Dear forum community,
Originally, we planned to renovate our main bathroom (6.72 m2 (72 sq ft), built in 2006), meaning a complete overhaul including new tiles. The main motivation was to increase the value of the house and, to a lesser extent, that I am only about 70% satisfied with the bathroom’s appearance. Friends experienced with home ownership strongly advised against the bathroom renovation. Their reasons included that, due to the current skilled labor shortage, it is unwise to depend on tradespeople without urgent need, their own negative experiences with non-essential bathroom renovations, and the belief that, because of increasing housing scarcity, the property’s value will naturally appreciate.
We will probably step back from our somewhat naïve plan. Still, I would like to achieve a visual change in the bathroom. It currently has glossy white tiles with a tone-on-tone, subtle aquarium pattern (a variegated look, matte motif on glossy tiles) and a few (4) decorative tiles featuring a colored aquarium design. I would like matte cream-colored tiles and sanitary fixtures (sink, faucets, shower enclosure) in a country or farmhouse style. We have a tradesperson whose work we know well and a lead time of 10 months. What bothers me the most is the aquarium motif.
Among other things, I am considering changing the tile color, but I worry that this might be neither here nor there, could seal in spores or germs, or might peel unattractively after a short time.
Is my wish—to transform the bathroom from a “children’s bathroom” to a “neutral bathroom,” or ideally to a “country-style bathroom” with a high-quality, matte tile finish (and new fixtures, new shower enclosure, and a new pedestal sink)—realistically achievable? Or should I rather leave the bathroom as it is, so as not to “make it worse while trying to improve it”?
Thanks in advance for your expertise regarding tile painting and my secondary questions!
Originally, we planned to renovate our main bathroom (6.72 m2 (72 sq ft), built in 2006), meaning a complete overhaul including new tiles. The main motivation was to increase the value of the house and, to a lesser extent, that I am only about 70% satisfied with the bathroom’s appearance. Friends experienced with home ownership strongly advised against the bathroom renovation. Their reasons included that, due to the current skilled labor shortage, it is unwise to depend on tradespeople without urgent need, their own negative experiences with non-essential bathroom renovations, and the belief that, because of increasing housing scarcity, the property’s value will naturally appreciate.
We will probably step back from our somewhat naïve plan. Still, I would like to achieve a visual change in the bathroom. It currently has glossy white tiles with a tone-on-tone, subtle aquarium pattern (a variegated look, matte motif on glossy tiles) and a few (4) decorative tiles featuring a colored aquarium design. I would like matte cream-colored tiles and sanitary fixtures (sink, faucets, shower enclosure) in a country or farmhouse style. We have a tradesperson whose work we know well and a lead time of 10 months. What bothers me the most is the aquarium motif.
Among other things, I am considering changing the tile color, but I worry that this might be neither here nor there, could seal in spores or germs, or might peel unattractively after a short time.
Is my wish—to transform the bathroom from a “children’s bathroom” to a “neutral bathroom,” or ideally to a “country-style bathroom” with a high-quality, matte tile finish (and new fixtures, new shower enclosure, and a new pedestal sink)—realistically achievable? Or should I rather leave the bathroom as it is, so as not to “make it worse while trying to improve it”?
Thanks in advance for your expertise regarding tile painting and my secondary questions!
K
Kensington15 Nov 2021 13:54Hello everyone,
Thank you for your comments!
Preserving value – my husband and I thought that a bathroom renovated in 2022 would be more appealing later on than an original bathroom from the year the house was built.
Whether it’s nice or not: taste is definitely subjective :-)) The bathroom is perfectly fine as it is now. But it’s a completely different style than what I personally would prefer. And of course, the country house style #looks# like it is from many, many decades ago, which is intentional. "Classic" never goes out of fashion. Still, not everyone likes this style. A bathroom in the New England country house style is my ideal, but it would be far too expensive to implement. – By the way, cream-colored is not beige at all. Cream is more like an off-white, as opposed to pure white, but still a shade of white.
I also have a terracotta allergy! :-))) Thanks for that catchy expression! Recently I saw a blog called "How to de-Tuscanize your Home," because the Tuscan style was mainly popular in the early 2000s. So some people have this “problem” when trying to remove the Tuscan look from their homes. I also find those borders awful, but 10 or 20 years ago they were all the rage. That’s exactly the kind of bathroom I still live in now :-)
Still, I wonder whether after applying a batch of tile paint the whole thing would look more shabby in a few years than if I just left everything as it is now – not my style, but at least not peeling?
Thank you for your comments!
Preserving value – my husband and I thought that a bathroom renovated in 2022 would be more appealing later on than an original bathroom from the year the house was built.
Whether it’s nice or not: taste is definitely subjective :-)) The bathroom is perfectly fine as it is now. But it’s a completely different style than what I personally would prefer. And of course, the country house style #looks# like it is from many, many decades ago, which is intentional. "Classic" never goes out of fashion. Still, not everyone likes this style. A bathroom in the New England country house style is my ideal, but it would be far too expensive to implement. – By the way, cream-colored is not beige at all. Cream is more like an off-white, as opposed to pure white, but still a shade of white.
I also have a terracotta allergy! :-))) Thanks for that catchy expression! Recently I saw a blog called "How to de-Tuscanize your Home," because the Tuscan style was mainly popular in the early 2000s. So some people have this “problem” when trying to remove the Tuscan look from their homes. I also find those borders awful, but 10 or 20 years ago they were all the rage. That’s exactly the kind of bathroom I still live in now :-)
Still, I wonder whether after applying a batch of tile paint the whole thing would look more shabby in a few years than if I just left everything as it is now – not my style, but at least not peeling?
K
Kensington15 Nov 2021 13:57P.S.: Nice to hear from you, Hutchinson! I’m glad everything is progressing well for you.
B
Benutzer20015 Nov 2021 14:15Kensington schrieb:
Still, I wonder if after applying a coat of tile paint, the whole thing would look more worn out in a few years,You don’t have to wait a few years for that. Tile paint never really looks good.H
Hutchinson12315 Nov 2021 14:18Even if this might start a plastic debate:
It might be possible to simply cover the old tiles (if they have very narrow grout lines) with vinyl flooring. There are some nice designs available.
We plan to renovate our guest bathroom a few months after moving in, and we will give this a try there. We already have a favorite design: concrete look.
However, we will definitely remove the tiles, since some are already coming loose from one wall and we also want to change from a floor-mounted to a wall-mounted toilet. In the end, only the floor and the wall facing the entrance (where the toilet and washbasin are installed) will be covered. The other walls will be plastered and painted white.
We’ll see... just an idea.
Right now, I’m not keen on chipping away tile adhesive or tiles anymore 🙂
It might be possible to simply cover the old tiles (if they have very narrow grout lines) with vinyl flooring. There are some nice designs available.
We plan to renovate our guest bathroom a few months after moving in, and we will give this a try there. We already have a favorite design: concrete look.
However, we will definitely remove the tiles, since some are already coming loose from one wall and we also want to change from a floor-mounted to a wall-mounted toilet. In the end, only the floor and the wall facing the entrance (where the toilet and washbasin are installed) will be covered. The other walls will be plastered and painted white.
We’ll see... just an idea.
Right now, I’m not keen on chipping away tile adhesive or tiles anymore 🙂
H
Hausbautraum2015 Nov 2021 14:23We love our trim in the bathroom from 2021 ;-)
I find the country style terrible.
Of course, this is completely subjective and everyone should do what they like, but for us, your value increase would mean a decrease in value...
I find the country style terrible.
Of course, this is completely subjective and everyone should do what they like, but for us, your value increase would mean a decrease in value...
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