Family Bathroom Ideas: Our Exciting Plans for a Bathroom Remodel

Sponsored post – I will be working with Burlington to update our family bathroom

Why are family bathrooms more difficult than kitchens to plan? When we moved into our new house, I already knew what our kitchen would look like, the layout, the colours and the style. I knew what appliances we needed, the storage space and all the extras with a cherry on top!

But with so many family bathroom ideas on my Pinterest board, I was struggling to come up with a definitive plan. 

When I sat down to have a long hard think about our family bathroom and how it was going to look, I really hit a brick wall.

Was it the curse of Instagram and Pinterest again, throwing too many inspiring images and posts my way so I couldn’t decide? Was it the fact that bathrooms tend to be one of the smallest rooms in the house with a lot of furniture and appliances to fit in?

Family restrooms have to work very hard with the space they are given 🙂

I loved our old family bathroom; I was really happy with the design and how it turned out. I wasn’t, however, happy with the layout and I knew I needed to learn from my mistakes with our new family bathroom.

Family Bathroom Ideas

The previous bathroom layout was born from my real dislike of shower curtains! I wrote about our old bathroom renovation here. I wanted a stand-alone roll top bath and when I looked at getting a shower put over the bath, I just didn’t think a fixed shower screen would work.

All our previous homes had baths with showers over them and a dreaded shower curtain. I consistently found myself having an argument with the shower curtain and trying to peel it off my wet skin like clingfilm wrapped around sausage meat so a curtain was a definite no no.

With this in mind, we ended up putting a stand-alone bath and separate shower in. The shower enclosure was squeezed into the corner and being only 80cm x 80cm, felt slightly claustrophobic when using it. So, I didn’t, preferring to use the shower room downstairs.

---

In our new house we have an en-suite in the master bedroom, another reason why we bought this property. We have a large shower in there so a shower for the family bathroom wasn’t foremost on my mind.

The family bathroom mainly gets used by my kids who are 6 and 8 so we definitely need a bath.

However, they are starting to request showers more so I had to decide whether we needed to put a shower in there as well. I’ll be honest, I don’t really want them using our en-suite!

Our Family Bathroom

The current bathroom is fine, it’s functional and gives the kids lots of room so they can thump each other whilst brushing their teeth and generally annoy the hell out of each other (anyone else have to play referee at night time and spend ages trying to wrestle the kids into bed?)

There is a lot of floor space in the bathroom which is a bonus after our old family bathroom, but I feel like we could do so much more with it.

The décor is simple and clean, but it definitely needs updating. It’s not really my style, it needs more colour and pattern (obviously!) and I’d like to rejig the layout a little bit.

We need to replace the bath as it currently leaks and we spend ages trying to get the plug out after a bath as the plug mechanism is broken. The sink is also impractical, it is flat so water always pools in it and the tap is directly over the plug hole so we’re forever cleaning out the sink.

Bath vs Shower… or Both?

My first thoughts were to keep the existing layout and update the toilet, sink and bath. I started looking for bath/shower combinations and just couldn’t find anything I liked!

I love roll top and stand-alone baths, so looked at getting a shower screen for them. I popped my dilemma on Instagram and received a lot of messages warning me about stand alone baths and attached shower screens.

Inevitably, the stand-alone bath will move and so the shower screen will never be 100% fitted and it made sense. It also helped me decide to update the family bathroom restroom layout and go for a separate bath and shower.

Navigating the Shower Selection: Thermostatic vs Electric

While pondering over the layout and design of your family bathroom, it’s critical to delve into the type of shower that best suits your needs.

The choice between a thermostatic and an electric shower, though seemingly minor, can have significant implications for both the functionality and aesthetics of your space. Deciding between these two can indeed be a bit tricky.

A comprehensive guide by House of Enki could prove quite insightful in this respect. This guide navigates through the showdown between thermostatic and electric showers, unpacking their operational details, their key differences, and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Taking time to understand these factors can be instrumental in ensuring that your new bathroom not only looks fantastic but also aligns with your family’s unique needs. Make your choice with confidence, armed with the knowledge from this handy guide.

Changing the Layout

Deciding on a separate bath and shower meant that I would have to play around with the layout. I created our family bathroom space in SketchUp and moved the largest piece, the bath, around the room.

I decided the best place to put it was under the window, with the shower enclosure in the right-hand corner.

For now, I have put the sink in between the bath and shower and the toilet to the left as you walk in, but we may have to swap them around when we look at the soil pipe situation.

The door currently opens to the left, which means it will rest against the bath when open. I don’t see that being a problem, but will look at putting in a sliding door if we find the door takes up too much space.

The Bathroom Suite

Bathroom design has come a long way since I last designed a bathroom and that has only been 4 years. You can now get bathroom suites in many different colours. You can choose from washstands or vanity units for your sinks and a wide range of different materials for your bath.

I wanted a sophisticated, spa like feel in the bathroom so I decided to stick with a roll top bath and washstand with gold accents.

I’ve chosen to keep the toilet sleek in design with a traditional twist. The shower head, bath and basin taps will all be gold like the washstand.

The Fun Bit, the Décor

As I am keeping the bathroom suite quite neutral, I’m going to add colour and a bit of pattern to the walls. I knew I wanted to put panelling up in the bathroom (I wanted to do this in our last bathroom, but for some reason builders said it wasn’t possible.

I just think they didn’t want the extra work!) and was one of the reasons why I wanted a stand along roll top bath so I can run the panelling behind it.

I wanted to keep the style quite calming and Spa like, so I decided to go with muted tones of sage green and off white with accents of gold throughout.

Another style I really wanted to introduce to the modern family bathroom is terrazzo. I absolutely love it, there are so many beautiful designs out there at the moment, terrazzo doesn’t have to give you that supermarket shop floor feel!

I will be installing terrazzo tiles in the shower enclosure, with sage green panelling around the rest of the room. I will also be adding wooden shelving for storage and plenty of plants and artwork.

Flooring

Finally, the flooring. With a lot going on with the walls, I’ve decided to keep the flooring quite plain and simple. I will probably go for hexagonal style tiles or vinyl and if my budget allows it, maybe even marble flooring.

What do you think? Let me know in the comments.

We’re hoping to start this renovation quite soon so I will be documenting it in my stories and on my Instagram feed. I can’t wait to see the finished result.

Disclosure: Some of the links above are affiliate links, meaning that at no additional cost to you, I will receive a very small commission if you click through and make a purchase. These links help to pay the editorial costs of writing a blog. For more information, read my full affiliate disclosure here.

Related Posts >>>

• The Best Bathroom Designs According to Your Zodiac Sign
• 10 Easy Ideas for a Bathroom Remodel on a Budget