Budget bathroom makeover - the after (about time too!)

Everyone loves a before and after don't they?  So thought I'd relive the shame of the before picture (still can't get over that loo roll in the middle of the floor - oh the horror!)

So here is the 'after', sorry about the delay.  We had kind of finished this a couple of months back but still needed a few touches like regrouting the floor tiles.  So before I show you more detail, I wanted to remind you this is a budget makeover and I'll put a full break down of our sources and costs at the bottom of how we fared!

To save money we kept the cast iron bath (which we couldn't figure out how to get out of the house anyway!) It scrubbed up well with some Cif and elbow grease (courtesy of The Queen of Clean)

We also designed it so there was a continual tiled shelf along the back which also served to box all that nasty pipework in.

We treated ourselves to a new toilet and sink.  I was desperate for something square and chunky and I spent literally ages searching for these as anything modern seemed hugely expensive.  Good old Ikea and Wickes came to the rescue for these at a reasonable price (£120 for the toilet and £49 for the sink). We also bought the cupboard that went underneath the sink for storage.  Probably sounds silly but it was a financial breakthrough for me that I realised I didn't have to buy everything from the same place!!

The theme, if you can call it that, is white with flashes of fuchsia pink.  I already had this little picture from my Mum (it was a birthday card a couple of years back) and it seemed fitting.  The orchid does have bright pink flowers on when in flower!

The towels tie in too - I have several in pink and lime green, and these stripey beauties from Primark (just £3 each!!)  We have used these towels regularly for about 4 months now and they are good as new - can highly recommend.

A nice extra to the sink was this little soap dish and metal tray.   You can see them better in the product shot below.  They 'sealed the deal' for me and are really useful as an extra place to keep toothbrushes etc.  The mirror with etched flower detail is also from Ikea.

This shot shows the tiled side of the bath (no longer an empty space hurrah!!).  We considered a bath panel but it just seemed cheaper to tile it.  It easily comes off as a separate piece if we need to get behind it.  The little green cork topped stool belonged to my Grandmother.  The bathmat I already had.

There were no labour costs for this project - it was all undertaken by The Queen of Clean over many, many weekends.

So in summary our budget breakdown:-

Item

• £120 Toilet (Fresno by Wickes)        
• £49 Sink (Ikea)                                  
• £30 Storage Unit under sink (Ikea)     
• £15 Mirror (Ikea)   
• £135 Wall Tiles (design is Metro widely available although cannot recall supplier)                   
• £47 Floor Tiles (Wickes)                                                                                                                 
• £150 Taps (Bristan but hugely embarrassed we cannot recall supplier!)                                        
• £35 Towel rail and toilet roll holder                                                                                                 
• £6 2 x new striped towels (Primark)                                                                                                
• 50p Soap dispenser (Car Boot Sale)                                                                                                 
• Artwork and plant (already owned)                                                                                         
• Endless enthusiasm and patience (Free!)

Grand Total  =   £587.50

Okay, so we went over budget.  But considering during my research some items alone e.g taps or sinks cost over £500 I am pretty pleased with what we've achieved.  We had put off tackling this room thinking it had to cost £1000's to sort out a bathroom so horrific, but it is clean and functional now if a little minimalist.  The final touches and trinkets can come later I guess but for now I'm happy.