Elements of a Modern Bathroom Renovation

We quite often hear how overwhelming a bathroom renovation can be – there are so many different choices to make – colours, styles, themes, the list goes on! To make things easier, we have deconstructed the major elements that make up a bathroom renovation to break things down into bite-sized pieces.

Bathroom Style

While you don’t necessarily need to come up with a bathroom style straight away (sometimes the perfect one for you will just evolve into existence) it can be very handy to choose a style at the beginning to set the right tones for your colour palette and furnishings. Some decisions you will need to make when choosing a style are light or dark, open or cosy and modern bathroom or traditional bathroom.

Bathroom Colours

The colour palette you choose for your bathroom will be one of the first things visitors will notice. While the most common palettes are lighter shades,, a pop of colour, whether it is via the walls (or just a feature wall), trimmings, floor or décor, can bring some personality into your bathroom.  Colours have quite the effect on a room – they can make a room appear larger or cosier to the eye, can bring a sense of warmth and can modernise an older room.

Vanity

Choosing the right bathroom vanity for you will depend on two things: your bathroom needs and your available space. Do you require a lot of space in the bathroom? Depending on who will be using the vanity, the bench can quickly fill up with toothbrushes, hair brushes, cosmetics, creams, hair tools – the list can go on and on! If this sounds like it might be the case in your home, consider a long vanity with plenty of storage.

While a double vanity might seem like the answer to a bathroom that sees multiple visitors, if you are not brushing your teeth at the same time, then perhaps that area where the second sink sits could be valuable bench space. On the other hand, if your bathroom won’t be seeing that scale of grooming, a smaller vanity might be perfect (and allow more room something luxurious like a whirlpool or practical like a storage cupboard).

Shower

Today’s showers are no longer just a box in the bathroom – while you still have the choice of a framed shower, you can also choose from a semi-frameless (has metal around the structure but not the entire door) or frameless (no metal and pure glass).

If glass isn’t your thing, wet areas or open showers (with one or no glass walls and no door) are also very popular. While some people feel a bit ‘in the open’ or prefer the water to be contained (although there are many ways to minimise the water’s reach in open showers), others love the barrier free look and honeymoon-esque appeal. 

Shower Head

Speaking of showers, don’t finalise your decision until you choose a shower head! Shower heads can be installed wall mounted as traditional or overhead or ceiling mounted for a rainfall experience. They also come in a choice of square or round and with a multitude of settings for a truly luxurious experience.

Toilet

Toilets come in a variety of options and it will come down to the space and your taste as to which toilet will be right for you.

• Close-coupled: the most common style, closed coupled toilets have the cistern and toilet pan joined together.
• Wall-faced: the cistern is concealed within the wall or a cabinet with a wall faced toilet making it not only stylish, but space saving as well.
• Back-to-wall: back to wall toilets feature the pan and cistern both sitting flush against the wall, negating the need to clean around the bend behind the toilet.
• Wall hung: Secured to the wall instead of the floor, wall hung toilet ‘float’ above the floor, with a modern and minimalistic look.

When choosing a toilet, keep in mind that they also come in different heights. A higher toilet is going to be more comfortable for those middle aged and older or anyone who has knee difficulties. If you still cannot find the right height for you, another benefit of wall hung toilets is that they are flexible in where they can be installed on the wall.

Bidet

Speaking of toilets, quickly becoming a staple feature in households is the bidet – size wise they are the same as a toilet so you will need to have, or create, sufficient room.

Bath/Whirlpool

If you’re the kind of person that loves to soak at the end of the day, or have small children to bathe, then you’ll need to look at a bath or whirlpool. These can easily be the largest item in the bathroom so unless you have a big bathroom, you may need to compromise with the size of your vanity or shower.

Heating

To fight off the cold chills, you will want some form of heating and the intensity will vary as to where you are located. The common heating option comes in in the form of an overhead heat lamp that radiates downwards and tends to only heat up a small area. If you live in a colder climate, you may want to look at underfloor heating (heating elements underneath the tiles that warms the tiles and the entire room), in ceiling heating (radiates down and warms up the objects in the room, in return heating the entire room), heated towel rails and/or a heated mirror.

Tech extras

If you want to bring a bit of technology into your bathroom, look for features like lighting that can be app controlled, Bluetooth speakers in the showers, digital taps and chromatherapy coloured lights in your bath to name just a few.

In our years of experience, we have created countless beautiful bathroom renovations that our clients love and cherish for year after year. Our talented team of designers will design the perfect bathroom for your lifestyle while still beautifully complimenting the remainder of the home. Contact us for a chat today and together, let’s create the Sydney bathroom renovation of your dreams.