Bathroom Renovation





One memory that stands out from the many on the day we moved into this house was the sight of my good friend sitting upstairs in the filthy cast iron bath scrubbing like a woman possessed and  crying her heart out
that we had made a terrible mistake and we couldn't possibly live in this filthy run down house with our 6 month old twins.  At the time I admit to putting on a brave face and brightly exclaiming that it would all be fine once we gave it "The Jones effect".  When those special friends finally left us, exhausted and depressed to go home, I sat amongst what felt like hundreds and hundreds of packing boxes (we moved from a house twice the size) with a crying twin in each arm and burst into tears myself.  How were we ever going to be able to afford to make this house livable let alone beautiful.

After the kitchen the bathroom was the next most in need of attention.  A huge, ugly,stained cast iron bath dominated a tiny space.  The once beautiful original art deco black and white  tiles were cracked, broken and filthy.  A tiny space as a main bathroom for a family of five.  Next to the bathroom was what would have been a linen cupboard.  My husband and I came up with the plan to remove the cupboard and knock through which would give us a little more space.



Work begins ! In the picture above you can see where the tiles end, this marks where the original bathroom wall ended and the back wall of what was the linen cupboard. On the right what was the side wall of the bathroom. When I look at these photos I do wonder how we managed with no bathroom for weeks !

We decided to make the door to the linen cupboard the new bathroom door and the original bathroom entrance we built a glass brick wall. I thought this would maximise the light into the hallway beyond.
We decided to go for a Shower/bath tub which we relocated to the far wall to enable us to fit another toilet and a sink into the extra space we created.

I am so pleased with the end result and thank the Lord for the skill and talent of my amazing husband who did all the work himself.




The new entrance to the bathroom


The original bathroom entrance now a bright, light glass wall



Open the door, its a tight fit but with a modern sink we were able to achieve the look we wanted.  We also went for a solid wooden floor, not sure about how sensible this was in a bathroom. We sealed it and it does seem to be standing up to all the water.




Moving into the room and with the extra space and new layout we were able to fit in an extra toilet.  Essential in a house with four Men!




relocating the bath along this wall allowed us to fit a shower on the far wall and gave us much more space.



I love, love , love the shower.  I always wanted one that drenches you.  The bathroom set of toilet, sink, bath, shower, screen and amazing talking point taps were all purchased from Ebay for a total of £600 !



By choosing a curved combination shower/bath we saved on the crucial space we needed




Linen basket and radiator in the sale a Argos




The taps are a real talking point with visitors.




The large Cork mirror came from our previous home







Beautiful Italian tiles bought for a song at the local discount tile warehouse





Finally, above the window a sign that reminds me of my love of the sea and how far we have come.

We completed the work on the bathroom at a total cost of just under £1000.  Obviously labour was paid in kind .