The bathroom is an important part of the home where everyone should feel relaxed and comfortable. For many, the bathroom is where your daily activities start in the morning. And in the evening, when you are tired of the day and want to get clean and comfy, the bathroom is your haven before you get your good sleep.
If there is a part of the home that has to be perfect, it's the bathroom. People would ideally invest more in bathroom renovations than other parts of the home. From lighting and colors, waterproofing, storage, tiles, fixtures, and tapware, getting the right bathroom fixes is crucial to having a positive experience in your bathroom and making sure that your budget is well spent.
Bathroom renovation can be a challenging task, and making mistakes is not uncommon. In this article, we’ll write some of the most common bathroom renovation mistakes that people make:
1. Poor lighting and ventilation
One of the things that you want to be aware of when renovating your bathroom would be how ventilated it is and how your lighting situation is.
Whenever you are in the bathroom and trying to fix yourself up, you need to have pretty good lighting to see what you’re doing.
As for the ventilation, you want to ensure good ventilation in your bathroom because mold and mildew can grow due to the water moisture inside the bathroom. Poor ventilation can cause unpleasant odors and health-related hazards.
To achieve proper lighting, you need to determine where your natural light sources are coming from and then plan accordingly. For ventilation, choosing fixtures suitable for bathroom environments, such as moisture-resistant materials and proper IP ratings, can significantly help.
In addition, proper ventilation is achievable if you do a few things, like simply installing an exhaust fan of an appropriate size for your bathroom or correctly positioning your exhaust fans to get the most ventilation.
2. Skimping on waterproofing
Some people like to cut corners and lessen expenses as much as possible, even when renovating their bathrooms. One of the things that they consider skimping on would be waterproofing, but that’s not a good idea for the longevity of your bathroom fixtures.
If you don’t have enough waterproofing protection in your bathroom, you’ll leave the non-water-resistant bathroom fixtures vulnerable to potential water damage, mold growth, and structural issues.
With waterproofing, you can avoid all these issues while ensuring that your renovation lasts for years without any significant problems due to water damage.
If you’re not doing the renovation yourself, then make sure to hire a professional contractor. They will use high-quality materials and follow industry best practices to ensure a watertight seal.
Being generally careful and ensuring you’re thoroughly applying your waterproofing will ensure that your bathroom is as safe as possible.
3. Not having enough storage space
You might need more time to think about the bathroom fixtures in your bathroom to think about how your storage space would be. If you don’t plan with your bathroom storage space, you can crowd toiletries all over your sink, making your bathroom look cluttered and messy day in and day out.
Consider incorporating intelligent storage solutions into your bathroom renovation plan to solve this issue. Optimize vertical space by installing shelves or cabinets above the toilet or vanity area. Utilize the walls by adding hooks or racks for hanging towels or robes.
Another effective solution is investing in multifunctional furniture like vanities with built-in drawers or cabinets. Don’t overlook the potential of utilizing under-sink storage options as well. Install pull-out drawers or baskets that make accessing items easier while keeping them neatly organized.
If you will be using wooden cabinets or other materials that aren’t waterproof, it’s a good idea to put waterproofing in your storage solutions so they don’t rot.
4. Incorrectly tiling the bathroom
Incorrectly tiling the bathroom can compromise the structural integrity of your bathroom. However, it can also bother you as you look at it if you find that you put some tiles in the wrong way, and they’re just going to be a pain to look at every time.
One of the main reasons to avoid incorrectly tiling the bathroom is the potential for water damage. Improperly installed tiles can result in water seeping through cracks and gaps, leading to mold growth, rotting subfloors, and structural damage.
If you’re doing the tiling yourself, then make sure to pay special attention so that you don’t miss gaps or cracks. If you’re unsure of what you’re doing, it’s best to get a professional contractor or tile installer to do it instead.
5. Overcrowding the space
Make sure you take accurate measurements of your bathroom as you renovate it so that your bathroom fixtures are the correct size. If they’re too big, they can end up overcrowding your toilet, which is already probably a tiny space in the house in the first place.
Carefully assess the available space and plan a functional layout that maximizes efficiency without sacrificing comfort. Prioritize essential fixtures like the toilet, sink, and shower while ensuring enough room for comfortable movement.
Don’t forget to plan how your storage solutions are going to be. If you have a smaller bathroom, consider making the most of your wall rather than your floor space.
Also, consider adding mirrors, as they can create an illusion of spaciousness by reflecting light and visually expanding the area. Consider incorporating large mirrors or mirrored cabinets to enhance the perception of openness.
6. Choosing the wrong fixtures and tapware
Mixing and matching bathroom fixtures and tapware isn’t just an aesthetic decision for you to make. There are also practical things involved with this decision that you need to consider to ensure that your bathroom has everything it needs and that you can use it comfortably.
For example, you should consider the sizes of these bathroom fixtures, especially in correlation with one another. If your toilet paper holder is too far from the toilet, that will be an annoyance in your life for a long time.
These simple considerations can make all the difference in how you live and continue using your bathroom, so you should keep them in mind.
7. Getting the layout wrong
If you’re working with a smaller bathroom, being picky with your bathroom fixtures is helpful since you have limited space. On the other hand, a more oversized bathroom should also consider the size of its fixtures so that the toilet doesn’t look too empty and vast if you have smaller fixtures.
By planning the layout and having accurate measurements, finding the right fitting fixtures in your bathroom will be much easier.
8. Not choosing the right colors
Being experimental with the colors of your bathroom is your choice, but reconsider whether a color scheme suits your bathroom. The critical consideration would be whether the colorings in your bathroom affect how you look in front of the bathroom mirror. If it doesn’t, then it may be good to go.
Conclusion
Knowing these renovation mistakes will make it much easier to ensure that you don’t encounter or make them yourself, especially if you’re doing the renovations yourself. Next time you renovate your bathroom, don’t forget these mistakes so that you don’t end up with a bathroom you dislike after a costly renovation.
