Not having access to your bathroom is stressful, having your water turned off, and your house turned upside down with old baths being ripped out and new ones being put in is stressful. But there are some ways that you can make bathroom renovation as stressless as possible. Read on to find out what they are.
Know what you want from the very beginning
One of the ways that you can keep your bathroom remodel as stress-free as possible is to have a very clear idea of what you want from the beginning of the process. To help you with this, it can be very useful to complete what is known as a mood board. This is a visual guide that covers the visual look of your bathroom, from the colors you will use to the fixtures and fitting styles, and even the tiles and wallpaper.
The great thing about using mood boards is that they solidify your bathroom vision from the very beginning. They also help you check that each of your Design decisions works with the others, giving you a cohesive overall finished product. Feel free to complete your mood board with physical materials in the form of a collage or complete it digitally online with tools like Pinterest or Milanote.
Make a budget and keep to it
Next, if you want your bathroom remodel to go as smoothly and be as stress-free as possible, you need to maintain control of your purse strings. Yes, that means making a budget at the beginning of your project and doing everything you can to stick to it. Unfortunately, it can often become stretched in bathroom renovations as the cost of fixtures and fittings, and final touches, can really add up. This is why you need to make sure you accurately cost all of the work beforehand yourself, or get an accurate quote from the professional renovators you will be working with. Make sure that this information is always broken down into a line-by-line itemized invoice so you can keep an easy track of what is spent on what item as the project moves forward.
Find a contractor that can handle the whole thing
You can also make your bathroom renovation a great deal easier and less stressful on yourself by finding a contractor who deals with the entire project from start to finish. Indeed, when you work with a contractor that offers expert project management, all the details, including deliveries, workers and the project, should be managed for you, vastly reducing your stress. Some of the best quality bathroom renovation companies will even deal with the design phase for you. Ensuring you get the bathroom of your dreams, without the nightmare of having to organise suppliers, contractors and ordering materials yourself.
Consider how you use your space when designing
Another smart move when it comes to stress-free bathroom renovations is to make sure the design you come up with carefully considers how you and your family will utilize the space on an everyday basis. What this means is you need to design your bathroom in line with the workflow that most people use within it. For example, a towel rail needs to be close to both the shower and bath and sing so that people can reach for warmed towels when they need them the most. Similarly, it’s important to make sure that there is enough space within the bathroom to move around and get dry after a bath or shower.
Include enough storage in your design
One of the most common problems with bathroom renovations is that homeowners forget to factor in enough space for storage. This is a problem because most of us have a wide range of products, including shampoos, conditioners, body washes, soaps and shaving paraphernalia that we need easy access to within the bathroom. However, having all of these items on display can create a cluttered feeling and encourage the growth of mildew and mold, making your bathroom much more difficult to keep clean.
Happily, by including enough storage space in your original design, you can avoid most of these issues. Where possible, bathroom storage space should be covered, as this will help maintain a minimalist and clutter-free look. If you truly need direct access to certain products all the time, a small shower caddy is usually the best option. Although it’s worth noting to keep it nice, you will have to clean it regularly.
Make a plan for when your bathroom is out of action
One of the most stressful elements of any bathroom renovation is being left without access to your bathroom facilities. The good news is that most homes now are equipped with two toilets, meaning you will not have to go elsewhere to use this facility. However, a few homes have two or more showers or baths, and this can make getting ready for work tricky during the duration of the renovation.
To get around this, you may wish to stay elsewhere while the work is completed. A hotel is a good option for this as they will provide bathroom facilities, although if budget is a concern, then staying with friends or family might be a more cost-effective option. Another consideration is using local facilities, such as showers at your gym, for the time that the renovation is occurring. You could even change your routine so you worked out in the morning, had a shower and then went to work.
Make all the detailed decisions before you start
Last of all, if you want your bathroom renovation to be as stress-free as possible, it makes sense to make all of the detailed decisions about the work before you begin. Yes, that means deciding on the exact shade of silver for the taps, what kind of grout you will use for the tiles, and the design of your new shower curtain before any of the work has been done. The main benefit of this is that once you’ve made these decisions, you will rid yourself of any additional stress during the renovation process. This means all you need to do is sit back, relax and wait for your bathroom renovation to be complete, without placing yourself under any undue stress.
Meg is an author at Cinnamon Hollow. She writes on a variety of topics sharing tips and ideas for daily life.
