Help with a very noughties bathroom?

5 years ago

Has anyone seen anything cool done with a beige marble-ish bathroom? I feel like they’ve been in every flat I’ve ever rented, and now we’re buying a place with one and I’m a bit stuck on what do with it.
We don’t have the budget for ripping it out and starting again, and I have a feeling we’re going to have to live with the beige because it looks like a pretty substantial job to take it out and tile.
So, any inspiration or ideas?!

Featured Answer

Juliet Docherty

5 years ago

I wouldn't paint the tiles, it could look cheap. When they were put it, they were considered stylish so why aren't they now? In ten years time people will be ripping out grey tiles - it's a bit strange. You could introduce a tile to use on the bath panel that ties together both the current beige wall tile and the darker floor tile such as this:

Modern Simplicity · More Info

the black and tan colour looks great with wood as seen in the above kitchen. You could put in an oak bath panel and replace the sill with oak. It wouldn't be too expensive to just replace the sink with a wall hung sink and vanity unit in oak, then you could lose the wall mounted one, chase in the shaver socket to the wall on the right and replace the mirror with a full width one to cover the whole wall. Paint the wall a dark colour.

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Comments (20)

Heather
5 years ago
Green plants, pictures on the wall?
Heather
5 years ago
Is that wall cabinet made of wood - you could paint the doors?
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Melissa S
5 years ago
Replace the bath panel, that will make a big difference. Full disclosure, I love painting stuff black and think it’s a great way of modernising. But would paint window frame and cabinet and bath panel a similar colour to your floor, lighten up the walls a little so they aren’t as magnolia, get some cheap prints in dark frames and stick a load of plants in.
AMB
5 years ago
Get rid of that bathroom cabinet and bath panel. Paint the walls a different colour (the first thing you should do) and accessorize.
T Gray
5 years ago
Had a similar situation in my last house. Though I was dealing with a cream suite too. Painted the walls a pale grey and got a grey wood effect bath panel and replacement doors made at a bespoke kitchen place. Cost was about £170.
Jonathan
5 years ago
Personally I would paint the walls a more dramatic colour such as Farrow and Balls Downpipe.
I also think changing the bath panel is an inexpensive upgrade- I bought one on EBay a few years ago so I would look their first.
Lastly I would tackle the bit over the sink. I would get rid of the current mirror and cabinet and replace it with more than one mirror cabinet. To tidy things up you could also have the shaver point put in the cabinet
Susi Knightwell
Original Author
5 years ago
This is all super helpful, thank you. I didn’t realise you could paint tiles, that definitely opens up possibilities!
daniellemcguckin
5 years ago
Pay to have the tile resprayed white, get rid of the mirror, lights and cabinet, replace glass on shower for totally frameless,re-panel/cover/tile bath surround and paint the wall in a deep offsetting colour/wallpaper.

Check out Houzz for Reno stories just like yours. I’ll see if I can locate a few
E D
5 years ago
I would be a little wary of painting (even spray painting) tiles. I have a feeling it could start to look tatty quite soon, particularly with the damp conditions of a bathroom.

Yes your bathroom looks somewhat dated perhaps and a little boring, but it appears to be finished to a good standard, so perhaps you can, at least for now, get away with simpler updates as suggested by others.

Was also thinking perhaps to go for bamboo accessories and furniture. This would tie in with your window frame (which looks pretty good, I think) and would add some warmth and a spa-like feel.

I will see if I can find pics to illustrate.
KK1000
5 years ago
Paint the wall cabinet to match your floor tiles or get a new one more modern in darker or brighter colour and repaint the wall to complement it.
Jonathan
5 years ago
Agreed- don’t paint the tiles- I can’t imagine you would prefer the end result
Suzanne C
5 years ago
Agree with not painting tiles, I painted mine and a few years later it started to peel at the edges.

Agree with a large mirrored cabinet too!
sksj1
5 years ago
Paint the walls a warm dark grey to tone with the floor tiles, paint the cupboard the same colour and get a big, bold indoor plant to put on the shelf and reflect in the mirror in a funky patterned pot. If you need a window treatment you could introduce some further pattern - maybe tropical to match the plant It’s a lovely bathroom!
Kazza None
5 years ago
Those tiles colour happy suggested look great and would tie it together so well and completely modernise it!!
A B
5 years ago
There was a story on here recently where the designer had done an amazing job of updating a slightly dated bathroom just by adding another tile to the existing ones as @colourhappy suggested. Don't have a link though sorry.
Tani H-S
5 years ago
Have you considered using the bathroom wall panels if you can’t afford to re-tile? They do some cheaper ones that look like grey tiles (was quite impressed considering!) or more epensice luxury panels. Just glue on over the tiles. An option for the future.

You could do an extra mosaic Splashback behind the sink as well in different colours - greys/blacks to add something bold to the beige rather than just going for white.

I would definately go with something more dramatic in there though.

Also consider a rich wood tone with some leafy plants and make it more of a spa feel with light greys, rich woods, (Bali style)
E D
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
I have no experience with them but I like the look of bathroom wall panels.

I'm wondering though if it's really as easy as gluing them. Surely they must be neatly cut to size where necessary (which will be in a lot of places) and they must be watertight, particularly at the seams.

I'm not sure but this may well mean there is not much in the way of a financial benefit over tiles.
PRO
Bathroom + Kitchen Eleven
5 years ago
Hi Susi!

I'm a designer for Bathroom Eleven and we specialise in interior design and bathroom design.

Perhaps you can introduce a new texture to liven it up a bit. A few ideas I've listed below but not all to be used in conjunction with each other :) Here they are:

- Change the bath panel to a wood effect style and match with some wooden accessories - a shelf, a framed mirror

- Paint the wall behind the mirror or wallpaper - or even perhaps change to a bespoke mirror to fill that whole space

- On the bespoke mirror idea, mirror half the space above the basin, and then have some matching shelving in a wood texture to match the bath panel

- Change the floor to Amtico or Vinyl in a wood effect

- Change the basin to one with a storage unit underneath

- Plants! Bring some outdoors, in. A big current trend and some plants that thrive in bathroom environments will bring colour and natural life into that room.

- Mosaic or feature tile the wall behind the mirror and cabinet to a complimentary blend between the floor and wall tile

- Art work - you have a nice, tall, space next to the WC - artwork is always a lovely way to bring colour into the room.

Hope this helps!

- Adam
KK1000
5 years ago
You could replace your sink with a new one with a cabinet underneath and have a matching style toilet, take down wall cabinet and have the whole wall mirrored. Update fittings in the shower.

Help with a very noughties bathroom?

Juliet Docherty

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Help with a very noughties bathroom?

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