In 2019 we set out to renovate our bathroom, our first renovation. We had our long-time family friend who was a builder under my grandfather who came to help us on this project. We wanted this space to feel relaxing, coastal and queenslander-like, with a bit of rustic thrown in too.
The mint green floors and yellow walls were not our vibe, however it was a gumnut baby themed house when my aunt and uncle renovated in the 90s.
Unfortunately “renovated in the 90s” has become our nightmare as there weren’t many standards back then or no one adhered to them as we discovered on this renovation. As we demolished what we could, we found very little was waterproofed. There was a lot of water damage around the bathtub, taps and shower head also. Thankfully we replaced what needed to be replaced and waterproofed as much as we could.
The green floor tiles which were stuck down hard with mesh and cement-like glue, were by far the most difficult to demolish. However, what we found under them was gold to us. We found beautiful original floor boards and we decided to have them sanded and polished instead of replacing with tiles.
We also quickly realised that the ceiling was asbestos so we also had that pulled out, only to find a sloped tin roof which gave us an idea. Keeping in theme with a bit of rustic, we wanted to keep the slanted tin roof look so we found some mini orb sheets as our new ceiling. We even managed to stuff the batting between them to ensure insulation. It looks incredible and sounds so lovely and peaceful when it rains.
Next we looked around everywhere for the perfect wall tiles, spa bath, taps, shower head and sink. It took a long time to find what we wanted but we secured it all within a month or so.
We also already knew we were going to get a gorgeous slab of timber for our benchtop from the Mullumbimby timber slab factory as we were off to Brunswick Heads for our family holiday in the midst of our renovations. So off we went and found one that would be perfect for our bathroom. A lovely slab of Camphor Laurel, and SO much cheaper than stone!
The last thing we decided on was lighting. We just couldn’t find any kind of lighting we liked or would look good in that space, until I mentioned the picture rail towards the top and having led strip lighting up on it. Our electrician agreed and installed it fairly easily. It gives off a lovely warm glow and makes having a bath at night so cosy.
Here is the end result…
Mum/Bob’s Edit – a note on the spa bath. Having had a number of small bathrooms, coupled with my intense dislike of shower screens and curtains (all that cleaning, and the closed in feeling..!) this is my third bathroom designed with a corner spa bath. The beauty of the corner bath is it’s size (roughly 1500×1500) means no water ends up on the floor, even when you shower. There’s nothing to block our view out the window, or when we’re admiring our beautiful rustic room. and less areas for mould to build up. Winning!
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