If the kitchen is the heart of the home, we’d argue that the bathroom is its soul. You know what they say about cleanliness after all. Your kitchen is way more than just a room in which food is prepared. It’s a space in which people come together. It’s the place where they catch up and trade stories of the day’s events. It’s where they sip wine and gossip. It’s where they live, laugh and love as a family. It’s a place where people spend quality time together and make memories. By that same token, the bathroom is a place of peaceful solitude. It’s where we go to spend some quality time with ourselves.

The bathroom is where we go to let all the stresses and strains of the day flow away while we soak in the tub. It’s where we go for a bracing shower as we wrap our heads around the day to come and how we’ll rise to its challenges. It’s a place of peace, quiet, solitude and reflection. And if that’s as important to you as it is to us, you’ll want to make absolutely sure that you have a bathroom where you can feel relaxed, happy and content.

Bathroom Remodeling

Bathroom remodelling can unlock the true potential of this important part of your living space. Whether you’re thinking of sprucing up the whole home or just this one room, a bathroom remodel is an important consideration. Aside from all the aesthetic considerations that go into creating a beautiful and relaxing bathroom with all the amenities you need, there are also logistical implications.

After all, you’re dealing with plumbing and even when you're using reliable contractors, you’ll need to balance what’s desirable with what’s practical. Still, it’s worth your perseverance, patience and overhead costs. Aside from giving you and your family some stunning and relaxing surroundings in which to wash and relax, a bathroom remodel can also add significantly to the value of your home both in terms of the monetary cost of the property and in sellability.

Even if you have no desire to move home within the foreseeable future, your home is an investment. And everyone wants to know that they’ll recoup a significant return on their investment.

Bathroom Remodeling Ideas

Bathroom design is just like any other aspect of home decor. It has its trends and fashions that come and go with the times. Fortunately, these trends tend to stick around a lot longer in bathroom design as they do in, say, the fashion industry. Nonetheless, every bathroom remodel is, to a certain extent, of its time.

When it comes to bathroom remodeling ideas, there are a lot of exciting trends in 2019 which draw on both contemporary and traditional aesthetics for a look that is both timely and timeless. Here are some fun design concepts which will make your bathroom a talking point for neighbors for years to come:

The fresh, traditional bathroom- Make your bathroom a place of invigoration with a fresh, clean aesthetic. Combine pristine white bathroom furniture with natural and neutral colors and materials. Think bamboo Roman blinds, wooden vanity units and marble effect herringbone floor tiles.

The spa effect bathroom- This aesthetic gives you the feeling of luxury and opulent relaxation you’d expect from a top quality spa in your own home. Combine a classic marble countertop with a freestanding tub, and possibly even a refinished chandelier for maximum elegance. A perfect option for large bathrooms that get lots of natural light.

The vintage industrial bathroom- Want to make sure your design aesthetic never feels dated? How about harkening back to the past? Dark tiles in slate grays and dark greens combined with marble sinks, exposed light bulbs and copper piping can make for a stunning vintage aesthetic.

The black powder room bathroom- Bored of white and neutral colors? Want to make a bold impression? How about the all-black powder room aesthetic? Black is classic, elegant and extremely bold in bathrooms. Don’t forget that you can brighten things up with colorful wall art. Perfect for either diminutive or ensuite bathrooms.

The high-contrast bathroom- High contrast bathrooms make great use not just of contrasting colors but of different geometric shapes and patterns, too. Think white suites with rounded edges combined with black square tiles.

The plain white bathroom- A choice that may not be the boldest but will also never go out of fashion. Plus, you can add and change colorful decorative flourishes as fashions or the seasons dictate.

The above is by no means a comprehensive list of every option available to you… But it will hopefully give you some starting points from which you can develop your own bathroom aesthetic.

Planning & Designing

Planning and designing your bathroom remodel will require a combination of creativity and logistical considerations. You’ll need to balance the creative flourishes you want to incorporate with the logistical possibilities afforded to you by the space and, of course, what your budget will allow (more on that later).

For example, do you know where your soil stack is? The soil stack is the most important pipe in the bathroom, and it connects your sink, bathtub and toilet. In most homes it connects through the exterior bathroom wall, running down the outside of the property and upwards past the roof to vent out odors. The location of your soil stack will determine what bathroom furniture you can place where.

Changing the position of the soil stack is not impossible but it can be difficult and labor intensive and eat significantly into your budget. Wherever possible, we’d recommend leaving the toilet where it is and talk to your contractor about your plans as far in advance as possible so that they can advise you on the best way to proceed.

You’ll also need to consider the space you have to work with. The last thing you want is to keep hitting your new sink or toilet with the bathroom door every time you open it or banging your knee on the bidet when you climb out of the bathtub.

Any changes made to your pipework will also impact on your water pressure. A loss of pressure can seriously impair the function of your shower, and your bath or sink faucets as well as your toilet cistern.

You’ll likely find that the easiest and cheapest way to remodel is to install your basin and toilet in line with your bathtub, allowing them to be served by the continuous water feed pipes in your walls.

Bathroom Remodeling Cost

Budgeting is, needless to say, an extremely important consideration when planning a bathroom remodel. You should never spend a single cent or commit to a contractor without drawing up a budget for the project.

When we talk about bathroom remodeling cost, it can be difficult to determine a ballpark figure as the cost will inevitably depend on the kind of suite, tiles, lighting and flooring you want as well as any changes to your plumbing infrastructure the job demands.

