Your Guide to Bathroom Planning & Design

Bathroom planning guide

March 08, 2010 - Amanda Sommers - Spacify

This bathroom planning guide aims at providing you with bathroom design ideas useful in planning a bath space, dressing area or cloakroom. You may be planning a revamp of your old bathroom or doing it from scratch; these are some basic points you may like to ponder upon.

Let’s start with the basic questions:

i) What is the area of the bathroom?
ii) Who will use it? Children, guests, you, two people or the whole family?
iii) What are the fixtures you would like to install? (Shower cubicle, jets, tub, vanity etc)
iv) Which parts of the bathroom you plan to revamp?
v) Is the lighting appropriate?
vi) What bathroom furniture you would like to buy?
vii) Does it require plumbing work?

Start with first things first. Measure the bathroom area and make a rough sketch with the fixtures you have and the ones you wish to change. This will help you estimate the exact area you have around to play with. Next thing that should fall in place is a realistic budget. Even if you are thinking of redoing the plumbing job yourself (which may not be a great idea), estimate the costs, for it can be expensive. With the budgets and fixtures you want in hand, it’s easy now to dwell on the fun part – your design ideas and new fittings. Whether it’s a new vanity, shower enclosure or a new tub, make sure you think of the space. It’s important to be able to move around easily and you don’t want to clutter your bathroom.

Modular bathrooms done in little space are in vogue. There are more people looking for smaller bathrooms fitted with modern amenities. With meticulous and creative thinking, you should be able to fit in the things you desire, say a shower cubicle, for instance.

You can get corner shower cubicles that save space and if there is space constraint, you could always use a separate overhead shower cubicle and use curtains to keep the water from splashing out.

Tubs come in different shapes too and save your bathroom precious space. Get a deeper bathtub that saves space around the foot-end or baths where you sit straight, saving on the length. For bigger bathrooms, when you have good space on hand, you can play with the space with fewer constraints. Estimate the space, the gadgets and fixtures you plan to add. The saunas, shower cubicles and tubs are all possible, just work on it in a way that helps the space look open. Just let your creativity speak in your planning and design!

Bathroom fittings

To avoid any ghastly sites in the bathroom, you may need to pay attention to bathroom fittings. Detailed work and fittings like faucets and sinks can matter in fashioning your desired space:

• Faucets
Modern bathroom Faucet may sound like the simplest thing to choose, but pay attention to details like mounting (wall/sink) and material. If you already have a faucet, maybe you plan to change the mounting, which can cost much more as it may also require plumbing work.

• Toilet Seats
Toilet seats come in different shapes and sizes. Depending on the available space, you can round up from a choice of elongated, rounded or corner seats. The elongated seat is great for comfort, but pay attention to details and dimensions. You don’t want your hands touching the ground when seated. Also, for smaller bathrooms, you can get one of those corner seats that save space.

• Sinks & Taps
Sinks come in sundry shapes, colors and sizes too. The designer variety includes wall-mounted, counter sinks in steel, glass, ceramic and a combination of accessories and colors to match. Taps are functional things and you would like to consider the water flow and temperature control system before you buy. There are designer taps available that are the perfect combination of style and function.

*• Contemporary bathroom furniture *
Be it a bathroom or cloakroom, contemporary bathroom vanities deserve great scores on both utility and function. Work on choosing the storage room and sink shape and size very closely. You can get sinks in all shapes and sizes for both big and small bathrooms and in materials from fancy wood to steel and glass, so find something that goes with your bathroom theme.

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