While browsing online for bathroom reno inspiration, you may have stumbled across funny articles showing bathroom design fails. You may think to yourself, how could anyone make these obvious mistakes, without realizing you’re guilty of the same. Whether you purchased a home that was already renovated or you accidentally made these mistakes yourself, there’s always a way to fix them. Read on to learn how to fix these three common bathroom design fails.
1. Awkward Access to Accessories
In any bathroom renovation project, the primary goal behind the design is to customize it to the homeowner’s needs. However, sometimes over-customization can lead to impracticality and you can miss the mark between design and functionality. While the placement of your various bathroom accessories might make sense to you and look visually appealing, they could be placed in inconvenient places for others.
For example, if your toilet paper holder was installed too far away from your toilet seat, consider buying a free-standing unit that can be placed closer. Similarly, you can replace an inconvenient pre-installed towel bar with some hooks on the wall. If your in-built soap and shampoo shelves are too far away from your reach, consider getting a shower curtain with pouches to hold shampoo bottles. You can add some plants in the empty space where you initially thought of putting the soap and shampoo.
Design Tip: While the initial placement of accessories might look good, think about the practicality of the placement. You can always consult with a bathroom designer if needed. They can offer design solutions that both look good and work for you.
2. Buying Design Elements on Sale
Adding a splash of colour to your bathroom’s design can be a good idea if done correctly. But what happens when that small pop of colour ends up taking over the entire room? Unless your ideal bathroom looks like something out of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory, it can be a little excessive to live with.
Often homeowners will end up with this design fail when sticking to a tight budget while doing a DIY bathroom renovation. They may end up purchasing tiles in clashing colours because they were cheaper than the colour they actually wanted. When you put your budget before your design, you can end up with an inexpensive but unattractive room. This isn’t to say you shouldn’t purchase items when they’re on sale, just make sure that’s not the only reason you’re buying.
If you find yourself stuck with a rainbow of mismatched colours and are looking for a way out, here are a few good solutions:
Tiles: Replacing the newly installed tiles can be very expensive and messy. Instead, you can paint the tiles to cover them in a uniform colour.
Wallpaper: If you have big animals, bugs or pomegranates on your bathroom walls, the best way is to cover it with another layer of wallpaper or paint it.
Paint: While you may not love the colour of your bathroom walls, the good news is that painting over it is quick and easy. Just make sure you’re using bathroom-friendly paint.
All these solutions require you to use a different paint or wallpaper to cover the previous design disaster. Make sure you get it right the second time. If you’re not sure, hire a bathroom designer who will provide you with the right solutions to fix your bathroom up.
3. Impulsive Purchases
Canadians usually opt for a traditional white toilet when installing a new one. Homeowners can also choose a specific shape of toilet seat including rounded, pointed, D-shaped or straight. You may go into your bathroom design planning on a straight white toilet, but a good sales pitch may sway your decision to go with a pop of colour. While a bright red toilet may sound like a cool idea at the time of sale, once you get it home you may regret it.
Your best option, in this case, is just to replace the toilet with one that matches your overall bathroom design. While replacements can be expensive, they will be worth it in the long run. To save costs, see if you can resell your impulse purchase.
Cost of Installing a New Toilet
| City | Average | Minimum | Maximum |
| Barrie | $1,300 | $1,300 | $1,300 |
| Calgary | $836 | $200 | $2,900 |
| Edmonton | $760 | $200 | $2,900 |
| Hamilton | $425 | $425 | $425 |
| Oshawa | $587 | $350 | $1,200 |
| Ottawa | $636 | $150 | $1,000 |
| Toronto | $998 | $100 | $14,000 |
| Vancouver | $575 | $400 | $750 |
*costs based on 96 real homeowner reviews as of Nov 2020
Whether you made the design fails or purchased a home full of them, correcting them can be expensive. This is why it’s important to avoid doing bathroom renos DIY style where you can accidentally make these mistakes. Instead, hire a trusted bathroom designer who can help you create a functional and beautiful bathroom. This way you can save your money from going down the drain.
