I was standing in my friend Sarah’’s bathroom staring at her shower a few weeks ago. Bear with me. I promise this will get less awkward.
I was staring at her shower because IT WAS. SO. GOOD.
Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t the biggest shower I have ever seen. Sarah lives in a townhouse that is actually SMALLER than mine.
But something about those subway tiles with the sunlight bouncing off of them, that rainfall shower head mounted like a sculpture over that dark grout, made me realise I have been showering in a “beige box with a curtain”.
Have you ever walked into someone’’re sitting in your own plain jane shower crying over how lame yours is? That happened to me. I loved my “builder grade” everything until I saw how thoughtfully someone else had renovated their shower and how it MADE THEM FEEL.
ENAMORED. NEW HOMEowner MATERIAL. Okay, so clearly none of us are dying to spend our free time at Home Depot looking at tile f******never ending shower curtain options.
The reality is most of us walk into our run-of-the-mill bathrooms every day and don’t do anything to them. You’ve got your white fiberglass shower surround, some chromed-this-and-that that came in a “contractor special” pack from Home Depot, and maybe a sliding glass door that probably never closes all the way. So you hang up a cute shower curtain, throw some high-end shampoo bottles down and voila – you’ve decorated your shower.
Newsflash, friends. When standing in Sarah’ tiles. If Sarah has taught me anything, it’install ceramic tiles backsplash kitchen.
The biggest change she did was ditching the plastic shower surround and re-tiling the whole thing floor to ceiling. She used large-format porcelain tile and selected this soft grey colour that makes the space feel bigger than it is (physics still applies, it is still only 32 square feet of space….but your eyes WILL trick you). Another smart choice she made was grout colour.
Instead of opting for bright white grout (hello highlighter for every sp bc!) she went with a slightly darker shade of grey. Looks clean, but forgiving enough that you won’’t feel like you need to spend an hour scrubbing every week. Trust me, I learned that lesson on my kitchen backsplash – don’t go with white grout just because it “looks so good in photos”, because let me tell you…it does NOT look good IRL.
Now let’s talk about what I loved most. THE FIXTURES. Sarah tossed out the basic chrome look every fixture store tries to sell you and opted for matte- black taps and an actual thermostatic shower valve.
Remember how you used to wake up in the morning, turn on your shower and it was either scalding hot or freezing cold so you stood and danced around for the next five minutes trying to manipulate the shower head to get the perfect temp? OVER. Not only will every shower start at the exact temperature you want it but as you move away from the shower, the temperature stays the same.
Magic. Sarah also installed a rainfall showerhead. I know what you’re thinking – huh, another stupid restaurant size spray thing that looks cool but has no pressure.
Nope. This bad boy is approximately 8″ x 8″, mounted to the ceiling and hands enough water pressure that you actually feel like you are in the rain. There is also an accompanying handheld wand hooked up to a second valve for showering your hair or washing down the tile after you scrub at dirt with your toddler.
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What I think is my favourite update though, is the lighting. Gone is the single overhead light that created a spotlight effect with shadows everywhere. Sarah put LED strip lighting behind her upgraded (and I mean UPGRAded…she ripped out the existing medicine cabinet and installed an extremely large, frameless mirror) mirror as well as a couple recessed lights specifically placed to light up your face without creating that stupid shadow that looks like something out of a horror film.
I kid you not, the difference in how you look and feel GETTING ready in the morning is life changing. Storage was another easy upgrade Sarah added. Instead of the corner shelves that lean like Jenga towers if you look at them wrong, Sarah had the installer cut out two nice recessed cubbies into the wall.
One at about waist height for your daily items, and another down near the floor for those extra razor blades andqthings you don’ bath. Also, they both match the tile on the walls so it’ seen like an afterthought. I will dedicate another entire post to the glass enclosure because that deserves ALL the praise.
Essentially, Sarah found someone to custom cut her a SINGLE piece of clear glass (no frame, no door, no tracks…just a big ol’ piece of glass) that created one clean line and keeps all of the water in the shower. I was initially skeptical about water spraying everywhere since there was no door but the placement is spot on. Plus no track to clean or door to hesitate to open.
So I am not suggesting that you rip your whole shower out either. I have learned a lot from my own reno {yes, I took Sarah’ – changes that make the biggest impact for the least amount of money. Yes, tile changes everything.
But it is also costly and quite frankly, a MESS. So if you aren’t ready for that level of commitme,t something as simple as replacing your shower head can totally transform your shower. I purchased a new rainfall shower head with multiple settings including a pulsating massager.
OH. MY. GOD.
Nothing feels better than that after sitting in front of my computer for 8+ hours a day. If you can’ shower feel fresh and updated. My next tip is to switch out your shower door or curtain.
This was probably the easiest change I made but also made the biggest impact. I wasn shower doors (one panel of glass permanently had a soap film stain that no amount of scrubbing could remove) for a simple pivot door. Around £200, one Saturday, and Brian and I are in the shower and it FEELS like a shower in a real adult person’s home.
Lighting really does make a huge difference in your space.
If you are not ready to rewire, try switching out your current light bulbs for daylight LED bulbs. Something as simple as installing a LED strip light underneath your medicine cabinet {yes, you can plug these directly into wall outlets} can give your space a nice ambient glow that makes everything feel less sterile.
I learned quickly not to try and match everything. All.brass hardware finish will look expensive and more intentional than matching your shower head to your tap. Trust me.
I may or may not have spent way too much time browsing grout colours on Pinterest (there are like seventeen thousand options for “light grey” grout.) But I’m glad I did because I learned that picking a shade just 1-2 shades darker than the tile colour means I’ constantly cleaning it. Best decision for a girl who drinks coffee in the shower, probably. So the coolest part about renovating your shower isn’ photos.
Your shower photographs AMAZING now. But it really does change how your entire morning routine feels when you walk into a bathroom that was designed with you and happiness in mind, not whatever Buzz bought at Home Depot because he forgot to at Lowe’’. Shower by shower, we can get there.
