bathroom inspo

If you've had a read through my bathroom before blog post  you'll know our little 1970's bathroom left a lot to be desired. But after three sweaty days and 1001 trips to the skip bin on the drive way, we were left with a nice open space which was suddenly filled with light. The only problem? Not knowing what to put back in, so like the cliche millenial that I am, I turned to pinterest.

I started clicking around trying to find some ideas, I quickly came up with a quick tick list of styles and things I liked; lots of natural light, high ceilings, the feeling of space, a mixture of scandi and different textures from wood, pattern and plants. 

We had already decided to knock through our toilet and bathroom to make the space feel bigger, however thanks to the space still being rather tight we had to make a big decision and put the bath over the shower, knowing this would feel a big tight I started to look at ways to create the illusion of more space. Extra shelves, both sunken and floating create a lovely place to store prettier bathroom bits and bobs.

I adore the look of hexagon tiles, they're super on trend although I think if done well will age well. However I'm sick of marble and white, so feel like either a mix of neutral / earthy colours or patterned ones.

I fell in love with this white, white, white look (above left) and after finding out the vanity was from IKEA I fell in love a little more. The creative lighting is awesome, the only thing I didn't like is the mirror, having lots of squares already - bath, vanity, tiles... I turned to the circular mirror trend which seems really affordable (target and kmart have them) and great as a temporary or long term option! 

I definitely prefer the look of the basin on top of the vanity (a la the picture on the right), although probably not another circle...so much to think about!

Natural colours, a mix of textures and patterns in a light, bright, bathroom....sounds easy enough!? I've skipped ahead and started thinking about finishing touches, pretty candles, devils ivy falling from a shelf and lush products lined up neatly on a shelf. I also definitely want to think of / make some way to balance a book / wine glass in the bath either with a built in lip or by making a bath caddy to fit across (as I can't find one to buy anywhere!).

You can check out the rest of my bathroom inspo pinterest board 

What is your dream bathroom like?

If you've renovated your bathroom please leave your top tips below!

xo

week six

It's all systems go to get the bathroom in order, after a disastrous attempt by Dan to take some leave from work (the agreement was to work 'on call' but he then got 50+ phone calls each day). I finally decided on a feature wall of tiles and managed to pick up some plain white tiles from a guy on facebook who had surplus from his owner build (his house was inspirational). It feels terrible that there's so little I can do to help, so I've focused on trying to plan the rest of the renovation and have spent most evening I'm not at work sorting through boxes and trying to make the habitable rooms feel more homely. 

week five

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.

Our lives have been completely consumed by renovation but it feels as though nothing is progressing. We've lived in the house for two weeks now without the luxury of a shower (thank goodness we got the bath hooked up) so I've been heading to the gym and to friends houses to wash my hair, I never thought I'd miss having a shower so much! I have so many house pinterest boards and magazines from IKEA and bunnings piling up on the coffee table, but still cant decide exactly what I want which is annoying as we are very very quickly running out of time for me to choose tiles and colours and fitting for the bathroom. 

We realised quite quickly the importance of still taking time for ourselves whilst renovating, so the dog beach has been our sanctuary! It's so lovely watching jess run up and down the beach chasing waves. She loves her new garden which is about 4 times the size of the old house. 

How has your week been?

xo

bathroom before

We always knew the first thing we wanted to do when we got our keys was change the bathroom. Now, don't get me wrong it was a perfectly functional bathroom with a seperate toilet next door (I've spared the photos of three walls and a toilet..) and hot water in all the hot taps and cold water in all the cold taps, but it was 30 years past it's use by date and felt extremely cramped.

Ever the optimists we looked for the potential from every angle...

Looking in to the bathroom from the hall way, a seperate shower, huge vanity with built in basin and small bath (I say small, it was as deep as the two lines of tiles beneath it). The door on the left went straight in to the master bedroom, which would have been fine had the bathroom been an ensuite, but alas it is our only bathroom. 

For reference, the toilet lines up in the space behind the vanity and bath, accessed through the laundry which is about 2 metres to the right of this photo. It's completely normal in Australia to have a seperate toilet and bathroom still, however I hate the thought of people's germ ridden hands touching all the doors in between the toilet and the sink. 

The same terracotta floor tiles run throughout the house.Despite looking massive the shower was smaller than the average, and just had one lowly fixed head on the wall. Also, look how horrifically annoying and hard to clean the space is between the vanity and the shower!

Possibly my worst photography to date, but it shows how cramped the bathroom is, I've not mentioned my love for the window yet though so I'll do it now... I love that window. It's completely frosted and lets in so much light.

Beautiful, beautiful tiles....

The vanity was so big and clunky, which you'd like equalled LOADS of storage room, well you are wrong. The plumbing under the sink took up a big chunk of the top shelf and the bottom was only just tall enough for a can of hairspray, boo.

I'm not sure which is deeper, the sink or the bath? No seriously, the bath only won by a few inches, I could barely sit in it with my legs out straight in front of me and then the water (had I been so inclined to actually take a bath) would barely cover my thighs before spilling out of the to the floor.

So unfortunately it just had to go, we couldn't firmly decide on a new layout before we started smashing the old bathroom down, but knowing we had to have a working toilet before we moved in the next week we didn't want to waste time. The space suddenly looked so much lighter and brighter all opened up, and gave us a chance to assess all the plumbing points, distances and doors (with the help of a qualified plumber I may add!). Probably not the ideal way to do it, but luckily we had booked time off work and had a 10 day over lap with our rental.

So the plan so far, is to brick up the door in to the master bedroom and the door coming from the laundry in to the toilet. We want to keep the space open (controversial I know) to make it feel bigger / lighter and we know that we want the same floor tiles throughout our house (porcelain wood effect).

Have you renovated your bathroom before? What are your top tips?

xo

week four

(although it's week six...oopsie!)

We left week three with the keys to our first home!
Week four we both took a few days off work (over Australia day long weekend) and got to work planning our renovations, we smashed out the old bathroom and tiles through the laundry and I made a little make shift laundry with some shelves that were left in the garage. I cant wait to get some time amongst the renovations to sit and upload some blog posts with ideas and photos!


xo

a beach day with surf stitch

 The lovely folk at Surfstitch, one of my favourite online clothing and surf shops recently got in touch and asked if we wanted to pick out some beach essentials from their website, I couldn't say no! 

So we popped some of our favourite picks in the basket and they arrived a few days later. Unfortunately the weather in Perth has been terrible lately (not that you can tell from these photos) so we chose some warmer outfits and head to the beach during a break in the storms...

Birkenstock Arizona Sandal $116

Swell Mens Tee $40  |  Quicksilver stretch cap $36

O'Neill board shorts $24 |  Billabong Bali Bound Pillow $25 

Beach blankets are a must whether it's hot or cooling off, perfect for a blanket, towel or something to cuddle your favourite puppy in.... 

(similar as mine is sadly not for sale any more!)

Billabong Free tribe top (just seen) $35 

I already regularly ship with Surf stitch, I love the variety of brands and the mix of clothing and surf, skate and snow gear. They also have incredible sales throughout the year and offer simple and quick returns if you need to swap sizes or get a refund! 

Have you shopped with surf stitch before?

xo