I’ll never forget when it dawned on me we were missing something. We had recently finished renovating our bathroom – which was a ton of work by itself. We tore out that gross 80’s era bathroom carpet (still can’t believe people thought that was a good idea); we painted the entire wall; we installed a brand new shower head.
You better believe the bathroom looked 100x better than what we started with. The bathroom STILL felt cold and very empty. It reminded me of bathrooms you see in stores like B&Q.
You know every item is exactly where it’s supposed to be…but no one ever uses those bathroom. I kept telling my girlfriend it looked great (it did!) but I couldn’t help feeling like we missed something major.
It hit me one morning as I was rushing around getting ready for school – I had a big test first period in Year 9 so I needed to be on full alert starting the minute my feet hit the ground – I was trying to brush my teeth out of some random mug we found in our kitchen collecting dust as a toothbrush holder, and squeezing soap out of one of those plastic pump soap containers you buy at checkout lanes at Tesco.
And I literally said out loud to myself: “This is bananas”. We spent months picking out paint colours and debating what kind of bathroom suite to get. We ended the renovation with miscellaneous items we found lying around.
It’s sort of like buying a nice looking sofa and then throwing a raggedy old blanket over it and calling it styled. Sure, the structure was there but none of the finish pieces that make a room look like someone lives there (and actually decorated the space). So after that I started noticing everything we used on a daily basis.
That soap dispenser got used probably 20 times a day between everyone’s morning routine, washing your hands, brushing teeth. Every. Single.
Time. You were subjected to this cheap plastic soap dispenser that probably belongs in the bathroom of a petrol station. The dispensing mechanism was hit or miss too – half the time you had to push really hard and nothing would come out.
Then you’d push harder and way too much soap would come shooting out everywhere on your face/hands/etc.. Swapped that out for a ceramic soap dish that matched our wall paint colour – a warm grey we spent weeks debating over because I didn’t want it to be too dark for such a small space. Cost us about £30 – which seriously is ridiculous for something that just holds soap – but it instantly made a difference.
All of the sudden that section of the vanity looked like it belonged rather than trash we just happened to shove in there. The toothbrush situation was even worse. That stupid mug was lying to us both – literally.
And it was constantly getting knocked over because mugs are not meant to sit on bathroom counters. Purchased an actual toothbrush holder with individual spots for everyone – wasn’t expensive but it just looked like it should be there. Crazy how something so simple can make all of the other things look styled.
Here is where I nearly ruined everything – walked into John Lewis with good intentions and nearly bought one of those matching bathroom sets. You know the ones – soap dispenser matches toothbrush holder matches shower curtain etc. SO convenient and I completely understand why people gravitate towards these sorts of products when they’re rushing to style a bathroom.
But they always seemed so …. Shopping Catalogue? Like someone ticked off boxes on a list instead of really choosing things they liked.
Instead of buying one of those shower sets – I decided to mix-match. Used the same colour scheme but different materials – ceramics for soap/toothbrush holders then found a small glass dish for my girlfriends to place her jewellery in (she always looses her ring when she takes it off to wash her hands – can’t remember where it is half the time). And finally found a bamboo tin to place cotton pads in from TK Maxx for like £3.
The towel racks were another thing that drove me nuts – whoever previously installed them obviously didn’t think about how people actually use bathrooms. The hand towel was right next to the sink that gets wet all the time; the main towel rack was screwed into this awkward spot that you’ll splash water everywhere when you try to grab it after a shower. Tiny details – but made the whole space feel awkward to utilise.
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Switching them out was quite a laborious process – patching up the old holes, painting over them, drilling new holes. Completed both of those tasks over a weekend when I probably should’ve been grading papers for my Year 8 students Geography Tests but honestly way more fun than reading 30 copy and pasted essays about Coastal Erosion. Not only do the new placements make a lot more sense – I also switched up the finish slightly to be warmer and complemented my ceramic soap/toothbrush holders.
My next problem was storage. Our bathroom is SUPER small – like most houses with Victorian conversions the bathroom tends to be whatever cupboard was existing. Counter space gets eaten up quickly when you start placing products you actually need/use.
I didn’t want to shove everything inside cabinets because that means you now always have to open cabinets to get stuff – but I also didn’t want everything hanging out like you’d beined robbed of all your toiletries at Boots. Eventually settled on getting a small wooden shelf placed over the toilet. Yes.
Yes. I know. Above the toilet shelves are controversial.
My mother thinks it’s gross – always talking about germs and blah blah blah. But when you have around 4sq ft of floor space – you utilise what you can. Painted it the same colour as the walls so it blends instead of looks slapped on there – and I’m picky about what gets placed on there.
Got a small potted pothos plant for one side – girlfriend’s idea. I was skeptical at first because I kill every plant that crosses my path. Yet for some reason bathroom humidity is like plant heaven – as my plant has thrived over these last few months.
Really helps make the space feel less sterile – kind of softens all the harsh edges and hard surfaces. Plants also do that weird thing they have – make you feel slightly more like a functioning adult with your shit together. Lastly, I hated the lighting.
We kept the existing ceiling light fixture – as it worked fine; and we were trying to keep costs down – teacher salaries +mortgage really don’t leave you with much money for unnecessary upgrades. But it’s very harsh; especially when you’re stumbling around at night trying not to wake up the entire house. Found these battery operated LED lights you can stick underneath your vanity unit – creates this nice ambient glow that is so much easier on the eyes when taking late night bathroom trips.
No wiring needed – which is great because I’m definitely not certified to mess around with bathroom wiring. Cost about £20 – and really makes those middle of the night bathroom trips way more civilized. All in all I’d say the entire update probably cost me less than £150 – and took me a few weekends to really get it how I wanted..
Mostly because I second-guessed myself a lot and would move things around. But boy did it make a difference.
Suddenly our bathroom felt like…our bathroom.
Instead of just some bathroom we happened to wake up and sleep in everyday. What ended up shocking me was how these small details affected our everyday lives. Simple things like using nice products to brush your teeth made you not want to rush through your routine – made it more…. enjoyable?
I guess is the best way to describe it. Kind of like the difference between eating off of paper plates vs a nice set of china. Same food.
Complete opposite experience. Our bathroom is by no means perfect – tiles around our bathtub are crazy wonky since we did them ourselves – and there is some paint that needs touched up by the doorway. But it finally feels finished.
Filled by us and our needs rather than just some room we wake up in to get ready for work then house our stuff at night. Little things really can make all of the difference when it comes to making a house feel more like a home.
