also ways to prevent showering at the gym for weeks on end, like leaving the shower in working order until the last possible minute, but we'll get into that further into our renovation series.
The quality aspect, well, that's why we are here! We will be sharing a full run down on DIY do's and don'ts; Tips and how-to's for our bathroom transformation; and general blogs to help give you the confidence to attempt it yourself. We've done the research and made minimal mistakes - there has been no leaks in our house!
Lets talk Materials...
Picture this. You've ripped out your bathroom (the fun part). Pulled old tiles from the walls; followed our guide to plastering (saving hundreds..well-done!), and now you're ready to start putting it back together.
The first thing you will need to think about is walls and floor. The standard option for which are usually tiles for both. Don't get me wrong, we have some healthy tips for saving on these, but don't rule out alternatives.
Flooring
When approached by ITV, we were given some eco-friendly options for flooring which surprisingly didn't dent our bank, and also came up cheaper than most tiles were. As we said, this blog isn't detailing the eco aspect, however it opened our eyes to new products on the market that you may not have considered.
It's worth looking at new (and definitely improved) lino, vinyl click, calk and more, as some of these options were a fraction of the price we anticipated, dependant on choice of course. We still ended up with tiles. Why? Just personal preference, and I still managed to get our tiles cheaper.. somehow.
Tip 1: shop around, often you can find a similar tile in the sale, or at a local shop for ALOT less.
Tip 2: set yourself on one design or colour and be flexible on the the rest. We wanted dark grey to go with our walls, and found large (porcelain - which wasn't a compromise but bumps up the price) plain tiles in the sale for only £11 per metre squared. Why so cheap? They were being discontinued. Luckily for me I don't have the trending taste in marble tiles, so I was able to find myself a lovely grey for less. They had enough for the amount we needed, and a few extra as spare .. but we had to note that there wont be any for future rooms, and i'm okay with that. The tile are plain and will be easy to substitute if we ever want them for elsewhere.
Walls
One thing we knew is that our first attempt at plastering in the shower was never going to be seen. It was going to be tiled over and sealed.
The rest of the bathroom is a different story. We invested our extra cash into a more expensive, eco option. However, we spent countless hours considering money saving options.
To tile or not to tile? You can get away with not tiling the entire bathroom nowadays, and it's definitely more of a 'trend'. It's easier to add more of a decorative style to your bathroom by painting the walls that won't be getting wet, and adding splash-back tiles in places at risk of water (i.e sink). This option is the cheapest, and not always the most favoured. But tiles add up and can be costly, so why not save your self the hassle?
The Suite
Time to think furniture.
If you're outright replacing your old furniture, then you're sorted! It gets more complicated if, like us, you start moving or adding features that require plumbing. Again, one for our renovation blogs - but remember, money saves where you can do things yourself!
When picking out furniture, you'll obviously have a preference with style. The key to keeping costs down is to buy separate. BUY SEPARATE. I can't say that any louder! This way, you can style up in many ways.
Shop around for your shower bath, self standing bath, shower tray... whatever you're having. Buy plain. A bog standard L-shaped bath can be jazzed up with a nicely framed shower screen; some decorative taps or handles. It's much cheaper to buy the cheaper bath and more expensive (but decorative) taps, than buy the bath sold for its bling.
Lets talk sinks. Have you ever considered up-cycling? If you're looking to have a sink set upon draws, cabinet ( you know, the ones with storage?) then get yourself on facebook market place or down to your local reclamation centre. You can easily up-cycle a nice pair of draws into a sink of your dreams - this way, you only have to buy the bowl!
Not just in the renovation?
Saving money isn't just in the renovation. As we established, the money saving is usually in the DIY (move on to our next bathroom renovation blog... hint hint), but isn't limited to this. We worked with experts to ensure we saved money even after our bathroom was complete. Often overlooked, right? But why wouldn't you want lower water bills, energy bills, and cleaning bills?
Simple (and eco.. may I add) ways to cut down water use is to add a water flow restrictor onto your shower head. They are compatible to all shower heads, and come in various restriction abilities. We use a lower restrictor and don't even notice the change in the amount of water being used! Watch our episode of ITV's 'Save Money: My Beautiful Green Home' for exact figures on what you can save.
Considered shower only? Getting rid of your bath not only frees up money on buying one, but also can save you £££'s in water/heating bills. If you aren't likely to be filling it up, then cutting out the baths is a great way to cut down on water.
Duel flush systems (the short and long flush buttons) are common on newer toilets. They aren't just an aesthetic, they can cut water usage per flush by half, which all adds up when it comes to your bills. Combine this with a lavish rimless toilet; you'll never guess how much more hygienic it is?
What's next?
There are many other ways of endless saving. these come down to electrics, water conservation (collecting water waste), filtering systems and even insulation. Some of these can attach an initial investment at the offset, so if you're interested, look out for blog detailing these eco-friendly ways!
If you're looking into changing up your bathroom, have a peak at our renovation blogs, how-to's and other advice posted through-out our channels. We can help you save money if you have the time to hear us out?
Comentarios