Despite the fact that the bathroom is usually the smallest room in the apartment, its renovation requires a serious financial investment. If you are not ready to invest your entire salary in the bathroom for several months in a row, it is worth giving up some design decisions. Novate.ru talks about them in more detail.
Technique 1: Combining with a bathroom
Any layout should be discussed with family members so that it meets the needs of both parents and children. You should not demolish the wall between the bathroom and the toilet if you saw such a solution in a neighboring apartment and you liked it. Focus primarily on your convenience. Yes, combining two zones into one can increase the usable area and add a few square meters so that you can put a washing machine, make room for a dryer. However, it should be borne in mind that the wall cannot be demolished without the consent of the relevant authorities. And the approval process itself (as well as repair) is quite lengthy and costly. Do not forget about the comfort of family members, which we talked about at the very beginning: while you are taking a shower, other household members will not be able to get to the toilet, which causes significant inconvenience.
Technique 2: Tiles to the ceiling
There is an opinion that if you tiled all the walls and floors in the bathroom, it will be comfortable and durable. Yes, it is possible. However, this solution also has a number of disadvantages. Firstly, it is outdated: most Russians are now trying to move away from classic ceramic tiles and use other materials to decorate the room, for example, moisture-resistant wallpaper or paint. Secondly, buying, laying and dismantling tiles usually costs a pretty penny, since the material is very expensive. It will be much easier, faster and more budgetary to put the tiles to the middle of the wall, and glue the wallpaper on the upper part or cover it with paint. This is how you can save on the number of tiles, repair work and future dismantling (when you want to change the interior of the bathroom). There is one more plus - the design will be more interesting and fresh.
Advice: Experts recommend to harmoniously combine finishing materials with each other. The wall, which is isolated from the main sources of water, can be decorated with wallpaper, the surface behind the bathroom with tiles, and all the rest can be covered with paint. Please note that all materials, including wallpaper glue, must be moisture resistant.
Tactic 3: additional plumbing functions
When we arrive at the store and find ourselves in the "All for bathrooms" section, our eyes run up. I want to buy everything at once, but especially strongly - a jacuzzi, because it's so cool to lie in the bathroom and enjoy the hydromassage. However, there are several pitfalls here. Firstly, this type of massage is not useful for everyone - you need to check with your doctor. Secondly, it is a noisy procedure, and if the bedroom is in the immediate vicinity of the bathroom, then family members will feel discomfort while you enjoy the massage. Thirdly, it is necessary to clean the nozzles frequently and thoroughly. If you ignore the cleaning, an unpleasant odor will appear, and during water procedures, dirt from the nozzles will get into the bath. It should also be borne in mind that plaque and mold can form around the nozzles themselves. If you are not ready to carry out general cleaning in the bathroom several times a week, and you are also not sure that you will like hydromassage and you will use this function, buy a regular bathroom. It will not only be much cheaper, but it will also be more practical than a jacuzzi.
Technique 4: Wall hung toilet with installation
If we talk about the functions and convenience and rules of use, then floor-standing and hanging toilets are no different from each other. There is only a visual difference: the suspended copy looks much more laconic, more modern and lighter, takes up less space, does not clutter up the space. Also, a similar design is easier to maintain. However, the price of such pleasure is rather big: the installation of a toilet bowl and a hanging bowl will cost much more than a classic one. In addition, you will not be able to install the suspended structure on your own: the drain tank and pipes should be sewn up inside, and only a professional can handle such work. If your goal is to save money on bathroom renovations, but at the same time not to lose anything in terms of convenience and functionality, give preference to a floor-standing toilet.
Tactic 5: New Bath
If you are satisfied with the shape, size and functionality of the bath, and there are only complaints about the appearance, it would be wiser to restore it, rather than buy a new one. Cracked enamel can always be removed by ordering a coating renewal service. So why waste money on a new one when you end up with a bathtub that is almost the same as in the store?
Tactic 6: Floor Tiles
We have already spoken about this expensive material in the second paragraph. If you want to save a little more, choose not tiles for finishing the floor, but ordinary linoleum. This is the most economical option for decorating a bathroom, however, you should pay attention to the fact that only specimens without a base or with a PVC-based substrate are suitable for repair. They are not afraid of moisture, and therefore will not allow the fungus to start.
In order for the joints between the walls and linoleum to look beautiful and neat, it is necessary to lay the plinth. It is best to give preference to fashionable polyurethane. Of course, plastic options will cost less, but they greatly reduce the cost of the interior, make it tasteless. It is worth fixing the plinth on liquid nails so that it is reliable and durable.
Technique 7: Mosaic
This finishing material is in great demand among designers, as it looks expensive, luxurious and gives the interior the necessary status. However, do not forget about its impressive price, as well as the cost of installation: laying mosaics and small-format tiles is always more expensive, so it is necessary to budget not only the price of the material, but also the scale of work. One more nuance should be remembered: the smaller the tiles, the more joints, which means that the costs of grouting automatically increase.
As you can see, mosaic and budget renovation are incompatible concepts. As a last resort, if you do not want to give up the idea of including material in the interior, you can reduce its area. For example, mosaic a niche with open shelves and stop there. Also, before starting repairs, compare prices from different manufacturers in order to choose affordable and high-quality materials.
Before repairing, we advise you to read the article Life trends: What bathrooms are popular with Russians today