Finally Finished...

Happy Fathers day!!!

So it's been a while, sorry about that. Since finishing uni for the summer I've bagged myself a really exciting internship with artist Gillian Arnold (which I'll ramble on much more about soon), and despite it being amazing and really inspirational it is unfortunately taking up most of my days, hence the lack of LD presence on the social media scene.

Today I'm back though to FINALLY share with you our FINISHED - yep you heard me, FINISHED bathroom! And how excited I am to do so. So kick back after chilled Fathers Sunday with a full belly and cuppa in hand and enjoy this post as much as I am enjoying sharing it with you. I only wish I had before pictures ( no idea how we missed that bit, I think Craig was just so eager to rip the tiles off the walls!) so I will briefly help you conjure and image in your mind...

...Think pale blue and yellow STRIPEY wall tiles, complete with large blue bow motifs FROM FLOOR TO CEILING ON EVERY INCH OF WALL, complete with a yellow painted ceiling. There was only a corner bath, toilet and sink with built in cupboard underneath in here previously. That was pretty much it - old school as you like.

I wanted to create a grown up, laid back room that would make me want to never leave the bath tub. Nothing majorly structurally went on in here, but here is a quick run down of what we have done:

- Ripped off wall tiles (much to Craig's delight)

- Knocked out a small cupboard that was in the hallway and blocked up the door to create enough space for a shower cubicle.

- Moved the corner bath from right hand corner and replaced it with a new one directly under the window

- Moved toilet from under the window to right hand wall so that the toilet and sink sat along one wall creating more space.

- Used an old free-standing pine unit to house a countertop basin- replaced the wooden knobs with white ceramic ones from h & m

- Tiled behind shower cubicle - shower and cubicle were new additions

-  Created an oak shelf to sit on top of boxed in bath pipes
- Painted the walls in Abigail Ahern by Craig and Rose 'Overtly Olive'
- Replaced old yellowy vinyl flooring with new black and white vinyl

Voi la...

The wall colour felt really quite dark when it went on and stood mainly alone, but plenty of lighting and the white touches brighten it right up. (Look out for a post soon on lighting tips.)

I love this alternative style chandelier from John Lewis, I wanted a feature light above the bath and this adds the touch of black that I was looking for. It also casts really gorgeous shadows...

All of the accessories here are from h and m. Plants and pots all Ikea.

 We sourced this lovely reclaimed radiator from a salvage place in Tynemouth, it came fully finished as in the picture.

The mirrors were complete bargains from TK Maxx! I liked the idea of not going for the typical one mirror above the basin and using two means I get to have my own at the perfect height for me, and Craig gets his own too. We are toying with the idea of hand painting 'his' and 'hers' in black scroll above them - haven't quite decided on that yet!

We sourced the shower, basin, bath and toilet from James Hargreaves in Stockton. I couldn't recommend them enough. We looked around loads of bathroom places and they were either totally overpriced or seriously bad quality. The stuff we got from them is really good quality which is obviously totally important when it comes to the technical stuff! They had a nice showroom too so you can sit in the baths and try them for size rather than just picking from a catalogue - don't judge me if I'm laying in it it needs to be comfy, right?

I was really keen on using marble in the room somewhere as I knew it would bring a touch of timeless glamour. These beauties were from Topps Tiles, placing them in a herringbone pattern adds a touch of needed pattern to the blocks of wall colour. Again the lightness they provide the room with lifts the depth of the olive paint colour. Despite wanting gold/ copper fittings, I was talked out of them by Craig. I do wish I had put my foot down on that matter though but it was going to work out more expensive so I gave in. That is probably the only thing I regret about this room- maybe in 15 years when we do it all again!!!

So there is still some finishing touches to add, I want to hang some art, get some rugs and add a little stool by the bath but for now I'm so happy to this room pulled together. It is EXACTLY what I wanted it to be. I hope it has inspired you to take a few risks with your own bathroom, even if just a lick of paint.

I'm off in the tub!

XOXO

P.S if you didn't catch the last post on bathrooms, click here to head on over. Please feel free to comment, would love to hear your views or about your own bathroom projects! Don't forget to follow LD on Facebook and twitter if you don't already!