Main Bath
With one small bathroom, an option is to combine the shower and the bath, which is cheaper and more practical than a wet-room shower. This layout may not feel as luxurious as a walk-in shower, but if you opt for a frameless glass screen, you will achieve a similar contemporary look that will maximise the sense of space and light.
In homes with just one small bathroom, retaining the tub is most likely to be non-negotiable, so fitting in a separate shower is often impossible. Solution: With recent advances in waterproofing and high-performance glass, designers are turning to the wet-room-and-bath combo to meet practical and aesthetic demands. By adding a wet-room floor, the space between the sink and tub can be dedicated to a walk-in shower area. Meanwhile, a frameless screen ensures there’s no visual interruption, allowing a clean, uncluttered view through the space.
Rollouts. Rollouts are more commonly seen in the kitchen, but they can be just as useful in your bathroom. Installing a couple into a full-height cabinet can make for easy storage and allow quick access to face creams, hair products, hand towels and other daily necessities. Not my absolute favourite, but does solve the problem of digging into a wall to make a recessed mirror cupboard.
Beautiful, simple - but not practical enough
Like angled shower head - not parallel to floor
Glass shower cubicle. Smallest fittings possible - in gold
Freestanding bath - like this shape. Floor and counter same colour - gold would be great! Otherwise cream-ish.
Shower floor flush with bathroom floor - no step!
Don't forget to plan placement of rails for towels. Face towels and bath
Sink(s) must be flush with counter. Cupboard doors open for bent knees while shaving. Sink as far forward as possible for minimum bent back while shaving.
Must have lights over the sink - for shaving
I like white bathrooms
I like the clean lines of this toilet.
A curbless shower helps with “aging in place.” (designing ways to stay in my homes as long as possible; one way is to remove barriers which cause trips and falls as my mobility decreases). This curbless shower has a bench that, when paired with a handheld shower head, allows for showering while sitting down. And add support behind the shower wall for grab bars (to be added later - much easier to do during construction than in later years).
A ROLLING shower door might be interesting! And of course I like the "curbless" floor, which can flow from the bathroom into the shower. Not sure if it's possible in a flat.
White Grout Is Easier To Clean Minerals in hard water (do we have hard water in Jhb?) can cause a white bloom to build up on tiles and grout, and this will be much more visible on dark surfaces. I'll always choose a light floor (whether wood-look vinyl or tile), so this is a good tip for me.
A HINGED Shower Door makes cleaning easier: Shower doors and panels get soaked frequently, so they’ll need cleaning often to prevent mould and limescale buildup. So choose a hinged shower door (as opposed to a sliding or bifold door) - there are fewer spots for water to linger and mould to form.
There's no doubt that a vanity which doesn't go all the way t the floor will make cleaning easier (though I need opening cupboard doors for shaving).
Select Easy-Care Flooring Practicality is key in a bathroom, and your choice of flooring can be crucial to the amount of time you need to spend cleaning it. Don’t put textured porcelain tiles on the floor, especially if there’s a toilet in the bathroom, where people tend to walk with their shoes on. A joint-free floor will be the most hygienic and easiest to clean; for example, terrazzo or cushion-backed vinyl.
Install a Waste Trap “Little and often” is a good mantra when it comes to cleaning, and a small preventative measure such as a waste trap can be a big help in cutting down on housework. Always make sure to have a drain with a hair trap in both my sink and shower; I can frequently remove it and quickly clean it to avoid hair clogging up waste pipes.
Tile Walls for Quick Cleaning To cut down on time spent repainting or cleaning walls, go for a tiled finish rather than paint or wallpaper. Painted walls can get dirty very quickly in a bathroom, but tiled walls are quick and easy to clean with a damp cloth. This will be particularly useful in areas where hands are frequently brushing against walls, such as near the sink, next to wall-hung towel hooks and around light switches.
Bath - Space Constraints Both freestanding and built-in tubs come in a wide range of lengths, widths and depths, but a freestanding tub calls for more room than a built-in of equal dimensions. That’s because it’s best to leave at least 4 inches around it, to keep the tub from looking cramped, and to make cleaning around it easier. A floor-mounted tub filler (taps) also takes up more space than one mounted to the tub or wall.
Go for the Gold Gold, brass and bronze finishes add stylish warmth and shine to a bathroom.
