upstairs bathroom reno : update 3

upstairs bathroom reno : update 3

by | Oct 15, 2019 | Renovation

So, what does the bathroom actually look like, now that we’ve completed our mini renovation, and came in under budget? Well, let’s just say that whilst it’ll never win an interior design award, it’s a million times better than the one we inherited, back in 2017…

Literally everything – with the exception of the toilet pedestal, as this was actually quite new – was ripped out and skipped. Apart from the teeny bath which far too small for bathing, but pretty much the perfect size for a re-spray and used as a planter in the garden. That awful lino flooring – which we’d painted early on, as that colour is just vile – was the first thing to come up. It had been stuck on with industrial strength glue, and took a good while to get up. The boards were also sanded back, once the lino was removed.

With the cheap, ill-fitting, plastic bath panel removed, we began to get an idea of what the room could look like, as with the sanded floorboards, it immediately felt lighter, brighter and more spacious. Once the bath and sink were removed, everything felt so much better.

We ditched the idea of relocating the bath, opting instead for a full size one, which would sit under the window, along the length of the wall. This meant we didn’t have to relocate pipework etc, making the job a whole easier and a whole lot less expensive. We chose white sanitary ware, as we were retaining the white toilet and didn’t want to go for a colour, which would potentially minimise the feeling of space we had gained. The bath and the sink were not matching, but both were quite boxy in style and so complemented one another – and the white and chrome taps, push down plugs and shower connection tied the two together.

The new sink was much larger, and therefore heavier than the previous sink, so not wanting it to stand on a vanity unit type of arrangement, we had to come up with a solution. Having made the recess which the sink sits in, feel more spacious, despite it being bigger, we didn’t want it all to feel closed in again, and came up with a very simple idea, to support it.

Table legs, secured to the underside of the sink and the floor. Perfect…

The tiles around the sink (which we had previously painted) and the bath, were taken off, the intention being to replace with metro tiles. However, we’d set ourselves the £500 Bathroom Challenge and tiles like this, would have taken us over the budget. So, another decision was taken – which we knew might have to change in the future – and we painted the tiles white and re-grouted. We’re still taking a view on these, but they look a lot smarter than they were, when they a sickly beige colour.

We were still a bit undecided about what to do with the flooring, as there wasn’t so much to cover and potentially we could spend a little more on its finish. But, we quite liked the sanded boards. But, we also quite liked the idea of painting it in a high gloss white, so that the whole room was very light and bright. We did also have the white paint, so that would cut down on expenditure. Decisions, decisions…

Before we made the choice on the floor finish, the wooden beams were undercoated and painted. Not white this time, though – that’s the undercoat going on above – because we felt that they would just disappear into the white ceiling. So, having plenty of soft grey satinwood, that was our decision made, for the beams.

First coat of soft, grey satinwood applied. One more to go...

First coat of soft, grey satinwood applied. One more to go…

We still had to replace the bath panel – and having forgotten to source one when we bought the bath, we got creative, as we definitely want to go over the £500 challenge. A spare pack of laminate flooring that had been used in the kitchen was remembered, and the panels were cut to size and fixed around the bath frame. This helped us make the decision about the floor – the laminate panels were quite rough in design. A bit too close to the appearance of the floorboards but sufficiently different for them to clash, so we decided to go white.

The luxury of finally filling a large bath...

The luxury of finally filling a large bath…

 

workaway : update 3

workaway : update 3

by | Sep 28, 2019 | Renovation

We’ve just said au revoir to our lastest WorkAway visitors, a very handy French couple, from the Pyrenees area, but on a travelling sabbatical, in their trusty campervan. They contacted us, having seen our profile on the website, and felt that their skills were a good match for what we required. We’ve had two previous fabulous WorkAway experiences, but the last one was not so good and so we really investigated our French would-be guests, as we definitely didn’t want people who were actually on HolidayAway, rather than WorkAway. Like the last one. But, we felt very reassured with everything we read and our email communications were easy, friendly and informative. And, so last Saturday Patricia and Pierre arrived in their campervan.

We always make sure that one of the spare bedrooms is made up for WorkAway guests – the whole point of this scheme is that there should be a fair exchange. So, if people are coming into our home and giving us their time and skills, free of charge, then it’s only right that we ensure that they are comfortable, warm and well fed. Now that we feel at ease and confident with the scheme, we make sure that on arrival, we discuss expectations so as to minimise any room for confusion or misunderstanding. Although they were happy to stay in the campervan if necessary, we didn’t feel this was a “fair exchange” – especially as we immediately hit it off with them – and so they were delighted, after weeks in the van, at the prospect of having a big, comfy bed, as well as a hot shower when they needed it. We also provide breakfast, lunch and an evening meal – we cannot expect people to do quite manual work, without feeding them.

