Common Bathroom Design Errors and How to Avoid Them
We’ve had a lot of bathroom remodel requests lately and so I went back and counted how many bathrooms we’ve done in the last 20 years. Garden State Renovations has remodeled over 150 bathrooms!
Here you’ll find my experiences and recollections of some egregious design errors that clients and even decorators are guilty of in bath remodels so that you can learn to avoid these issues.
When converting a bathtub into a shower you usually end up with a 5x3 foot shower and so now the shower door is sometimes on the opposite side of the shower head. It’s not easy to reach in and try to adjust the controls, too cold or too hot, you end up jumping in and out-it’s just annoying. If you have no choice because of space limitations, what a lot of people don’t realize is that you don’t always have to have the shower controls under the shower head. You can have the contractor install the diverter and trims right facing the wall when you walk in.
Clutter in the bath or shower. We always design baths with built in recessed prefab shower niches as many as the client needs for shampoos and soap. Tiled and recessed they lend a smart, sharp and clutter free look to a new bath or shower. There is nothing worse than those shower caddies that fit over the shower head or even protruding soap dishes that fit out of the tile.
Not planning for storage. Pretty self explanatory. When I’m looking at a bath to remodel many times there’s tons of stuff overflowing out of vanities, on sinks and toilet tanks. If you have the room, buy or build a tall cabinet to handle towels, shampoo, extra toilet paper, hair dryer, cosmetics, virtually everything that goes in a bathroom.
Replacing exhaust fans with cheap noisy ones. Buy the quietest you can afford, nobody likes going to a bathroom when it sounds like a coffee grinder.
Brand new baths with cheap shower curtains. Nobody likes those curtains with the little fishes on it. Spend the money if you can and buy a glass door to show off your beautiful new tile work.
Not planning the last stage of the bath, which is where the towel bar, robe hooks and toilet tissue holders go. It is super important that you have enough room to have these installed.
Lastly, just because your original bathroom walls had tile halfway up doesn’t mean you need to duplicate that look from the 60’s and 70’s. Either tile up to the ceiling or consider not tiling at all.
Those are just some common bathroom design errors that we’ve encountered. We’re here for all your renovation and remodel needs so give us a call at 848-667-1400 or fill out our online contact form or free estimate form to get started today.