Ever find yourself in the bathroom of a hotel you’re staying at late at night…and think to yourself holy crap why does everything look so luxurious while I’m brushing my teeth in my pyjamas? I know I have. Last spring, I spent a few nights in a boutique hotel in Bath and was completely inspired by how nice the bathroom was.
The walls were this beautiful charcoal colour, it had a rainfall shower head that actually worked, and the towels even hung better than mine at home! Fast forward a few weeks and I’m staring at my builder-grade master bath with it’s beige walls, beige tile, and… beige everything else. The lighting was also horrific fluorescent.
Something had to change, and I was determined to give my bathroom that hotel bath vibe…but on a budget. I knew I didn’t want to spend thousands of dollars on marble countertops and custom tile (although thats a nice idea) but there were other details that I knew would help it feel a bit more luxurious every time I walked into my bathroom.
Six months and many texts to my husband that simply said “what the hell was I thinking?? ?” later, I had finished my bathroom remodel and absolutely love walking into my bathroom every morning!
Note that I said remodel, not renovation. Here’s why we spent our money where we did first. Splurge #1: Rainfall Shower Head Did you know you can get a rainfall shower head that has multiple spray settings?
Me neither. I spent £280 on this bad boy. Why did I spend so much money on a shower head you ask?
Well this will be something I use twice a day every single day. My old shower head was one of those pathetic dribble of water sprinklers. Washing my hair felt like a punishment and I couldn’t wait to get out.
Now my showers are enjoyable and I feel relaxed when I step out. If I feel relaxed washing my face and brushing my teeth, it starts my day off on the right foot. Splurge #2: Lighting This is where most people go wrong.
No one wants to stare in the mirror and see zomber bride staring back at them. By getting rid of the builder-grade light that hung down from the ceiling, we installed 2 wall mounted sconces on each side of the mirror. We also added a small pendant light near the shower.
All the lighting cost us £320 but it makes SUCH a difference. Gone are the ghastly fluorescent lights and hello flattering glow. Paint Colour Was Key To Luxury Hotel Vibe I painted the main wall behind the vanity DOWN PIPE by Farrow & Ball.
It’s a charcoal colour that was £45 a tin to splurge on! I only needed 2 tins to paint the main wall behind the vanity. I painted the other walls a warm white colour that cost £18 a tin.
Trust me… everyone thinks your entire bathroom is painted in the high dollar paint. Save Money By Painting Vanity and Changing Hardware We didn’t upgrade our builder-grade vanity, instead we painted it charcoal to match the accent wall and updated the hardware to brushed brass pulls from our local trade store. That alone saved us £800 – £65 is what we spent on painting the vanity and new hardware.
My mother- in- law actually asked me where I bought the “beautiful new cabinet” when she visited. Splurge…Sorta on Mirrors Ok so I didn’t splurge per say on mirrors, but I didn’t want to spend a ton on one large rectangle mirror. Instead, I found two smaller round mirrors with thin brass frames at a vintage shop for £35 each.
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I love how they’re hung next to each other for a more custom look. Tile Details Were Everything I really wanted to have those super large tiles that make the room feel expensive. Well good luck affording those bad boys.
They usually cost upwards of £60+ per square metre. So what’s a girl to do when she’s trying to recreate that luxe hotel vibe? Find a ceramic tile that looks just like carrara marble.
Bonus points that it was only £22 per square metre. The only way people would know the difference is if they were laying on the ground looking at the grout lines. Have your contractor space them closer together with less grout and use a grout colour that blends.
Voila! No Hotel Bathroom Feels Complete Without Floating Shelves Floating shelves are another detail that make a bathroom feel so luxe. The oh-so-hidden brackets make it look so much more expensive then it really is.
We spent £45 for three shelves. To give the appearance that everything on our shelves was intentional (aka we didn’t just dump all our bottles and tubes that we use for our skincare there) we bought matching glass containers from IKEA for £3 a piece. Bam!
Instant spa vibes. Invest in Quality Towels I could have purchased an entire set of “nice” towels but opted for two nice bath sheets in a pretty sage green colour that was £35 each. I already had some hand towels at home so I bought some more that matched in a cheaper colour.
You don’t need 10 towels you can never remember to wash. Buy less, but nicer ones. Plants Are The Final Luxury Touch Ok so at first I really wanted an expensive fiddle leaf fig in a cute ceramic pot.
After researching plant placements and reading tons of blogs I realised that plant would have died within a week of me having it. Bathrooms are usually too humid for them. So instead, I opted for a ZZ plant that is £18 and loves humidity.
It looks super luxe in it’s simple ceramic pot.
What I Regret Spending Money On… Tile That I Thought I Could Install Myself Lesson learned. Just leave the shower tile to the professionals.
It took me WEEKS to get that one square metre of tile up. And by weeks I mean three. My husband literally had to hover over me and make sure I wasn’t breaking any more tiles than we needed too.
We ended up hiring someone to finish it off and it cost us £400. If I would have left that to the professionals in the beginning it would have been cheaper. Believe me.
Wifi Enabled Light Timer Was Worth Every Penny For about £25 I was able to install a light switch that dims and brightens the light automatically. It slowly turns on when you wake up in the morning and slowly turns off at night when you go to sleep. Sounds crazy I know, but trust me it adds that final touch of luxury.
