Bathroom Renovations: 8 Simple Tips for Success

Bathroom Renovations: 8 Simple Tips for Success

A bathroom renovation is one of the most effective ways to increase the value of your home. If you have ever watched ‘The Bock’, then you will know that your bathroom is one of the most important rooms of this house, especially if you are renovating for re-sale purposes. Therefore, if you’re planning to renovate your bathroom, it’s important to do it right to capitalise on your investment.

One way to get more ‘bang for your buck’, so to speak, is to do the renovation yourself with a DIY approach. However, before you start out, you need to plan everything carefully.

A bathroom renovation can however be expensive, especially if not planned properly. According to homeimprovementpages.com.au, a bathroom renovation can cost anywhere between $10,000 – $35,000. Hence, it is important to ensure that your hard earnt money is spent creating a bathroom that you love, not regret.

If you’re wondering how to go about with your planning, don’t worry – I’m here to help you out.

As Ross’s head of purchasing, I not help hundreds of Perth residence source products for their bathroom renovations on a daily basis, but I also successfully renovated my own bathroom just last year – so it’s fair to say I am well equipped to tackle this topic.

Continue reading this article as I share with you how I went about my renovation. By following my tips below, I have no doubt that you’ll achieve the same success with your DIY renovation.

1. Plan on a theme

The first thing that I did before I started my bathroom renovation was decide on a design. Deciding on your bathroom design will also give you an idea of what items you need to buy for your renovation. I believe that this is the most critical step in a renovation project as this helped dictate how I went about the process.

Before you embark on your renovation, you should settle on your design as well. To do this, I recommend you look through magazines and websites for ideas, I found this most helpful. The most important thing to keep in mind is that your bathroom design should match the style of your home. In my opinion, you should keep things simple and stick with proven design ideas.

2. Keep your plumbing in place

An important aspect that made my bathroom renovation run smoothly was my decision to work with the existing pluming. I fiddled around with everything but the plumbing, and there are many reasons why I chose to do this.

Regardless of the scope of your renovation, I recommend you do your best to keep your plumbing intact. Shifting the vanity, bath, toilet and shower will cost you a lot of money and effort. This is certainly not recommended for a DIY renovation project. Understand that renovation means improving your existing bathroom and not designing a new one.

When you go about upgrading your fixtures, accessories and fittings, make sure to do so keeping your plumbing in place. Your plumbing will form the base of how to proceed with the renovation.

3. Set a budget

I have a lot of DIY experience, so I had an idea of how much my bathroom renovation would cost. However, this may not be true for everyone, so I recommend you to plan your details with care.

One of the best ways to avoid costly renovation is to set a budget and stick to it. You will need to sit down and calculate material costs and cost of accessories, fixtures and fittings within your budget. You can get an idea of costings for these by visiting our online store and viewing our bathroom vanities, toilets, tapware, baths, showers and so on.

Also, I highly recommend that you keep a 10% allowance to account for unexpected costs and emergencies. Even the most well planned projects may meet unexpected turns so you must plan for contingencies as well. Proper planning with allowance for contingencies will result in a smoother project and unexpected costs will not hurt you.

4. Plan out your lighting

Lighting is an important consideration for any bathroom. Thankfully, I did not need to do much here as my original lighting was good for all purposes.

However, this may not be the case for you, so plan lighting that works. Make use of both natural light and artificial light to enhance your bathroom design. Add functional lighting around your vanity to make daily tasks such as shaving or applying makeup effective.

Also, consider using glass fittings and accessories that reflects light. This is particularly helpful for smaller bathrooms as reflected light offers an illusion of extra space.

Lighting up accessories and other features of your bathroom also helps create a style statement. Remember – you don’t need to splurge on expensive lighting fixtures or accessories. If done right, even the simplest of lighting can make a bold statement in your bathroom.

5. Choosing tiles

Because our tile prices are so affordable, I was able to upgrade the floor and wall tiles of my bathroom to create an all new look. I suspect that you want to do the same.

By choosing tiles properly, you can get really creative and add a touch of flair to your bathroom. If you want to make a bold statement, you can add tiles with different patterns, colours and texture. For a more neutral approach, use darker tiles on the floor with light tiles on the walls.

You can also make use of decorative tiles in your shower area to change the feel and look of your bathroom. Tiles can act as a wonderful backdrop to your bathroom fixtures and accessories, so choose your tiles accordingly.

We have an excellent selection of bathroom tiles at Ross’s, which as mentioned are very affordable. From wall tiles, ceramic tiles, porcelain tiles, feature tiles, marble tiles and mosaic tiles, we offer all the tiles you need for your bathroom.

6. Fittings and fixtures

In my bathroom renovation project, I installed a new vanity, a few accessories, new tapware and a toilet suite. With these fittings, my bathroom looked amazing and thanks to the low prices of our products, it cost me just a faction of the cost it would have had I shopped elsewhere.

When selecting fittings and fixtures for your bathroom renovation, I suggest that you choose quality products. This is easy, thanks to our extensive selection of products at Ross’s Discount Home Centre. We have a huge range of bathroom products for you to choose from, all at affordable prices.

When selecting your fittings, be mindful to opt for those that are long lasting and those that will enhance your bathrooms overall design. The fittings and fixtures that you choose will determine the functionality level of your bathroom so choose wisely.

Most importantly, items should fit in your budget. Don’t spend money on items that you won’t use. Carefully assess you needs before you choose fixtures and fittings for your bathroom.

7. Storage

Storage is an essential part of every bathroom and you must plan for it in your renovation. Storage was one of the prime reasons why I renovated my bathroom. Make sure to plan for storage as it is a bathroom necessity.

I made use of the bathroom vanities and mirror cabinets we offer here at Ross’s to increase my storage space. Clever storage solutions can also be created in hidden corners, above the toilet, in unused spaces or under vanities. Ultimately, the floor plan will dictate your available storage space.

8. Shop around

When you’re shopping around Perth for bathroom renovation supplies, you certainly have a lot of options on hand. One of the best places is to head to well-known hardware retailers, such as right here at Ross’s Discount Home Centre. This will give you an idea of what fittings and fixtures are available in your budget.

At our showroom in Guildford, you will find everything that you need for your bathroom renovation project right here under the one roof. From vanities, toilet suites, tapware, accessories, baths, shower screens, basins, cabinets and bases, we have it all in stock and waiting to be shipped.

Conclusion:

Taking on a DIY bathroom renovation is certainly exciting. However, it can prove to be a rather costly affair if you don’t plan things out properly.

When renovating a bathroom, the first thing you need to decide upon is the design. Make sure you plan your project such that you don’t have to fiddle around with the plumbing. Set a budget, plan your lighting and choose tiles that help you achieve your desired look. Purchase quality fixtures and fittings within your budget, keeping in mind to include only those items that you will use.

Once you are ready to purchase products for your renovation, head to Ross’s Discount Home Centre where you’ll find everything you need under the one roof. We are a leading retailer of bathroom products and stock everything that you could possibly need to complete your renovation, and stick to budget.

So, drop by our showroom in Guildford, or buy products online. If you need any information regarding a product, please feel free to give us a call. Our helpful salesmen will be glad to offer you all the information you need. Happy shopping!

For more bathroom renovation tips and advice, please read our Guide to Perth Bathroom Renovations.