It's been a long couple of weeks but we're nearly there! Henry has had a lovely time watching the builders and spent almost an hour watching the wall tiles going up. At the end of the day he said, 'I don't know Mum, that bathroom is pretty fancy, I'm not sure I can handle it!'. Bless.
The 'fanciness' hasn't come from nowhere and I've spent a lot of time running around looking, choosing, changing my mind, taking things back, swapping things over and generally getting very confused. On Tuesday I even forgot to go to Isabella's parent-teacher interview and when I collected Isabella from school she said I looked very 'frurled' (I think that's somewhere between frazzled and flustered?).
By Friday the bathroom was really starting to come together. It just needs sealing and painting before we can start using and enjoying it. I really had no idea how big a job it was going to be and I think I was very, very lucky to have found the builder I did. The only real hiccups have been with the crazy 1950s plumbing and with me not checking off my deliveries properly and ending up with two different styles of mixer taps (which were duly installed one day when I was at work). I've also conveniently forgotten that I have children and have nowhere to hang their towels! I'm sure there will be other things I've forgotten to include but hopefully nothing that can't be fixed (or fudged).
So for what it's worth, here are a few things to keep in mind if you're planning your own bathroom renovation...
- Take your time researching your taps, mixers and spouts and accessories (towel racks, robe hooks, toilet roll holders etc) and order them all at one time. This is actually quite a lot harder than it sounds as you often have to order things based on catalogue or internet images and the first time you see them all together may be when they are delivered at your house.
- Try and close doors or hang drapes across doorways throughout the rest of the house (the dust is incredible!
- Stretch the budget a little and hire a portable bathroom rather than just a portaloo (especially if you have a family and it's the middle of Winter!). More info in the comments section of this post.
- Get at least three quotes before you decide on a builder. We ended up with three very different prices and ideas for what we could do. We went with the builder who seemed most sympathetic to my 'unusual' plan and whose quote was in the middle of two rather extreme ones. We had to wait for him to start the job but I think it was worth the wait.
- Always remember, a good builder and his trusty sub-contractors are worth their weight in gold.
That is a fancy bathroom Caz. It is fun to have new things. I agree with your renovating tips. Just finished The Woman in White and Room with a View. Looking forward to the next one. Hope to see you soon.
ReplyDeleteHave I told you the story about our reno, where the entire floor of the bathroom had to come out, in the middle of the house? We had a portable shower - a gas one - and it was also middle of winter and the renovation was during the 2007 storm that hit the coast and caused blackouts for days on end. We had a gas shower so were the only family in the street able to have a hot shower. Yay us. The only problem was the torrent of mud we could see slipping under the house courtesy of the great cavity in the floor. Thankfully we could still shut a door on it. I was never so pleased to see a job done.
ReplyDeleteLooking good! I love the accent stripe.
ReplyDeleteLoretta
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed Woman In White. I love 'Room With A View because it has Miss Honeychurch and because it reminds me of my time in Florence. Have you read 'I Capture The Castle'? If not I think you'd really like it. Loved your new post and left you a comment there!
Katie
That reno sounds like quite an ordeal but at least you had the solace of being the only ones with a hot shower! Like you our only bathroom is slap bang in the middle of the house and one night we had both floor and ceiling out and no door to close - that was a very chilly night!
Cooper & Ange
Glad you like our accent strip! The photo hasn't really picked up the colours which are apple green, charcoal and white. I think it really makes a difference in an otherwise all white bathroom. Nearly there now...
Henry's comment is so cute...
ReplyDeleteIt's really coming on well, amazing progress, can't wait for the unveiling. Fortunately when we renovated our bathroom as it's so small it only took a fraction of the time. The plumbing was all in place and there was only one way that things could fit in so each job was done on a daily basis and by the end of the day we could use it. Yours sounds like a major redevelopment. One of my sisters is going through a similar process on a grand scale...I popped my head in the room recently...no ceiling, no floor, skeletal walls...scary...fortunately they have an on-suit and so didn't need to hire any other facilities.
but I just hope you can handle that fancy new bathroom...
I hope I can handle it too! The kids have already damaged the new vanity unit by putting on the tap before the unit was sealed to the wall resulting in some of the veneer lifting on one of the edges. No-one's admitting to the crime but everyone looks suitably chastened!
ReplyDeleteOh dear, what a shame! Hopefully it can be stuck back on. Sounds like everyone is too scared to make that mistake again...
ReplyDeleteyour bathroom looks great. gary did most of ours but we don't have a toilet in ours. The surprise I had was when deciding to get white tiles to make it easier and match what we had in other sections of the bathroom, I couldn't find the right white!!!!!
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