We can almost see the finishing line in terms of our house renovations. We could go on forever, but we have a new, exciting plan in the pipeline and so we’ve honed our profile so that anyone looking for hosts, knows exactly what we need and why we need it. With Pierre’s background in plumbing and building and Patricia’s in landscape gardening, they came to us just at the right time.

So, what did they do?

Our upstairs bathroom hasn’t been renovated, to date – apart from us giving it a lick of paint and adding some nice accessories. But, with us starting to now market the house, we felt that this room finally needed to be tackled and so bit the bullet and made this the priority, ensuring that our French visitors knew beforehand what we wanted then to do. Although we knew exactly what we wanted in terms of the bath etc, we didn’t purchase anything before they arrived because we wanted to take their professional advice re fittings etc, and so set off, with them, to Pula, to make the purchases. Only we were thwarted by the not-very-well-publicised Pula Half Marathon, as all roads into the city were closed until 3pm and on a Sunday, Bauhaus – where we were making the purchases from – is only open until 2pm. However, once back at the house, it did mean we could set about ripping out the old bathroom. A mightily pleasurable task…

The floor tiles have all been removed but have left behind that hideous, sticky adhesive which is hellish to remove. However, with a mix of a sander, a scraper, a hairdryer and good old elbow grease, we will succeed and we will get rid of it. (We could go out and buy a solution which could make it easier, BUT this would involve a long trip back to Pula, probably, and we’ve decided that in the time this would take, we could probably have shifted a fair amount by other means). The sander is sanding away upstairs and hopefully the boards will be smooth and glue-free, quite soon. We had toyed with the idea of removing the white wall tiles and replacing with Spanish style tiles – BUT, we’ve decided against this expense and instead are going to paint one of the walls in a feature colour. We’re veering towards either Parma Gray or Lulworth Blue, and in a very handy coincidence, we’re off to Treviso for a short visit – where there is a Farrow & Ball showroom. That’s what I call a result.

 

A return trip to Pula was much more successful and meant the the new sanitaryware was purchased, meaning we had a bath in the living room for a couple of days as the bathroom floor was finished. I don’t want to give away too much here, as the bathroom isn’t fully finished, although the bath, sink, toilet and new taps are all in. Our new friends left yesterday, to head off for their next adventure in Dubrovnik, so it’s over to us now.

So, Would We Recommend WorkAway?

Absolutely, we would. The one blip we had, was entirely my fault, as I didn’t really do my research on this one. It was in the early days of us being part of the scheme, that arrangements were made and I didn’t go back to them, until he was about to arrive and I felt it was unfair to cancel at such short notice. I did have reservations, but thought we’d give this one a chance – when it became quite clear that this particular exchange was going in one direction (us providing accommodation, food, comfortable living etc) and we were getting very, very little reciprocated, we brought things to a close earlier than had been arranged.

Four experiences in, and we are very much enjoying the scheme. We have made three sets of great friends and our house has come on in leaps and bounds, thanks to the skills these people brought with them. If you don’t really like having people in your home, this scheme is probably not for you. But, we’ve found it be overall a very positive and enriching experience and has enabled us to meet interesting people who we wouldn’t have otherwise met, and we’ve learned new skills – as well as being able to tick off a whole load of tasks on our to-do renovation list.

Next week, we have a couple from the States arriving – and the agreed task this time, is to have a wooden floor, with insulation, laid over the stone flags in the Well Room. No more cold feet in the winter…

upstairs bathroom reno : update 1

upstairs bathroom reno : update 1

by | Jul 29, 2019 | Renovation

The best part of the last two and half years has largely involved renovation. Somewhere in the house, something is usually being knocked down, built back up, painted, restyled, tiled, plumbed in or redesigned. We knew the challenges we would be facing when we bought our shell of an Istrian stone house which hadn’t been lived in for some time and needed an awful lot of TLC. Thankfully, much progress has been made and we can now count the things that still need to be tackled on two hands, rather than running out of digits. Still on the to-do-list are the following :

  • the front garden boundary wall/fence;
  • a car port/pergola to protect the cars from the sun and heat;
  • outdoor electricity and additional lighting;
  • deciding what to do with the shell of the abandoned house we are buying a the back of our house;
  • creating an enclosed courtyard;
  • completing the internal painting of floors and beams;
  • finishing the industrial style banisters and spindles on the stairs;
  • and, the small bathroom, upstairs.

