Family Bathroom Renovation – My Fantastic Forest Bathroom

My Family Bathroom Renovation

I read somewhere that the renovations and redecorating you rush into when you first move into your ‘new’ home are often, once you’ve properly settled in, the first things you want to change. It may or may not be true for everyone but it’s something I remind myself of when I see all I want to change with our house – when I want things ‘done yesterday’ and am itching to take down walls and build new ones. I use it as a reminder that our ‘little by little’ approach will be worth it.

Included in our step by step of bringing our forty year old house up to scratch and transforming it into a 21st century family home, was our decision to convert what was once a bedroom into a family bathroom.



My Family Bathroom Renovation – Before & After

Our ‘Family Bathroom Renovation’ took time, patience, money and lots of thought. There are things we might have done differently – and I’ll share these thoughts with you. There are also things we did that I can recommend from experience and of course I’ll share  those thoughts too.

If you have any renovation or home style questions please use the comment box below or email me at edwina@thelifeofstuff.com. And do check back for more Home Style news, reviews, guides and tips.


Further Reading: 8 Things To Know Before Renovating Your Bathroom


Bathroom Renovation – Bath, Sink & Toilet – Before


There are numerous bathroom renovation specialists out there who will design, project manage, build and even provide your bathroom units and accessories for you. Of course that would have been the easier route, and if we were to do it all again I’d highly consider it. However we decided to design our bathroom ourselves, and hired local tradesmen. Most of the tradesmen we hired were masters in their trade, and their work was never an issue, time however was, as many had other jobs on the go as well as ours.


Bathroom Renovation Bath, Sink & Toilet – After

Home Style - Family Bathroom Renovation - Before & After - Finished


And so on that note if you are considering renovation work – take into consideration that your dream project might not be the only one your hired tradesman is carrying out. So be realistic with the timeframe you expect the project to be completed in – and have a contingency plan for delays with time, and money. And in our case be prepared to have your loo in the shed for a couple of months! Yes, it had to be done.


Bathroom Renovation Walk-In Shower – Before

Whether you have employed a specialist to design your bathroom, or you’re designing it yourself – you should always have the last say. As I designed our bathroom, the onus was on me – a luxury I enjoyed but of course there was always that little pinch of doubt. And that’s where a strong but open-mind is important.


If you have a vision for how you want your room to look be sure to vocalise it. But always take the advice of the professionals you’ve hired on board too. We took on board all the advice we could get, from the tiles we chose to the placement of our bath units. But ultimately our choices were our choices.


Bathroom Renovation Walk-In Shower – After

Home Style - Family Bathroom Renovation - Before & After - Finished Wet Room Style Walk-In Shower


Here are a couple of examples of some words of wisdom we went against:

  1. We were advised to install a shower tray, but we didn’t – we wanted a walk-in, wetroom style bathroom and that’s what we got. Are we glad? Completely. Although I often think we could have opted to keep all the tilework the same throughout the floor and not differentiate the shower area.
  2. We were advised to use a dark grout in between the white subway tiles, as they can be hard to keep clean. Nope we went white and they’re still bright white – CIF is our go to product.
  3. We insisted the spotlights, main light and extractor fan have seperate switches – who needs all their lights and extractor on during bright, airy, open-windowed summer months?

Making Our Bathroom Renovation Unique

Home Style - Family Bathroom Renovation - Before & After - Finished Wall to Ceiling Mural Wallpaper


Our home is a mixture of old and new, from furniture to fixtures. I personally love vintage and antique pieces but also adore the benefits the latest technology brings too. And when it comes to our house we always count our garden as an extra room because we spend so much time in it.


Further Reading: Make Your Bathroom Better in 6 Easy Ways



Bringing the outside in has always been a goal of mine – I have numerous design ideas for our home that will hopefully one day come to fruition. And here I remind myself again – little by little Edwina, step by step.


Home Style - Family Bathroom Renovation - Before & After - Perfect Pampering


I’m keen on simple luxury and functionality, I sit on the fence between the fields of minimalism and maximalism. But am neck-deep in the wonderful world of biophilic design.


Home Style - Family Bathroom Renovation - Before & After - Bath and Feature Wall


And so it was a no-brainer for me to include this beautiful misty forest wallpaper mural from Hovia in the design of our bathroom. The Treverkmood wood effect porcelain stoneware tiles from PJ Nolan’s Carlow added to our luxury treetop bathroom, and the bathroom units including the freestanding bath and wood effect vanity unit from Soak.com (who are sadly no longer around) cemented the design for me.


Home Style - Family Bathroom Renovation - Before & After - Sink and Toilet


Add the technology of a touch-free Luminaire Illuminated LED Mirror Cabinet (soak.com) complete with shaving socket, but more importantly bluetooth speakers so you can listen to music or a podcast while showering or soaking the daily dust away, and our bathroom is a winner in my eyes. The shower is a Mira Azora Frosted Glass Electric Shower from Screwfix, the towel radiator from Griffin Hawe Athy and the beautiful artwork purchased from Dublin based Jam Art Factory is by Irish Artist Mark Conlon.



A Luxury Family Bathroom

So where do we go from here? Our bathroom renovation was a success, it’s a luxury bathroom fit for any pampering I might one day have a chance to make time for. It’s perfect for our little wildlings for bathtime or showertime. It’s spacious and does what it needs to. Could we improve it?

Home Style - Family Bathroom Renovation - Before & After - Kids Bathtime


I think more storage in the shape of a simple not intrusive shelving unit wouldn’t go astray. And I’m considering hanging plants from the ceiling by upcycling the boys cot … but that can wait for another day. In the meantime enjoy the video I made of our bathroom renovation journey …



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