Best Bathroom Designs for Living on Your Own
Living on your own means it’s ultimately up to you when deciding which house you want to live in. With this, you must also consider the bathroom layout to fit your lifestyle and whether you’re renting or buying. If you’re renting, you will likely be limited to how you’d like the bathroom to look. If you’d like to change or upgrade something in particular, you can always ask your landlord. However, buying means you have free rein to design your dream bathroom that is required for your needs.
Designing
For starters, you’ll want to measure your bathroom so you know what you’re working with. When you have your measurements, you’ll be able to then look at products and work out what size is best fitted for the room. To help, you could draw out your bathroom on a piece of paper and decide where you want your suite to go to enhance your bathroom space. Make sure you consider if the door opens in or out as this will determine your suite placement (or change the hinges!). You may be restricted because of where the pipework is from the previous bathroom design, but sometimes they haven’t been planned thoughtfully and you may want to have them moved. Obviously this would come at an additional cost, so this will depend on your budget.
Freestanding baths are a highly talked about focal point when it comes to spacious bathrooms. They are best placed in the middle of the room or under the window to really be the star of the show. However, if you’re not a bath person, a walk-in shower can be just as visually pleasing.
Deciding which products are best for your bathroom can depend on what lifestyle you lead and whether relaxing in warm soapy water is your thing or not. Here are our top tips for products and layouts depending on how you live your life:
Busy Lifestyle
If you have a busy lifestyle then a shower will probably be the main thing you’ll use to wash. You most likely have a ‘get in, get out’ mindset, or, you might just not like baths! Showering space can be a priority to some people, so a walk-in shower or large offset quadrant shower enclosure will be the best fitting for you.
A large vanity unit and basin is great for doing the odd quick washing too but also for storing away your bathroom products. Our vanity units come with soft close doors and drawers for a quiet and luxury feel, as well as, with handles and handle-less styles. Pair with a mirror cabinet that contains all your essentials to get ready in the morning, and you're good to go.
With a busy lifestyle comes a lack of time to clean your bathroom. Wall panels are an optimal choice over tiles due to them being easier and quicker to clean. In most cases, they will just need a wipe down if they are made wet by showering etc and a proper wash with a spray less regularly. You also won’t have to worry about grout, which can be very time consuming to clean and maintain.
Evening Relaxer
Like to take time to relax? Then a bath is a must-have in your bathroom. We’d recommend getting a shower bath (L, P or J shaped) so you can still shower with some additional space, but also have a bath for a relaxing soak after a hard day at work.
If you’re after something a bit more luxurious but also need a shower, you could invest in a corner bath. These offer a great use of space in the corner of the room which can often go unused or wasted. These baths also have storage space in the corner by the taps which can be for showing off your best lotions and potions.
Recess shelves in bathroom walls are a truly stunning feature as they can be used for home decor or for easy access to your bath and shower products. Some people get lights installed in the recess which can act as great mood lighting when taking a bath.
Spacious Bathroom
You may have the luxury of having a bigger than average bathroom in your house (which can depend on where you live in the UK). This will give you the huge advantage of having the best of both worlds - a separate bath and shower. If this is the case, make the most of your space with a freestanding bath and walk-in shower. These two products make great features in the spacious bathroom which will leave your visitors in awe. If you really want to have a 'bathroom moment', you could place the bath in the centre of the room. Fancy hotels love to do this as it boasts luxury - you can also play with colour, shape and length of the bath.
Having a big bathroom, you'll want to get a larger heated towel rail. This is so the heat can actually fill the whole room, plus, there's more space for your towels and floor mat to dry. Heated towel rails are best placed relatively close to your shower so you can grab your towel as soon as you're done washing.
'His and hers' vanity unit and basins are great for using up space in bigger bathrooms. With a wide mirror that is the same length as the vanity units, you will reflect all the natural light that is brought into the room as well as your fitted wall and or ceiling lights. Even if you live on your own, this is a great selling point for potential buyers or if your partner doesn't live with you but stays over.
En Suite and Bathroom
Master bedrooms nowadays have an en suite for the pure convenience of getting ready in the morning. This can be helpful when the household is full, but living on your own, the en suite can be for starting your day, and the main bathroom can be for winding down and relaxing with a bath.
In this case, it will mean more cleaning, but don’t let that put you off. Having 2 bathrooms is a luxury and cleaning maintenance can be minimised by opting for things like wall panels (like mentioned above) and wall-hung furniture. Wall-hung products will give the illusion of a bigger bathroom as well.
Having 2 bathrooms is also great if you have family or friends stay over and they can use one without interfering with your bathroom needs. If this is more likely to happen, then you may need to consider having a shower (over bath) in the main bathroom. This will accommodate guests better as you might not want them going into your bedroom to use your en suite shower.
Resale
Your bathroom should be designed to fit your lifestyle and work life, but you should also consider if you’re likely to have guests, or, (thinking towards the future) resale. If you know you won’t be living there for the foreseeable future, the bathroom layout could be critical for a buyer. You can never go wrong with a shower bath as it meets the criteria for two needs that people may want.
If you found this post useful, you may also like - Contemporary Bathroom Design Tips - Traditional Bathroom Design Ideas - Monochrome Bathroom Design Ideas.
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