Designing a bathroom can be hard work so I have come up with some steps to consider when designing your own bathroom that I hope will help. In our house we are turning a bedroom into a bathroom so I know how hard it can be to know where to start.
Whatever the situation the first step when designing a bathroom are to assess the space you have to work with.
Option 1: Keep everything in the position it is in now and simply upgrade all the fixtures and fittings. Check out the state of the sockets, flooring, tiling and so on to decide whether you want to completely redesign your bathroom or just rework what's there. This is the cheapest option with regards installation as no plumbing modifications will be needed.
Option 2: Totally redesign the bathroom. This might include knocking through walls, rearranging the fittings and even moving the plumbing/drainage. If you need to move the loo then this may involve moving waste pipes (a complicated business). Water pipes to sinks, bidets, baths and waste outlets are less complicated to move but speak to a plumber if you are unsure.
Bathroom in a new space
If you are designing a new home, building an extension to include a bathroom or upgrading a property which has never had the proper facilities (yes, even in this day and age - just like my home!) this will be a much bigger project but allows you to greatly influence the size and layout of the bathroom in your home.
If you are converting a room into a bathroom you will be affected by Building Regulations in terms of Change of Use - contact your Local Building Control officer for advice.
Design your own bathroom
So now you know what you are doing with the bathroom you need to decide what to put in the bathroom and where. There is a lot to think about:
What do you like and dislike about your existing bathroom?
What bathroom style do you want to create?
Who is the bathroom suite for? E.g. A family
What bathroom products do you want to include?
Do you want to create a wet room?
Will you keep the current layout of your bathroom?
What water system do you currently have?
Which type of shower do you want?
What wall coverings will you use?
What type of floor covering will you choose?
What are your lighting requirements?
There is a lot to consider when designing a bathroom but also lots of help available:
Bathroom design - blog for latest products and lots more advice
Bathroom layout - guide to help you work out the best layout
Wetrooms - find out if a wetroom is for you
Bathroom budget - help to calculate new bathroom costs
Now you know the bathroom layout you need to consider what bathroom fixture and fittings you want. Selecting the right bathroom fixtures and fittings is a vital part of bathroom planning - they must stand the test of time, both in function and style. The bathroom fixtures: baths, showers and so on, can be made of any practicable material. Increasingly more adventurous materials for bathroom fittings are being made available. Your bath or basin could now be made of wood, stainless steel, glass, fibreglass, resin, tiled mosaic, copper, marble or limestone.
Not only do you need to consider what fittings but the style or look you want for the overall bathroom. This can take time and you need inspiration, something which I struggled with trawling through countless magazines. Great news is we have a new tool to help inspire those bathroom ideas:
Check out our Be inspired gallery for 100's of bathroom ideas.
While complete suites are often promoted, you can purchase each bathroom fitting separately if you wish and even select items from different manufacturers. Even in mass market outlets there is now a wide choice of bathroom fittings - the days of dull bathrooms are well and truly over. Again we have lots more advise to help you choose the right products:
Baths | Bathroom sinks | Which shower | Which toilet | Bidet | Flooring Bathroom taps etc |Bathroom storage | |Bathroom lighting
Planning the bathroom design can seem a huge uphill but believe me it's all in the planning when designing a bathroom and it will be worth it to get that fantastic new bathroom you have always dreamed of - just follow the bathroom design steps above and you'll be well on your way.