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A bathroom makeover in a Victorian terrace home for under $1000 featuring heritage-style tapware and painted cabinetry.
The project
Wanted to change the look and feel of my Victorian terrace's bathroom to make it feel more relaxing and more heritage looking. Changed all black modern fittings to more heritage-style ones (shower head and arm, mixer, toilet roll holder, lovely heritage tap, sink plug etc). Changed black push plate for toilet to white (in-wall cistern). Added marble tiles to the niche, tiling over existing tiles. Painted and added traditional trim to the bathroom cabinet, and added a beautiful French escutcheon (keyhole cover). Regrouted the floors. Total cost around $1000.
Steps
Step 1
Worked on the cabinet first - painted timber laminate with primer, then one coat of paint.
Step 2
Added Pine trim to the borders. Used a mitre box and handsaw to cut the angles and attached with sika adhesive. Used gap filler to fix the gaps in the edges and then painted over with two coats. Painted bath tray the same colour as cabinet. Added French hardware.
Step 3
Changed over the toilet roll holder and towel rail. Used the original holes, but fittings required an additional hole, so used the Ryobi drill bit for tiles. Taped over site with a cross and watched the Bunnings video on how to drill through tiles first! Very nerve racking, but the tape and going slowly prevented existing tiles from cracking.
Step 4
Changed the shower head and arm, tap and sink plug, as well as bath tap. Plug was the most challenging to get out and the most challenging to re-fit, surprisingly given I'd done it before. Tap was the same set up as the previous (mixer tap), so extremely easy to fit to existing setup. Couldn't change the black bath plug so spray painted it with Rustoleum gloss spray in white which worked beautifully and stays put.
Step 5
Shower bath mixer diverter was very challenging. Because the plumbing is behind the wall, only fittings that fit the existing plumbing and sizing can be used. The original one did not come in chrome so that was not a solution. I also loved the heritage style ceramic handles. I got the cover plate off and managed to find at Bunnings a chrome version that fit the layout. The heritage style one didn't, but I bought two mixers and fitted the ceramic handle to the non heritage style and it worked perfectly.
Step 6
Once I realised you can tile over tile, I decided to add some mosaic tiles to the niche to break up the subways and add a little class! I chose a marble mosaic because the squares fit almost perfectly, meaning I didn't have to cut anything. After watching some Bunnings videos on tiling, I primed the area and applied tile adhesive and added the tiles. The final step was a white grout over the top.
Step 7
Once I worked out the toilet brand, I was able to purchase and change over the black push plate to a white glass one with a softer look and feel. I had a quick lesson in store on how to change it - relatively easy however the existing mechanism was in upside down! I took it out and put it in again, and fitted the new plate.
Step 8
Final steps: Fix the black shower hinges and re-grout the floor tiles as the existing grout was disappearing! The Dunlop pre-mixed squeezy grout was perfect for this task. Used Rub n buff in silver to cover up the black edges on the shower. Added some antique silver bee towel robes to the back of the door for a final touch and additional storage.
Tools and materials
Materials used in the project:
- Marble mosaic tiles
- Coloured grout
- Mondella Maestro mixer diverter
- Pine insert mould
- Paint
- Primer
- Sandpaper
- Construction adhesive
- Tile adhesive
- White silicone
- White spray paint
- White grout
- Rub n buff
- Plumbers putty
- Gap sealer
- Painters tape.
Tools used in the project:
- Hairdryer
- Strap wrench
- Tile drill bit
- Mitre box and saw
- Spirit level
- Stanley knife
- Paint brushes and rollers
- Tile float
- Sponge
- Drill.
More inspiration for your bathroom makeover
Bunnings Workshop member arielsturdy used the Dulux Renovation Range and VJ panels for a budget bathroom makeover using paint.
A dated room with peach walls and blue tiles was given a $1700 makeover by experienced member @tom_builds in a bathroom refresh with large timber benchtop, shower screen, sink, tapware and cabinetry.
Get more inspiration from our Top 10 most popular bathroom projects and 10 budget bathroom makeovers.
