Designing and Planning Renovations in Bathrooms

A skillfully renovated bathroom will give you many years of pleasure and comfort. However, get a shoddy job done and the poor workmanship will be staring at your face every day! It's certainly a tricky little space that carries lots of family stuff and tons of water ready to cause a mess anytime. When you're investing your time and resources in a home renovation project, you'll want to be sure that the outcomes are not only pleasing to you, but also adding value to your property besides saving you some bucks in terms of water and energy bills.

As you design and plan, consider whether you're going to utilize the bathroom as your relaxing place or for "getting clean". In case you're intending to integrate a laundry, you might have to install additional plumbing. Probably at this stage, to call in a professional designer could assist you in determining what would work best for your entire household. In case you're managing the renovation work yourself, the Building Code of Australia (BCA) states that you'll need to acquire an appropriate owner-builder permit and also make sure all the obligatory approvals have been acquired.

When it comes to updating or designing a new bathroom, below we look at several things you may need to bear in mind:

Available Space

The majority of bathrooms are basically on the smaller side, so to consult with a suitable professional will aid you in maximizing that limited space. A good design expert will come up with clever tricks that will make your space appear to be bigger, including the usage of mirrors, tiles, clever colours/shades, and tiling from your bathroom floor all the way to the ceiling.

The Plumbing and Wiring

As much as feasible, try and leave the current electrical and plumbing services in place, because moving these could be extremely costly. If for example you're thinking of shifting the bath or shower, consider if the cost of moving the wiring and plumbing are going to be offset by what you'll gain in terms of convenience.

Water Heating and Efficiency

Water efficiency is an important consideration to take into account. Going for water efficient fittings like water saving showerheads and taps and dual flush toilets will mean that you're saving precious water as you save cash!

Water heating is an additional aspect to consider and there are a number of available options depending on your needs and local climate. Today, there are towel rails that are heated to warm the towels after you've left the shower or bath, heating lights, and even floors that are heated.

Paint and Colours

Never under-estimate what a fresh coat of paint could achieve even in a bathroom. Small and dark spaces could be made to appear more spacious and expansive using lighter colors. A spacious bathroom that looks rather empty might look more alluring with darker hues. The Home Journal recommends combining soft whites and pastel tiles to give you the immediate low priced bathroom update that will be envy of many. A good paint selection will also prevent mildew and mold growth.

Updating your Hardware

Installing a new faucet or several new cabinet pulls could make the small room look fresh and new without bankrupting you. To resurface your bath rather than having it replaced saves money too. You may also consider having your tired looking tiles painted or resurfaced. Recessed wall spaces, shelving, cabinetry, plus towel racks make excellent storage for your toiletries and towels. An extremely good resource for renovation ideas would be the Kitchens & Bathrooms Quarterly. This is Australia's best-selling bathroom and kitchen publication that showcases a comprehensive range of bathroom and kitchen products as well as projects.

Do-It-Yourself

You might consider handling the labour yourself rather than hire workers and end up saving some considerable money. Today, it is possible to purchase fully assembled vanities and then do the installation yourself.


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Babak works for ACS Bathrooms as designer with extensive experience. When you're served by Babak, you'll surely come calling again. His invaluable expertise is appreciated by many ACS Bathrooms clients. For your bathroom product needs visit http://www.acsbathrooms.com.au/products.html .