#52 - Bathroom Layouts & Planning - Bathroom Design Explained

Bathroom design starts long before you choose tiles or taps. In this episode, we break down the layout and planning decisions that make a bathroom comfortable, functional and easy to live with.

What we cover

• Why bathroom layouts should be decided early in a renovation
• Planning clearances - it's recommended to have a space 800mm wide and 700mm deep for your toilet
• Keeping the toilet out of the main sightline where possible
• Wall-mounted taps, channelled walls, and other early plumbing decisions
• Shower planning, including tileable shower trays (only when the area is properly tanked)
• Lighting and electrics - we love wall lights and demister pads
• Storage solutions - alcove shelves

Items mentioned

• IKEA FAXÄLVEN mirror with integrated light
• Roberto Tiranti concrete sink (Etsy)
• Naka shower shelves

This episode focuses on the planning stage of bathroom design - getting the layout right before plumbing, electrics and finishes are locked in.

Follow the podcast on Instagram @ripitup_podcast_official, or follow us - Jenny is @workerscottage and Kate is @victorianrathmines

Transcript

Speaker: [00:00:00] Welcome back to a brand new season of Rip It Up. Every renovation teaches you something, but it's only after you've lived through the dust, the delays, and the decisions, and then done it again like me, that the real lessons appear. This season, we're revisiting our biggest renovation topics, not with theory, not with optimism, but with hindsight.

Process planning, lighting, kitchens, bathroom windows, what worked, what didn't, and what we'd never do the same way again. This is what we wish we knew then. 

Jen: Welcome back to the podcast. Hi Kate. 

Kate: Hi Jen. 

Jen: Uh, we did 

cover

kitchens last

week and 

there's more 

to 

say on it, but we'll come

back to that 

because some of that stuff can be left a little bit later and we're doing things very timelines and orderly in how 

you will approach it in your renovation. So we're gonna 

talk about bathrooms. 

Kate: Yeah.

Jen: Uh, 

one of my favorite topics, 'cause I

love tiles, so we'll get to 

that, 

but there's a 

Kate: struggle 

a bit with 

bathrooms if I'm honest. Like I've kind of made the mistakes and kind of improved every 

time. But it's not something that I love planning out.

I just, because I think

like [00:01:00] we always say but validities are such a rip off. I just feel like,

I 

dunno, it's hard to get really Nice

finishes that don't cost the

absolute earths for bathroom. 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Yeah, 

Jen: yeah, 

totally. And there's not that many. places to go. I just feel like you walk into a bathroom showroom, 

you're 

met with

this like. 

MDF 

vanity 

for like

six or 700 quid which just doesn't even 

look nice. And then you're met with

these

very generic porcelain slab tiles, 

which like, 

they're fine, 

but they're not. Winning any prizes, you know?

And like 

I just think to get,

the

basics, it's 

it's 

expensive. 

and there's a lot 

of. 

There's 

a 

lot of. 

things 

on trend with

bathrooms at 

the moment 

that I really 

don't like. 

I don't like mirrors that 

have 

lights 

in them.

Sorry to, anyone who has those with 

Kate: there's one, I, I 

do have one,

um, 

exception to that. There's a lovely IKEA one now 

actually. It's just a circular mirror 

and it's just got a circular opal glass globe light

built into it. It's very [00:02:00] 

Jen: oh yeah, that's fine. 

Kate: It's not, 

You know, I think that 

looks quite cool. 

Um, 

but usually the 

kind of Square mirror with the square trim of 

light 

around the edge?

no, not

for me. They just 

Jen: and to be honest, I think the reason that I usually 

don't like it is because 

the light that

comes out of it 

tends to 

be very blue. 

I don't really 

like it anyway, to 

be 

honest, but I think they just tend to be really kind of

clinical,

harsh looking light that doesn't make me look good, so I don't 

like it, 

Kate: Yeah, 

it's 

true. 

Jen: But I I am for it. Okay. Let's 

start at the start. So. 

First of all, first, things 

first, when you get to your bathroom,

you just plan your layout. 

What's gonna go where? 

And you, 

we 

spoke about this 

in our previous 

episode about the 

mechanical, one of our previous episodes about the mechanical planning.