According to Home Advisor, a bathroom remodel will cost you anywhere between $2,500- $25,000. With careful planning, you can be in control of exactly how much you spend.

When budgeting it helps to have your priorities in order. Establish your “must haves”, “would be cool ifs” and “can take or leaves”. If, for example, you’re absolutely certain that you want a freestanding tub, the $1,500 you can expect to pay for it will likely eat into your budget and you’ll have to find other areas in which you can balance out the costs.

On the other hand if you’d be perfectly happy with a stainless steel tub that you picked up for $150 it affords you more creative latitude elsewhere in your design.

Finally, remember the rule of 10. No matter how sure you are that you’ve calculated all of your costs to the buck, you should build a safety margin of 10% into your budget to cover any unexpected costs.

While labor costs will vary from contractor to contractor, we can give you a rough idea of what you can expect to pay (and experience) when installing the following elements of your bathroom remodel. All prices are estimates only and incorporate national average labor costs. Your own estimates may vary.

Showers & Tubs

Bathtubs can vary hugely in price. But that’s a good thing. It means whatever your tastes or budget, you’re likely to find something that checks all the right boxes. If you’re on an extremely limited budget you can actually pick up an acrylic bath for around $100 and fit it yourself. If, however, you want to treat yourself to a more luxurious tub you can expect to spend anywhere between $1,300 and $3,200.

Because there’s nothing more unsatisfying than a bad shower, you’ll want to make sure that you invest proportionately in your shower. A power shower connected to an integral pump to boost flow rate or even a digital shower which offers a more customizable shower experience can set you back around $1,300- $3,200.

Costs may be higher if you would prefer a walk-in shower to one that is integrated with your bathtub. Including labor you can expect a walk-in shower / wet room to cost an average of $2,997.

Sinks & Vanities

Like baths, your skins and vanity units play a huge part in defining your bathroom’s sense of personality and character. You can pick up a pedestal, semi-pedestal or wall mounted basin (around $250-$600 fitted) if you’d prefer your sink to stand alone. Alternatively you can get a sink that’s incorporated into your vanity unit.

These may vary a great deal in cost depending on the materials they’re made out of. A vanity unit is composed of a cabinet beneath a countertop into which your sink snugly fits. Some have mirrors installed, others don’t. You can expect to pay between $2,000-$6,000 for the countertop and $2,000-$5,000 for the cabinet.

Toilets & Bidets

Toilets also vary a great deal depending on design and functionality. Low level toilets are at the lower end of the price range and you will usually be able to get one for as little as $250, fitted. Alternatively you can pay a little more for a higher level or wall mounted toilet which conceals your cistern and pipework behind a stud wall. Toilet installations tend to be around $500-$600 at the upper end.

If you want a bidet as well, this can lend your bathroom a touch of class while also ensuring a higher standard of personal hygiene. Bidets vary between $250 and $700 and you can expect to pay an extra $200 for installation. If you have the space and the budget, it can make a great addition to any bathroom design concept.

Lighting & Ventilation

Lighting is an enormously important consideration in your bathroom. Where possible, you’ll want to make the most of whatever natural light is available in your bathroom. Natural light makes everything look and feel a little cleaner and fresher. By contrast the wrong kind of artificial light can cast a yellowish hue over the room that makes even the most pristine white bathroom suite seem kind of grubby.

For Bathroom lighting that dazzles, we recommend using a combination of different lighting types and sources. Use your downlighting to provide general background lighting while uplights and accent lights to draw attention to certain features in your bathroom. Task lighting can also be applied to your sink mirror or vanity unit to make it easier to see what you’re doing. Broadly speaking, expect to pay $50-$200 per light.

Don’t neglect your ventilation either, especially if your bathroom doesn’t have a window. The better ventilated your bathroom is, the easier it is to keep molds and mildew at bay. These can thrive in darm, damp, dark spaces which is why it’s essential not to skimp on bathroom ventilation. You can expect to pay between $200-$400 to get a bathroom extractor fan fitted.

Wall & Floors

Your walls will play a huge part in either complementing your bathroom furniture or taking a step back and allowing it to speak for itself.

Painted walls can really open up the space and let your suite shine. Plus, bathroom paint is specially formulated to withstand the heat and moisture of the bathroom.

Wallpaper can give a bathroom a more cosy look (and allow you to make a statement with boldly styled prints) but over time the humidity of the room may cause it to peel, even if you’ve used vinyl finish bathroom wallpaper.

PVC wall panels are easy to install and provide excellent waterproofing while lending the room a smooth, seamless, contemporary look but this option isn’t for everyone. Tiling offers the best quality finish but can take a long time to fit and is usually the most costly option.

When choosing your flooring you’ll need to consider a range of factors:

• How waterproof and impermeable is your flooring?
• Will it help prevent slips?
• Is it easy to maintain and keep clean?
• How does it feel underfoot?

Depending on your tastes and preferences you can usually expect to pay between $1,300 and $2,500 for your bathroom flooring (fitted).

Master Bathroom

Finally, when remodeling your master bathroom you’ll need to take all of the above into account, along with an increased consideration of how much available space you have to use. This may impinge on everything from which colors and materials are best to use to help you make the most of the space to your water pressure. Talk to your contractor to get a better understanding of the unique remodelling needs of the master bedroom.