12 Bathroom Renovation Tips We Learned

410

Couple Living
2 br
HDB (Resale)
~700 sqft
Scandinavian

There are a couple of key lessons we learnt when designing, picking materials, and using our bathrooms. 1. Pick large tiles for less grout to clean (we know the irony of our kitkat tiles)
2. And if like us, you decide to be ironic and pick half a wall of kitkat tiles (i.e. lots of grout lines), make sure to match the grout colour as closely to the tile colours as possible. 3. While Taobao sinks are cheap, ASK the seller for actual photos of the product before confirming the colour (this was not the brown we saw on Taobao - it was less brown and more grey, which was what we wanted, oh well)
4. Take into consideration the space AFTER you hang your towels, bathrobes, etc. We initially bought a towel rack but had to give it away and get hooks instead because with a towel hanging on it, the length would get in our way at the sink, even though the rack is high enough to clear our heads.
5. Get professional help (or at the very least use a leveller) when installing anything horizontal. We did not. So let's try not to scrutinise this alignment...
6. Have somewhere you (or your guests) can leave their phones while in the bathroom. Make sure it's a convenient place, so they'll actually put it down.
7. Consider brushed metal fittings since they tend to have less obvious watermarks.
8. Changing up the mirror is the easiest way to change the bathroom look/ feel. So, make sure that the mirrors are securely installed but also easily replaceable.
9. Get a ledge built with the same tiles as your bathroom tiles. This ensures continuity in design, but is also a convenient and safe way to place bath essentials. Use your hip as a guide how high it should be positioned for easy reach.
10. There are 2 types of lighting that's important for different reasons. Ambient lighting - cozy, not too bright so you don't blind yourself when you wake up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night. (Here we boxed up the pipes and created an LED slit for ambient lighting - warm white.) Task light - the bright one in the middle of the toilet, so we can see everything super clearly.
11. Pick a toilet bowl that does the 'tornado' flush, where the water whirls around the bowl while flushing. This saves water, cleans better and flushes everything well. Try to also go for a rimless version so you don't get the nasties stuck underneath it where it is hard to clean.
12. Pick a lid with soft closure (no splash!), no rims, and maje sure it is easily removable to clean all the inbetweens. Ours can be removed by pressing the button (under the seat) and pulling upwards. There's also no way to take a decent photo of the toilet bowl.
Here's the angle from when we shower. We opted for no doors because the HDB lay out caused us to have a smaller shower area. 'Kiap' between the sink and toilet. That said, we've never had any problems with wetting the entire bathroom! Final tip, make sure that your ID/ Reno contractor lay the tiles in a way that creates a gentle gradient towards the drain to ensure water is always flowing into the drain and not staying in puddles on the floor.