Our Five Star Low Cost Bathroom Makeover

Our previous bathroom was installed about 7 or 8 years ago and I loved it when it was first done!

Yeah, it was lovely and functional and I did really love it. How and why I fell out of love with it I am not quite sure.

Wait! I think I know some of the reasons. I don’t know about you but I like my bathroom door to be kept open when not in use. But I didn’t like the fact that the toilet was the first thing you could see from the open door, so I really wanted that repositioned. I also wanted to see a beautiful cabinet unit with a nice basin. That’s not too much to ask, is it?

The bathroom was also dated. The white tiles were no longer in vogue and I wanted to change that up too. There was this box running along the floor which housed the pipes, but it was not tiled over nor finished neatly and I do like a neat look. So we decided, the old bathroom had to go to make space for a new one.

We like the idea of being frugal in some areas of our lives so that we can save up to splurge in other areas as we want it. That’s how it should be.

See how we did it.

The bathroom makeover was planned

So here is what the old bathroom looked like.

I still can’t believe we used to use it like that! Uggh!

We were only too happy to get the tools out and have a go at getting rid of the old fixtures! Two hammers to the ready!

 

We each had our own ideas of what we wanted the new look to be like and so we each put pencil to paper (the younger ones put fingers to iPads) and we played around with various designs. We spent many nights looking over each other’s plans and decided on/argued over what features of each we liked and then it was time to get quotes and begin our search for the fixtures and fittings and larger units.

The whole process of the bathroom makeover took over a year

 

for a number of reasons:

• We changed our minds about the design a lot. And I do mean a lot.
• We were sure we wanted to replace the bath (no one in our house like a bath much). We do prefer showers.
• What shower unit to choose was a big battle
• Should we go with chrome features like most modern bathrooms
• Our trusted bathroom/kitchen fitter was very busy and our project was put off on a number of occasions but we did not want to go with anyone else.
• We had about 4 or 5 quotes. At the end that was a waste of time because I knew who I wanted to go with. It did, however, give us some idea of what fitters charge across the board.

We shopped around both online and in physical stores. Many Sundays would find us driving around from location to location trying to find good deals and also to look at updated bathroom design ideas. We would have breakfast, clean house and then the rest of the day was spent bathroom browsing.

Oh, those were some lovely days daydreaming of our bathroom makeover

We decided on a grey, black and white palette. It’s modern, clean and inviting.

We are happy with what we finally decided on and the finished look is so mega amazing. It truly does not feel like I am in my own home. This bathroom is a five-star luxury. It blows my mind! So all those days spent using the cramped space of the downstairs bathroom and having to share it with the builders and the rest of the family was definitely worth the wait.

A big thank you should go to Mira Showers who gifted us the amazing Mira decor Dual electric shower. It is so cool! The design is really sleek and stylish and it comes with two shower heads, one of which is very high and which has a rainforest effect. Man! It is so good.

 

Here’s how you can shop the look on Amazon

With this shower, we have come to realize that we have been spending all these years showering with a trickle of water. Hands down this Mira shower is the absolute best feature of the entire bathroom. We went with the sleek black which fit in perfectly with the grey black and white design colours of the new bathroom.

We are always on the lookout for bargains so when Bathroom Takeaway had their flash sale on in the Summer, we were on the lookout for some deals.

It was exciting finding out what was on sale and when. We found out through a Facebook group and we had to be quick to try to make the purchase within the specified time. We managed to get a lovely grey matte bathroom radiator for £1 which fit in nicely with the decor. Yes, you read that right, it was for £1!

We were holding on to hope thinking that their shower enclosures would be on sale too but alas they were not, but they were still not as costly as some others we had seen elsewhere. We went with a 1200 x 900 quadrant shower enclosure with easy self-cleaning glass. And yes the trim of the enclosure is matte black, not chrome like most bathrooms these days.

The floor and wall tiles were from Tile Choice. Their staff was super easy to deal with as we spent a really long time in the shop being indecisive and even had to go back another day to make changes to both sets of tiles. I like that the staff there understand that making the choice is extra hard because there is just so much on offer. They are also willing to allow us to return unused tiles which they will refund us for.

Our floating toilet and cupboard unit are from Reflections Studio in Birmingham. They were the most expensive items but I do like the look. Plus cleaning will be so much easier as the areas are more accessible. We did get a discount I am pleased to say. You know us and our bargaining skills!

The oval mirror I purchased from eBay. It is connected to the mains electricity and has two cool hues of light. As soon as you enter the bathroom and switch the light on, the mirror light comes on too. It also has a demister button which clears the haze from the bathroom caused by the warmth after a shower. It looks so classy. The tissue holder is also from eBay and you guessed it, it is black. The toilet brush is also from eBay and it is dark grey.

You will spot that we are dressing the bathroom with grey towels. We actually used out Clubcard points to buy a pack of bath towels that were reduced in price. They are soft and fluffy and do the job too.

We also have a nook! There is no toilet tank to see! It is all hidden and tiled over and there is a beautiful flush plate that is modern and neat! We plan to use the nook for seasonal flowers and the like. What would you put in your bathroom nook if you had one?

The plush bathroom mats with black and grey speckles, we bought (really cheap) at B&M. We also got the grey soap pump dispenser from there too. (See the video below.

So after our bathroom makeover, here is the new bathroom below

What do you think?

Being the frugal people we are, we did make as much effort as possible to make this bathroom look expensive but not actually cost as much as it could have. And yes we did do our part and used bits of the old bathroom as long as they would suit the decor. Here are some ways we saved:

• The original bathroom bin was from Argos and we loved it, but it was white so we spray painted it black. That was a five-minute job and saved us some money.
• Also, our old bathroom did not have an extractor fan. We knew we wanted one in the new bathroom so I purchased a ‘quiet’ one from Wickes. It cost £25.00 instead of the £140.00 one which my fitter was telling me about. I took the cover off, spray painted it black and it looks beautiful and does the same job as the one that would have cost $140.00.
• I also used my trusty Cricut machine to make some awesome looking labels to add accents to some black pump bottles. I just love the look!

This bathroom to me now is perfect. I especially love the fact that when the door is open, I can see the floating cabinet and basin and above that, the classy oval mirror. It does look like a five-star luxury to me.

Here’s a sneak peek of what we have now.

What do you think?

 

It’s now up to us to keep it looking this good for years to come as there is no plan afoot to update it any time soon.

Also, we do not want to have it cluttered in any way at all. So we each have our section in the drawers with the products we want to use. Nothing much is out on show.

Tell me this. What is the best thing to clean shower glass? I’d love to know how you cope best. Leave us a comment in the section below.

Check out how to keep it clean on a budget.