Everyone has a certain thing in their bathroom that can drive them nuts. It could be that the shower takes too long to get going in the morning. It could be that your bathroom feels freezing all the time and you have to run in out after a bath to stay warm. It could simply be that your toilet seat just doesn’t look nice.
Whatever your bathroom nightmares are, you don’t have to worry much longer. We’ve scoured the web to find unique and cheap ways to help decorate your bathroom from top to bottom If you’re a savvy decorator or someone who simply wants to get in there and do the room up as quickly as possible, you’re going to love this.
Here are some of the best bathroom makeover tips on a budget:
- Strip the walls
- Replace the lights
- Get a towel rail
- Make the floor look good
- Spoil yourself with nice towels
- Get a new cistern
Strip the walls
If you’re someone who has wallpaper in their bathroom, it really is time for a change. This is the one room in your house where there is a daily change in moisture and humidity. Remember that your wallpaper is stuck on there with paste, and just like holding an envelope over a kettle, they can peal and strip quite easily.
Anyone with a small boxed bathroom should opt for tiles or vinyl on the wall as it’s something moisture can’t stick to and makes it easier to clean your bathroom; you’d be surprised how much dust loves to collect on mist spaces.
When you have your heart set on wallpaper in your bathroom, there are a few sneaky ways to do it. You should buy a splash-proof roll (also called moisture resistant wallpaper) that can take a bit of water over the years. And you should also buy decorator’s varnish. Ronseal does a small tin for roughly £10 at B&Q. Apply a coat to wallpaper in a bathroom after it is dry, and you’ll have additional waterproofing on your walls.
Replace the lights
Imagine the scene. It’s the middle of the night, and you can have to get up to use the loo. You tiptoe down the hall and go in the bathroom. You turn on the light and almost blind yourself from it being oh so bright. Most of us have a simple bulb hanging from the ceiling, but it’s surprisingly cheap to get smart with how you light your bathroom.
Niche lighting is very popular right now. If you have an alcove or shelves in a corner, a little spotlight can work in the same way a lamp does and soften how a room looks. The same goes for alcove lighting if you have enough space around your mirrors and sink. And do a little research into what colour temperature best suits your bathroom using the Kelvin range. Lighting Direct has an explainer guide on colour temperature here.
A very cheap solution that’s also very chic can be created if you have old skirting around your ceiling. If you rip it off, get a shelf skirt around the ceiling a few inches lower and pop some cheap LED lighting strips around the room, it can create a much softer look. And because LED strips use less energy, you’re a saving a little every time you flick the switch.
Get a towel rail
It’s a travesty in this day and age for any poor soul to have to go to the bathroom every morning, shuffle about as the shower gets going and practically run out again afterwards all because the bathroom is always cold.
A lot of us never pay attention to the bathroom radiator unless it goes on the fritz. It’s often the last thing we even think about changing when decorating a room. You’d be surprised though just how cheap radiators can be if you look online.
Trade Radiators is one of the best sites to catch a bargain on a towel rail as they only sell online, meaning there’s no middle man to push the price up. Towel rails are fitted just like a normal radiator. You don’t need any special or dear fittings, and they save floor space in what can be the most cramped room in your house. We’ve seen towel rails on their site for as low as £40 with free delivery.
Make the floor look good
Does your bathroom have lino that’s seen better days? DO you have those little patches in the corners that look a little rusty? Your bathroom flooring needs to look good to reflect the rest of the room. It also needs to be hardworking as its one room that gets put through its paces every day.
One of the cheapest and easiest ways to spruce up your floor is with wood vinyl flooring. As I’ve said above with wallpaper and humidity, you might be concerned about wood flooring expanding over time. Vinyl flooring made to look like wood or tile is incredibly cheap and does look quite authentic now compared to designs on offer 10 to 15 years ago. Brands to look out for when you’re shopping to get it cheap include Laminae (normally available at Homebase) and Balterio (available at Carpet Right)
Spoil yourself with nice linens
When the towels have been washed, are you the unlucky one who always ends up getting the discoloured tiny towel that feels like sandpaper on your skin?
Having a host of different looking towels will leave your bathroom looking untidy. Nice towels can be surprisingly cheap if you know where to look. Don’t just go to a fancy homeware department because that’s where you think the best quality will be.
Stores that are getting rave customers online include:
The White Company
M&S
Dunelm
Made.com
H&M
Some of them have towel sets going for as little as £10. Keep an eye out for flash sales on bath sheets at Supermarkets. Many will shift to Garden and BBQ items in their homeware aisles around May, so expect to see Sainsbury’s and ASDA’s home section all of a sudden drop the price of their biggest towels as they try to get rid of them.
Get a new cistern
Our last tip might seem like a weird one, but if you have a toilet that never flushes right, trickles overnight, or takes forever to fill up, it’s time to bite the bullet and get a cistern.
Cisterns can be a bit of a mystery for shoppers as they’re one of those items where you don’t have a clue what the price is. To avoid getting ripped off by a plumber, be one step ahead and buy one yourself. They’re much cheaper than you think, especially if you shop online and get one delivered. Screwfix has cisterns starting at just £37 for a 6ltr tank. You’ll need to know whether you have a six or nine-litre on your toilet. These are the most common UK sizes, but it can range anywhere in between too.
If you shop around, you can average a price of £50 on trade sites. We found that prices on Amazon tended to be higher and the reviews can be misleading if you’re buying for the first time. There are also a heap of tutorials on YouTube of how to change your cistern if you think you can give it a go, but even at that, you’ll already have said buying a cistern yourself so hiring someone to install it won’t cost too much.
And finally, be savvy
In the same way you shop for a bargain on the high street, think smart when doing up your bathroom. A lot of people dread any home improvement because they think it sucks up so much money.
Do your research first rather than walking into a big DIY store and being overwhelmed with what’s on offer.
Act savvy, and you could be on to doing up your bathroom for a bargain in no time.
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