Although we’ve been careful in what we have spent on this project, costs do tend to escalate and it’s easy to go over-budget, especially if you are a bit magpie-like and veer towards the shiny things. So, I’ve decided to set us a DIY/Reno challenge – and the challenge is to see if we can renovate the upstairs bathroom (excluding labour – we’re not stupid!) for no more than £500. That’s right – £500. Before we even to begin to plan in detail, we know that this will be very tight and will mean that much time will be spent online, and in-stores, sourcing and comparing and re-thinking. The current bathroom is awful. Even though we’ve tarted it up and it’s fully functioning and looking a million times better than when we moved in, the sanitary ware is really, really cheap and really, really unattractive. The bath is very small, meaning that it’s hardly ever used and the shower is just an attachment from the tap, meaning that if you do try and use it, because there’s no screen, chances are, however careful you are, the walls and floor, get soaked.

To make things better in the interim, we’ve painted the walls and the bath panel white, the woodwork the same soft, pale blue that runs through the rest of the house and the floor tiles have been painted in Farrow and Ball Railings. New accessories, such as the shelving for the towels, plants, lanterns and new bath mats have been added. Plus a new loo seat 😉 But, however much we try and prettify it up, it’s still essentially an inherited bathroom and we want to make it ours.

The original plan was to reposition all of the sanitary ware. The bath, with a new shower, would go into the recess, where the sink and toilet currently sit opposite each other, and the sink and toilet would be moved under the window. However, even though everything is already plumbed in, it would involve quite a lot of moving of pipes – and especially the waste pipe and soil stack – and we decided that for a room this small, it just wasn’t worth the hassle. However much more sense the new, intended layout would make.

So, the decision has been made to keep everything in the position they are now, but with some (quite big) tweaks. A new bath, with a new bath panel, will now extend the full length under the window, meaning the shelving will go. A shower will be fitted to the right of the window, with a  screen, which will fold back onto itself on the wall where the shelving currently is. The door which opens into the bathroom, will be removed and a sliding door installed, giving us the much needed extra space. A new sink and toilet will also be installed. Flooring and walls are still being discussed, as are storage options. I’ve been scouring the internet for bathroom inspiration, and pinning like mad on Pinterest. Some of the ideas I’ve liked, just aren’t suitable for such a small space. Some are just a bit too out there. But, there are elements in all of the ideas I’ve found, that make me convinced that with a bit of imagination, and patience, we can achieve the £500 challenge…

Inspiration for when we're not working to a £500 challenge...

Inspiration for when we’re not working to a £500 challenge…

More inspiration for when we're not working to a £500 challenge...

More inspiration for when we’re not working to a £500 challenge…

I’m a bit taken by a monochrome theme. The room is strangely proportioned – the floor space is small, but the ceiling is very high, so we don’t want an overpowering colour at floor level, making the room seem smaller. However, the height will lend itself to something quite unusual, so the current thinking is white bath, sink and toilet with a white tiled floor and white walls. And then matt black taps and shower, and to the right of the current window, where the shower will hopefully be installed, black metro tiles. Perhaps the boldest thing we’re thinking, is to paint the ceiling black and the beams white. Might work. Might not. But we can only try.

Dare we?

Dare we?

So, my days are currently taken up with trying to source all of these kinds of beauties (including bath, sink and toilet), and coming in less than our £500 challenge. Can we do it? Only time will tell – but as we always, say…

Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

downstairs bathroom reno : update 1

downstairs bathroom reno : update 1

by | Mar 28, 2018 | Renovation

In the year that we have lived in The House, the small downstairs bathroom has gone through a number of changes. It’s not in the most ideal location, being right off The Well Room, which will eventually become another living/dining room. However, we know that we are lucky to have two bathrooms, especially with visitors coming and going, so getting rid of it wasn’t an option. We tarted it up as best as we could last year, but like most rooms in the house, layout didn’t seem to be a priority for the previous owners. The shower cubicle was tiny, with a tap attachment which scalded you whichever way you positioned yourself – and to escape it you were constantly banging in the horrible plastic tri-folding doors. The toilet was positioned right opposite the door – which hadn’t been fitted and hung properly, so didn’t properly close. Nothing quite as nice as the first thing you see being a toilet, when you come into the house 🙁

The sink was of tiny proportions – more suited to a small cloakroom set up than a bathroom, so anything other than brushing your teeth was nigh on impossible. And then the terrazzo tiles. I know these can be expensive and I know the previous owners really liked them, but just not to our taste. A fawny kind of colour, that was neither here nor there, they covered the floor, shower cubicle and most of the walls. When we moved in, the walls hadn’t been painted, so this was our first job, and we have lived with it not being too bad for the best part of a year…

A bit of white paint makes a big difference…

A bit of white paint makes a big difference…

However, with work going on in the kitchen and the Well Room, we decided that the time was right to bite the bullet and try and get all of the mess over and done with at the same time. Famous last words!

