A year ago I made the plunge and bought a flat. It made financial sense and I was lucky enough to be in the position to do this as well as finding a totally radical spot that stretched my budget slightly but was well worth it! I was really happy with the flat, it was basically untouched since it was made (in about the 1950’s) and the space is big with loads of potential. I mean you can see all the potential with the linen cupboard turned into a shoe cupboard here. There was one glaringly obvious thing in my new flat that I would need to change and this was the bathroom. The toilet was one of those old ones (as my friend Tam pointed out was from “when the toilet was invented”), there was only a bath – no shower and it just needed a bit of a modern touch up. The toilet needed to be replaced and I wanted a shower. Basically ugsville deluxe!
I lived in the flat for about 8 months before having a bath every day drove me nuts and I decided it was time to get things going. I had a limited budget and so I needed to make some serious decisions about what I’d like to do. The space was also a huge issue, so my desire of having a separate bath and shower was quickly squashed. I wanted the best of both worlds because I couldn’t live with only a shower or only a bath. There is sometimes nothing better than climbing into a hot bubble bath with a good book and zoning out for a while, but also the joy of a shower is needed. So I had to go with the shower over bath idea and of course I would not have a shower curtain so opted for a shower screen which gives an open feeling to the space. I sourced my tiles, plumber, fittings and fixutres and things got underway. I needed to move out of my flat while this took place and so moved back in with the Wam and Wad. What was supposed to be 2 weeks turned into a month – as always happens with renovations. My block made things a bit difficult because no noise can be made from 13h00 to 15h00 which cuts a huge amount of time out of a day. Also a slightly annoying neighbour threw a spanner in the works everytime a drill or hammer was switched on or used.
Wowza – what a shock I got on day one – so many tiles removed and things had changed dramatically. Suddenly I worried about things and thought “oh hell – what if I have bad taste?” But it was too late by this point. The ball was rolling and my flat was COVERED in dust, which I might need to add is a total mission to get rid of after the fact. But this was such an exciting process and I learnt so much about myself and found out I was able to manage this project by myself with little outside help.
I fell in love with my floor tiles. Big and gorgeous and this set the bar on how the bathroom would look. I wanted clean lines that were modern and would enhance the entired flat. I loved the idea of a basin on top of the cabinet and I loved the idea of a spout rather than taps. So I went with this idea and I am ecstatic with the result. It was a complete mission finding a cabinet though that wasn’t ridiculously expensive and not hideous. The Wad was a huge help and called in some connections and I had this gorgeous cabinet made up and it only cost R1000. I also wanted the biggest bath I could have and since this was a shower over bath combo I wanted to have one of those baths that has a cut out bit where the shower is so it doesn’t feel like you’re in a jampacked lift while showering. I am SO glad I went with this option and I listened to my gut with all of my ideas and am extremely happy with the outcome. New bathroom is a special place in my flat and I’m so excited that I took the plunge and did these renovations. But it will be a while before I renovate again.
Thank you to everyone who was involved!
What do you think? An improvement?
♥ Tans
Photographs Eat Play Luv © (please request permission before using)
