New bathroom - where to start?

Start by consulting an architect or a architectural technologist. They often do a free initial,consultation.

I drew a to-scale plan of the area first, chose (and bought) all the pieces myself. This was when we redid our cloakroom. I even selected the parts of the plumbing I wanted on show. I got numerous tile samples, and just to be certain of placements in there, technical drawings of the toilets I liked. I visited showrooms to make some of my final choices and then employed a plumber, tiler, electrician and joiner. I painted it myself and chose and put up some wallpaper.

I did the same pretty much when redoing the kitchen I chose absolutely everything and started with my own scale drawing. I employed all the workmen and oversaw all the work. It went smoothly. I like the process.

My mother-in law went to one company when redoing her bathroom and chose from their offering. She did it in one afternoon. They hired the workers and oversaw the project.

Its horses for courses I think…

If you don’t want all the complexity of choosing piece by piece then I’d go onto say, Instagram, find what you love, and choose a company who can deliver it for you.

Exciting times!
Good luck!

I must add we had a wall removed to join two rooms in the kitchen. I had a structural engineer plan that even though my builder was confident it would be ok as not load bearing. In the end I’m sure it was over-engineered but I was ok with that.
The council were happy and everything was signed off correctly.

Morning, when we had ours completely gutted and refitted we got quotes from various bathroom fitters recommended on Facebook/ our friends/family etc.
Then we went with the ones we thought were reasonably priced and also who could do it- some were not available for months. As it was, the firm we chose came and viewed in August 2022 but couldnt actually start til October 2022 as they were so busy.
They asked us what we wanted and left us brochures which had bathrooms photos/ colour options/designs etc which would meet our requirements.
I had also gone on line previously to that meeting and found photos of what I'd/we'd like and they worked with those too.
They completely gutted the old bathroom taking away the rubbish each day /clearing up after themselves etc and after 2 and a half weeks we had a beautiful modern shower room which is still a joy - which sounds daft but its true!
They fitted us in around other jobs, sometimes coming in at weekends to get a stage completed so that the next one could begin.
Hope you get sorted soon.

Would recommend Plumbworld for lots of options for bathroom goods, and their customer service is really good. We chose tiles from Topps Tiles - they had lots of colours and choice.

However, my mum is having a shower room refitted right now, and she has opted for shower panels, so no grout, for easier cleaning. We found the panels at Easy Panels.

My new bathroom starts very soon. We started shopping around in January, and it's taken till now to decide what we want, find the right people and get to the point where they can fit us in.

The system was that we rang a few companies, someone came out and worked out the options, which they sent us for consideration, we discussed and let them know our preference, and they got back with quotes. They didn't quote at the start, as it is too expensive to do several diagrams and keep changing them in line with queries - I found this odd at first, but I understand it now.

We decided on a layout and chose the items, tiles, flooring etc, as well as which company to go with. They are doing everything - knocking through from the separate loo, installation and plumbing, tiling, new ceiling, flooring and electrics.

You can choose items yourself and find a company to fit, which might work out a bit cheaper, but if anything goes wrong it will be up to you to sort it out with the suppliers. A full-service company will do everything and deal with anything that crops up.

Ours will take a couple of weeks, but as I say, this involves a little bit of building work, and also moving the loo, which is a bit more complicated than usual.

I have to say, it’s as easy or hard as you want it to be. I’m someone who doesn’t get the opportunity to redo very often so I’m super picky 😂

I got our lovely electrician to twist round six of the lights in the kitchen so the fixing screws were all facing the same way and only visible from one place in the kitchen.
I coloured the copper fixings under the sink to completely match the tiles behind.. I bought huge genuine Victorian hinges for a door - they took probably a year to source.
I recently got hold of some old stock slotted brass screws screws for another door - they are exactly like the remaining Victorian ones in the old door which is currently being copied by out carpenter.
The downside of my pickiness is that I live with things that are just waiting.. like my door which had to come off while I sourced the identical hinge…

Some places do specialise in more fabulous bathrooms than the standard offering. Have a look at magazines online - Elle decoration? Interiors?

I hope you enjoy the process and end up with something you truly love.

We had our big bathroom done around 3 years ago as part of a house refurbishment. One company did our kitchen, utility and bathroom. We visited the showroom and plans were drawn up on the computer.
In the last 12 months we had our en suite redone.

There were a couple of routes, one was going to a plumbers merchants to choose what we wanted from a showroom and additional catalogues. They came out to measure and quote and gave us contact details for fitters.
We also had quotes from bathroom fitters.

In the end we visited a family owned bathroom showroom and I felt that he really listened. Everything was tailored to our wishes and budget.
I had ended up with a mainly grey and white main bathroom which wasn’t really my choice.

I chose a lovely dark blue sink cabinet for the en suite. I’d wanted that in the main bathroom but was told it was a fad. They also had some lovely sage green.
As there’s building work involved you will need preparation work first or find a firm that can do everything.

Good luck with your move and project

My neighbour used B&Q they were good, very patient with her as she kept wanting to change the plans. They supply basic to high end products so a price to suit everyone.

