We have another guest blogger today – Helen! She wanted to share her bathroom renovation ideas with everyone and even created a checklist for you to take a look at if you’re planning on renovating yours anytime soon! You can find Helen’s blog here, and find her on Twitter here.
Renovating your Bathroom: The Makeover Checklist
When you’re renovating any room in a home, success is all about planning. No matter how much money you have (or don’t have) to throw at a project, no room makeover will go smoothly unless there’s a solid, well thought out plan in place from the start. So plan, plan and plan some more. Nowhere is this adage more pertinent than in the bathroom, especially if it’s your main or only bathroom. Bathroom suites are essential to our daily routines: maybe you can get by without decor and additional furnishing for a while (before the mess starts to get to you) but once that old bathroom suite is ripped out, you need to get your shiny new sanitary ware in pronto! If you haven’t done this in a while (or if it’s your first full bathroom makeover ever), you’ll be looking for a few pointers.
Well, you’ve come to the right place:
1. Start out by looking at your current bathroom. What’s wrong with it? Do you hate the layout, are the colours all wrong, is it too fussy or is it simply showing its age?
a. If you find it an easy space to use, you can stick with the layout you have – which will save you some time and cash.
b. If elements of the space don’t work for you, you might like to rethink the room plan. Re-plumbing your space will take a chunk out of your budget so, before you make any other plans for the room, get a few quotes from plumbing contractors.
2. Whether you’re reconfiguring your space or sticking with your existing layout, you’ll have some choices to make regarding sanitary ware and bathroom furniture (better bathrooms have a great range to meet all needs). Take careful measurements before you start to shop, and don’t be over optimistic about what will fit. It’s easy to assume that, as you have a metre of wall space, a metre wide shower will fit nicely. Remember that you need to incorporate some ‘user room’ into your bathroom – and be generous or your space will feel crowded, even with only you in there!
3. If you’re planning to hire one or more contractors to do the work, make sure you get quotes from a range of sources, and meet with those whose quotes seem reasonable. When making your choice and finalising all the details:
a. Get fully itemised quotes and ensure that all the work you want done is included
in the price.
b. Be suspicious of anyone who claims to be able to do the job very cheaply.
c. Choose someone you can imagine living with temporarily – your contractor will be sharing your home during the day for however long it takes to complete the work!
d. Draw up a contract and work schedule setting out what will take place, when it will be finished, who is responsible for all the budgeted costs, and who is responsible for any overspend (extra materials, spending due to delays, etc) – you or your contractor.
Have a great Tuesday! Hope you enjoyed Helen’s post!