So that there was no going back, we bought the new bathroom at the weekend and ripped out the shower frame so that the room was unusable and so that the work had to start. And start it has! The shower & toilet are out, the tiles have all been drilled off and the floor has been smashed up so that the new soil pipe etc can be installed. We’ve taken the opportunity to completely reconfigure the bathroom so that as a space, it just works better.

The new shower will now be positioned where the sink and toilet was, meaning a much bigger cubicle. The new toilet will be fitted where the shower used to be and the new sink opposite the door, which will now be a sliding door, fitted on the outside, meaning more space as it won’t be opening into the bathroom. This morning, it all looks an absolute mess – but out of mess and chaos we’re hoping something very beautiful will emerge.

Smashing out a hideous shower cubicle is very satisfying...

Smashing out a hideous shower cubicle is very satisfying…

The renovation has started...

The renovation has started…

The toilet has been demolished...

The toilet has been removed…

Yep, that is the toilet in the Well Room...

Yep, that is the toilet in the Well Room…

So, currently, apart from the living room, that’s all of downstairs in utter disarray. But hopefully it will mean that when our first visitors arrive mid-April, we’ll have a kitchen and bathroom to be proud of. We hope…

planning the bathroom renovation

planning the bathroom renovation

by | Jan 15, 2018 | Renovation

In the house we’ve bought in Istria, we have two bathrooms. Sounds like a bit of a luxury, doesn’t it? But, both are very small and both are poorly laid out. The house had previously only been used in the summer, and more recently, less frequently, so not a great deal of attention had been paid to these two small rooms. However, we think bathrooms are important places and think they should be places to really unwind and relax. And, when we have guests we want them to experience something quite beautiful. Our renovation budget is not huge and with a renovation comes unexpected costs. Who would have thought we’d have to pay in excess of £500 to increase our electricity power supply recently? Not budgeted for as we weren’t aware that we’d need to do this, so a little bit less in the pot to spend on getting the house the way we want it. So, we need to be creative – and find people who can help us realise our creative dreams.

We have done a bit of work in the bathrooms, but the time is coming for this to be done properly. The downstairs bathroom is just off the Well Room and so needs to be carefully thought out. We have toyed with the idea of getting rid of it, but having had guests stay, we’ve realised that a second bathroom is very useful, just not with the layout it currently has. The toilet is positioned almost opposite the door, and the shower cubicle is squished into the corner opposite the window – it has a plastic tray, a plastic folder door and a manky shower head. All in all, despite what we’ve done to tart it up, it’s not a room I relish spending any time in.

We've really tried to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, but the room is still pretty dire...

We’ve really tried to make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, but the room is still pretty dire…

We want to replace the traditional door, which opens inwards, to be replaced by a sliding glass door. Obviously not transparent glass – something along these lines, which was in a hotel in Rome.

Sliding glass door idea...

Sliding glass door idea…

The upstairs bathroom is tiny. Originally, we had thought about sacrificing one of the bedrooms to make into a larger bathroom, and making the small one (which adjoins our room) an en-suite, but this would have left us with only two bedrooms. So, again, having tinkered with it ourselves, we now need to get creative and get the professionals in.

The upstairs bathroom – before we tarted it up a bit...

The upstairs bathroom – before we tarted it up a bit…

The upstairs bathroom – after we tarted it up a bit...

The upstairs bathroom – after we tarted it up a bit…

The bath is a half size bath, sitting under the window, so right in the way. The sink is in a recess, opposite the toilet – where these two sit facing each other, we originally thought the bath should be. But then it would still have be a fairly small bath and this meant that options for relaxing were curtailed. Then, we mulled over a free-standing bath in our room (which is the biggest bedroom we’ve ever had and so definitely able to take this) and a walk-in shower in the upstairs bathroom, where we were going to put the bath. So, I’ve been spending some lovely time searching online for free-standing bath inspiration…

Free standing bath dreaming...

Free standing bath dreaming…

This means that the two small bathrooms can be designed much more effectively, without having to shoehorn a bath into one of them. Whilst we don’t want to totally scrimp on kitting these out, we do need to be mindful that we can’t go wild, and so we have to plan very carefully to create a stylish, small wet room type bathroom. But, as ever, budget is key, so we think and plan, very cleverly and creatively, over the coming months, to realise our bathroom dreams…