When someone, and by someone I mean me, decides that the bathroom needs something doing to it, feel free to talk them out of it.
The bathroom, is that one room which has never been right. There has always been something that I haven’t been happy with, be it the tiles, floor or something else and it has never been the retreat that a bathroom should be.
When I bought the house, the bathroom was an absolute horror of a room with almost every finish ever invented. There was a mouldy, floral grey/blue carpet, orangey tongue and groove to the height of the bath, blue and cream striped vinyl wallpaper rising to a blue and red floral vinyl border and then white artex to a white, gloss tongue and groove suspended ceiling. The suite was pale grey and on the bath and window wall someone had decided that peach plastic tiles were a good idea. They weren’t.
Although I replaced the carpet with linoleum before moving in, I lived with the rest of it for a little while, until Mum and Dad bought me a new white suite for my birthday. The tongue and groove and tiles were disposed of, the wallpaper binned and the room plastered.
Dad had kept some gorgeous old brass taps when they had their bathroom changed, and had them re-dipped for me, and they were installed with the new suite.
In the interim, I had the floor tiled with some lovely blue tiles which are now causing me an issue because they are not going to go with the colour scheme I have chosen, so I need to come up with a solution for that.
I purchased a William Morris print blind which has provided inspiration for the whole colour scheme. I have picked Ottilie from Craig and Rose, which I adore (odd really because I don’t usually like green). It a deep, dusky green and will be applied to the walls, woodwork and celling.
Yesterday I removed the tiles and today I have had the wonderful (ha) job of getting off the tile cement to see the state of the walls. I have a cheap wallpaper stripper and it makes removing the cement easier, but everything about tiling, be it putting them on or taking them off is such a hugely messy business.
Tomorrow, I need to get the filler out. I found something which is easy to use and sand, paintable and very forgiving. I am hoping that I can get the walls good enough that I don’t have to have a splashback at the tap end of the bath. It has an integrated mini splashback, so in theory doesn’t need anything else.
I have found tiles, which work beautifully with the colour of the paint, but I think that they might limit the colour palette I can select in future. The tiles were plan B, and I do have a plan A, but am still trying to reach a decision and can’t until I have filled the many holes in the walls.
Fast forward a week, and the wall at the tap end is going to need skimming, but that is out of my budget at the moment. Because it doesn’t get natural light in that corner and also because the colour is dark, as long as I don’t mention it to anyone, that can wait. Once the windows are replaced, a room in the spare bedroom will need plastering, so I will get the two things done together.