Small Family Bathroom Remodel

The last major renovation we had to tackle inside was the small family bathroom and toilet. This renovation took me many months to design. In Australia back in the 1990’s the old bathroom layout was very common, even in larger bathrooms. Initially I wanted to leave out the bath all together as it wasn’t something any of us used. However, as this home is a perfect family home we decided it had to have a bath for resale. You will see from the before photos that I didn’t have much to work with. While it would have been cheaper and easier to leave the existing plumbing as it was, it just wouldn’t work for the designs I had in mind.

SMALL FAMILY BATHROOM REMODEL – DEMOLITION

We had a plumber and electrician attend to disconnect water and electricity so it was safe for us to start the demolition.

We learnt a lot from the master bathroom remodel which helped us get this one done a lot quicker. For example we didn’t even attempt to remove the tiles we simply removed the plasterboard straight away!!!

We removed all the window and door trims as we knew we wanted to replace them to match the laundry which is next to both rooms.

SMALL FAMILY BATHROOM REMODEL – THE NEW DESIGN

After a lot of consideration I decided to leave the shower in the same position. The bath would be moved to the back wall next to the shower. A custom vanity would be on the opposite wall allowing for a lot more storage.

The plumber attended after demolition to install pipes for the new vanity as well as changing the existing vanity pipes to suit a bath.

Tony cut a channel in the concrete for the drainage for the new vanity. We also had our shower screen guy attend to see what our intentions were so that we could make any necessary adjustments.

REBUILDING

When our home was built the builder had a 3cm step up into the laundry, toilet and bathroom. We didn’t want that this time which was fine for the laundry and toilet. The bathroom however had to have a certain slope towards the drains to comply with the relevant standards. To achieve this the tiler had to do a whole new sand bed on the bathroom floor and we had to ramp the entry into the bathroom slightly. This was a lot better than the step up.

Tony constructed a nib wall in the bathroom that also included a niche. I don’t like things sitting on the floor in the toilet or bathroom if I can avoid it. It makes cleaning a lot easier. To avoid having to store extra toilet rolls on the floor I came up with the idea of using a small Ikea Cupboard inserted into the wall. Tony had to reduce the cabinet depth to fit the wall cavity properly. I didn’t want a handle on the cabinet so we used a push opener also from Ikea.

THE FINISHING TOUCHES

When the tiling was finished Tony and I did all the board and batten in the toilet and bathroom. We also attended to repainting both rooms. We then moved the bath in to place. The cabinet maker installed the vanity and sink. It was then up to Tony and I to do the finishing touches. We did new window and door surrounds in keeping with the laundry.

The bath I chose was the smallest freestanding one I could find. Unfortunately I can’t find a link for it. It measures 1400mm x 700mm and is 650mm high. I am extremely surprised by how comfortable it is. The depth means that I can be completely covered in water while reclining rather than lying down. Don’t be put off by a small sized bath. In fact I now use this bath so much more than I ever did the old one because its so much more comfortable.

The electrician attended to install the lights and a new fan heater. I really wanted a chandelier above the bath to add a touch of elegance. However, because of the size of the bath a lot of the chandelier’s I liked felt too big. The one I eventually chose gave all the sparkle without the size. The electrician had to rewire the light so that it was only 12 volt rather than 240 volt because it was over the bath.

I wanted to do something in the bathroom that would make it feel larger and reflect light. To do this I decided to put three large mirrors above the bath and frame them like the board and batten. We routed grooves in the timber to frame each piece of mirror.

FINISHING IT ALL OFF

The plumber then came back and installed the bath and tapware which was the icing on the cake. We then installed shutters that we purchased in kit form and were very easy to install. I’ll link all the details I can at the end of this post. I’ve got to say that while it’s its still only small I absolutely love this bathroom and it is so far removed from the one we started with!!!

THE FINISHED TOILET

THE FINISHED BATHROOM

all the details

• Vanity – custom design built by Prestige Cabinets;
• Tapware and towel rails – the Olde English collection from Astra Walker;
• Floor Tiles – Promenade Greige from National Tiles;
• Marble Mosaics – National Tiles;
• Ceasarstone benchtop in Ice Snow;
• Bath tray from Ikea;
• White towels from Pillow Talk;
• Amber shampoo bottles and labels from Pretty Little Designs;
• Orchid in cloche from Jash Living;
• Shutters from Shutterkits.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the changes we made in our small family bathroom remodel. We have also renovated our master bathroom and laundry if you’re interested in more renovations.