My DD used B&Q and it was a disaster from start (when they didn't turn up at the appointed time and date) to the finished product which was shoddy.

These people are amazing for inspiration:

westonebathrooms.com/inspiration/

IME local companies usually offer a better service than national ones, as they rly so heavily on reputation in the area.

By coincidence, I've just had an email from my company to say that everything is on track for the start date (about 3 weeks hence) and that they will come round to go through everything with us before they start. We had the kitchen done last winter - again a local company - and they did the same.

Based on that recent experience, I would advise that you choose a company that has a dedicated project manager, so you don't have to keep the numbers of a range of people if you need to contact someone, or ring a contact centre who doesn't know your job well. It is also better to have the workforce 'on the staff' as subcontracted. We found this when the kitchen timescale overran. As everyone worked for the kitchen company, the team was able to stay with us until everything was sorted. That might not have been possible if, say, the electrician had another job waiting, or the plumber had to keep leaving to quote for other work. There will usually be a few trades involved, and just having one person offsite can hold things up for ages if their input is needed before someone else can get started. When there is a dedicated team, they are used to working together, and they all report to the same PM. It's really only when things go wrong that this sort of thing matters, but it's so much less stressful if all you have to do is call a named person and know that s/he will sort it out.

we built a bungalow from scratch - my bathroom advice for what its worth:-
lever taps not twist - esp in bath so you can use your toes!!
high loo (comfort) for later arthritic joints.
if we could have afforded it I would have put in a japanese loo.
Bath that is easy to get out of (forget those crazy huge claw footed ones!) Always have a shelf alongside to perch bottles etc (or glass of wine and radio!!)
shower(as large as you can afford) that is fairly accessible for later years
we did a tiled floor but now I would put in a totally non slip one like in some wet rooms
look at pinterest
enjoy

Villeroy Bosch has some lovely colours:

www.villeroy-boch.co.uk/bathroom-and-wellness/inspiration/bathroom-design/colour-in-the-bathroom.html

Wow, thank you for everyone's contributions. I'm going to take it all on board and make a plan....

It doesn’t have to be beige or grey. We have very similar to these but layer in a chevron pattern.

In our experience the best thing you can do is find a trustworthy, recommended plumber with a team, the rest will follow from that. There are sadly plenty of rogues around, get three quotes at least and be prepared to wait for someone decent.

Don't use DOLPHIN, horror stories from there!

You can use a company to do the lot, or you can buy the suite you like and get a plumber in.

I don't know your ages but if you are ding this regardless, then it would be a good time to think about the future!

I suggest a 'comfort height' toilet, they are built higher than usual and means that you won't need one of those disgusting plastic high toilet seats the council offer you! My mum has one, looks just like a normal toilet but is higher and much easier to get on and off!

Secondly. if you have room for a separate shower, make sure it is level access 'just in case'.

Lever not twist taps.

Flooring - now there's a conundrum! I had an adapted wet room, and they put in this Altro, non slip flooring that they use in all hospitals etc. I slipped on it, and it is horrendous to try and keep clean as it is 'gritty'. Always looked filthy! You can get other anti-slip flooring nowadays so I'd try there if I was able to do change anything.

Good luck, let us know how you get on?

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Look at these ideas!
I know one is a hallway but just look at this fabulous terrazzo!

And here's an interesting use if tiles - very striking!

When I wanted my en-suite updated, the first thing I did was to visit as many bathroom showrooms as I could, - just to get ideas. Chatted with salespeople in each of these. I am too old to project manage any such work, so need to be assured that any project like this is totally project managed by the company I use. This means that they organise the days that people like the tiler, plumber, electrician, etc. etc come.

Looked at loads of catalogues. Started to get an idesa of design and colour I wanted. Future proofed, comfort height and rimless loo. Safety feature was to have a bi-fold door so that in the event that I do have a a fall, my body does not block entrance to the room.

I much prefer using local companies, and always ask around my different groups for recommendations.

So many people recommended one particular company that they are the ones we went with. Contacted them in the January, knowing I would want the work carried out May or June.
Man visited me, took notes on what I wanted/hoped to have, measured up my unusual shaped room and also asked at a week later I went to the showroom, and he showed me on the computer a couple of designs. We agreed on one, the went round the showroom picking the items, a few days later the costings were sent to me together with those diagrams.

Once all agreed we booked a date for it to happen.

Good luck with your project.

I wanted a new bathroom last year. I got loads of quotes and hated the grey and beige too. I did find some lovely Italian tiles but they were so expensive!

I put the project on hold because I realised it would have eaten too far into my modest savings. Be prepared to spend a lot of money!

I went to a local 'bathrooms and kitchens' firm and after a free inspection they came up with 3 suggestions, print-outs and sketches complete with estimates.
Ask several local firms, they all give free estimates.

Speaking from bitter experience (plumbers here as I write) forget about “hidden” or boxed in anything.
It costs an arm and a leg at the time, looks lovely but costs the other arm and the other leg x years down the line when things need fixing or replacing.
Bring back the high cistern and lavatory chain I say.