Bathroom update

The bathroom wasn't really a room that was a part of the plan to update at the end of last year though it did have its issues. The pervious bath was like an egg timer, the water leaked out of it so while lying back and relaxing, you very quickly were only lying in a puddle.

The plug hole also was very temperamental meaning by the end of your bath when trying to either open or close it again your stress levels raised again to the pre bath levels.

The bathroom had tiles on the floor and up the walls that we got in B&Q sale, Colin and I were 23 and not really into interiors. A tile was a tile and there was no comparison between a £7 per box tile and a £70 per box tile.. 'wow only £7 sure just use them same ones and go up the wall too'. At that time we renovated the bathroom including bath, toilet and wash hand basin for £500, 'buy cheap and buy often' springs to mind though I am glad that we didn't put lots of money into it as now I really do know my style.

When I was looking for my ensuite and scrolling many bathroom websites it was love at first sight on Soak.com. I spied a dark blue freestanding bath with embellished feet and a white enamel inset and I just loved it! It was exactly what I imagined adding to my (very small) bathroom one day. I mentioned in my En- suite blog post but when looking at bathrooms online I couldn't believe how many companies will not ship to Northern Ireland, thankfully Soak have heard about the fact boats travel back and forth between the UK and Ireland and ship to both in pretty good time too!

Around this time Soak very kindly offered if I was ever interested in showcasing one of their baths to let them know, I was delighted but had to explain that I couldn't swing a cat in my bathroom and was sure that it would be showcased much better in a larger house. Thats the thing about the Hotel collection and about bathrooms in general, it's not the size, you don't have to be looking out a full length window over the countryside. You can have a little hotel luxury from a one bedroom apartment with a very tiny bathroom to a grand 6 bedroom detached house with golf course off to the side. I jumped at the chance and decided that we could change the tiles and bath and just use our existing toilet and wash hand basin. The taps I used on the bath can be used as free standing or attached to the side of the bath. They kept to the traditional feel, you can find them here.

Bella and I took a trip to Glasgow to stay with my childhood best friend and as we were in an ice-cream parlor she pointed out the hexagonal tiles, I loved them and snapped a picture to try to match them up back at home. When we were shopping for tiles and Bella spied the tiles she said they reminded her of a fun day with ice-cream, I think at that point we clearly had a winner. I got the tiles from Topps Tiles (can be found here) and decided to do wood panelling on the walls. The panelling was bought from Homebase and was less than £100 for the room however I would recommend leaving it in the room for a few weeks before fitting it to let the wood settle.

When we were in Homebase I spied a lovely traditional looking sink that was on a clearance shelf down to £60, I thought it was an ideal time to change the sink also as I didn't want to ruin such a stunning bath with a really old basic sink. I got a set of traditional taps from Bristan (you can find them here) which really finished the look. I think changing taps on sink units is a great way to give them a lift.

The wooden panelling is painted in Little Green 'French Grey' however I got it mixed by Johnstones (amazing paint at a fraction of the price).

To accessorize I have kept things quite simple and just added some plants from Ikea, a wooden bath caddy and my favourite bath items which has to be Jo Malone and Aesop, I treat myself to these products in between the normal 'quick mum style' baths with Johnsons baby. The small wooden bench I have only recently added which previously sat in the hall is from Cox and Cox.

I do love to take time out in here, bring a glass of wine and a magazine in and grab an hour to myself. Who says you need a spa day for a little bit of luxury, I am delighted with how my bathroom has turned out.

Anna xx

The fabulous people at Soak have very kindly offered all my readers a 10% discount code valid throughout February with the code BIRDS10