Above the Bowl The wall space above the toilet is an area that’s often under-utilised in bathrooms (guest loo too). Many people opt for a framed painting or photograph above the toilet, but if I'm looking for more function, I could add shelves, a cupboard, a storage rack ... (in this case, towels within reach of the shower!)
Interesting Alternative To Behind-Mirror Bathroom Storage Finding clever ways to add storage is key to creating a user-friendly bathroom. Storage towers on the countertop give easy access to items such as skin care products, right at eye level. It’s a concept similar to pullout spice racks flanking a range in a kitchen.
Seems like I should choose porcelain tiles for bathrooms and kitchen (though I'm leaning towards wood-look floor for great room (which includes kitchen).
A black-and-white palette is a reliable way to deliver long-lasting style. In a bathroom, an abundance of white lends itself to a fresh, clean feel. To keep all that white from looking too sterile and jarring, a heavy dose of black will bring contrast, balance and instant style. The "contrast, balance" points are well made, but too much black for me. I wonder what replacing the black floor tile with light wood-look tiles would look like? (and keep EVERYTHING else white).
A guide to placing lights at the bathroom mirror - essential for shaving!
The trick to small spaces is truly that less is more. By minimising the number of finishes and transitions from one material to the other, there are fewer visual interruptions in this space. This is both pleasing to the eye and creates the illusion of more space. The grey herringbone mosaic tile floor runs from the main floor and through the shower. This further expands the space by unifying it, as opposed to breaking it up with two finishes. The vanity is wall-mounted so the space feels more open. By having this float off the floor, the tile disappears into the shadows as opposed to stopping at the front (but must be harder to clean, surely).
Making small spaces appear bigger: Visual trick. Square white tile covers all the walls from floor to ceiling. Treating the whole wall, as opposed to tiling only part of the walls, creates unity and makes the space feel larger.
Gives a feel as to what a pure white (other than the floor) bathroom can feel like.
Here, the marble-look large tiles (with thin white grouting) do add a touch of class, perhaps because of the gold fittings and white floor? I won't do a white floor - impossible to keep clean, so the marble look on the walls may not work for me.
Bifold glass door gives easy access to the water controls and the bath (this door folds away to just 20 inches, leaving about 40 inches for access). If I choose to do this, I must find a way to age-proof stepping over the side the bath to take a shower. Steps?
Taller vanities are better: - less need to bend, so less strain on my lower back - more storage space under the counter Old standard was 813mm, this is 889mm. I might even choose to go higher!
Bath Floor Tile Recommendations 2. Warm Up With a Wood Look Porcelain tiles that look convincingly like wooden planks are gaining in popularity, and it’s easy to see why. Using real wood can be risky in bathrooms, as the moisture can cause damage. Wood-look floor tiles offer the warmth and good looks of wood while being practical, water-resistant and sturdy. They come in shades from grays to red-browns, so choose something that works with the rest of your home’s style and color scheme.
In a space where every inch counts, shaving a few inches off the vanity’s depth can be an important space saver. By mounting the taps on the wall, in this bathroom the vanity depth was reduced from the standard 21 inches to 19 inces. Only thing to find out is if the taps can be changed later. And, of course, I must like a particular wall-mounted tap (and, possibly, mixer).
Use frameless shower doors for a simplified, uncluttered look. They're better than showers without doors, which can be chilly because steam is not trapped in the space by the door.
Consider large tiles (e.g. 24 x 48 inch) in shower: They're more visually appealing because they require fewer grout lines compared to smaller tiles, and they make smaller rooms appear larger, with less visual distraction.
I like the idea of having no shower door. And, affixed to the ceiling and floor, it needs no frame at all (hopefully), so less to tarnish - and the glass looks almost not there.
Mirrors can be sleek and frameless, with or without medicine cabinets.
Pop in a Pullout Forget rummaging in the back of a cabinet for that tiny bottle of nail polish and opt for pullout shelves instead. This storage solution has long been used in kitchens, but it’s perfect for a bathroom too. This style of storage can be built into a narrow space (ideal in a small bathroom), and since most bathing essentials are fairly small, it’s just the right size.
Bath Floor Tile Recommendations: 1. Go Big and Beige Large fawn-coloured tiles create a classic look that’s neutral and restful. Their generous size and light tone are also space-enhancing. And large tiles mean fewer grout lines to maintain and keep mould-free.
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