Um, because you need to know where your toilet, where your sink, where your electric are gonna go, and then where the pipes from those are gonna go. 'cause that could mess up. Your room design. So

Kate: And most crucially, I 

guess your toilet, because we said like in that last mechanical episode that your toilet.

Pipe is much bigger than

[00:03:00] everything else. But 

yeah. Um, knowing where those kind of main 

points 

of water and waste water are

going

is your first thing. 

And like, one of the first 

things you 

should kind of know then is. 

Pacing Like a toilet needs 800 millimeters from, you know, 400 mil from center to center,

you know, so like the toilet width itself, like the cistern and all that 

might 

be.

Five or 600, you still need to allow 

800

for the total toilet spacing because your legs, you have to sit on it. Someone has to sit on it, so you 

can't Jam

a toilet up against a 

wall. So 

you have to allow, 

you know, your 

toilet 

waste pipe to be at least 400 millimeters out from whatever the 

closest wall 

is, and then 400 

millimeters 

and the other 

Jen: On either 

side. 

Kate: And

remember, 'cause I 

made 

the stupid 

mistake

before. I didn't allow enough

knee clearance in the front and I had to 

change the orientation of 

my toilet kind of late in one of my

planning. Um, you need about six or 700 millimeters in front of the toilet

for your [00:04:00] knees to go. 

Jen: So if you are, 

which I really recommend if you're planning your toilet

layout right?

So if you 

just draw like a box 

or a square or 

whatever size 

your toilet is 

uh, or 

your bathroom 

is that you're trying to

like fit everything

into. 

And if you're drawing out 

a box for your toilet 

so that you 

can move 

that 

around and 

see where it could go 

in that space, the box you have to draw is 800 by

700,

So 

800 wide and 700 deep.

Um, and that's the space that you have to leave around it and like nothing else can 

go close to, to that. I think I've really pushed the boundary of that in my own downstairs 

toilet. Like it is right down to the millimeter in terms of how much clearance there is,

but it works, so 

it's fine. 

Kate: Yeah, I think like knee clearance is probably even more important than getting the hundred.

or the, the full 800 mil Width wise, you could probably live with 

700 

if you had a tight space, maybe 

seven 

or seven 50 or 700, but like. 

Yeah, you need the clearance in front, otherwise someone can't sit in

the toilet. So yeah, it is important. And then I

think 

[00:05:00] that kind of is your anchor point. And then I work kind of out from that.

And 

like I see so many 

plans with toilets. 

The first thing you see when you come into a bathroom, you open a door and the toilets there, like, I would always plan it if I had the choice that it's outta 

Jen: Yeah. 

Kate: nobody needs to be looking at 

a toilet. Um, so like. I dunno if you have the flexibility at the start, I'd

put the toilet outta sight behind the door, into the corner something.

So like the first thing you kind of see when you come in is uh, 

your maybe nice 

vanity 

or 

maybe a 

nice 

shower area 

if Your shower looks really nice. 

Jen: Or your bath, if you're doing a 

lovely freestanding,

Kate: freestanding bath.

Of course. Yeah, Under a window or

something like that. That'd be lovely. That'd be your

focal point. But like making your 

toilet your focal 

point, I dunno, I think should be avoided if you 

can at all. 

Jen: Now, listener. It's

up to you. I mean, Maybe you 

have a

lovely toilet 

Kate: Yeah. 

Maybe even one of 

those Japanese toto

toilets, 

You know, the throne like you 

Jen: best. Yeah. Raise it up. Put it 

on a pedestal. If you have one of those, please 

do.

'cause they're expensive. So you should, 

uh, you [00:06:00] should tell that. 

Okay. 

So that's your, your

toilet. Next thing that I would 

put in, 

uh, 

it depends on

what bathroom 

you're doing. 

So if you're just doing your 

downstairs,

Lou, 

the only 

other thing you need 

to think about is your basin, your sink basin, If it's gonna be. You know, your main bathroom or uh, a shower room, then you need to think about your shower and your bath, 

obviously. But your base, your basin, 

first of all, 

they're, I mean, they 

can be 

really small if it's a downstairs 

bathroom, You can 

go really 

really tiny with these. Like, they don't 

need 

to take up that much space. You don't really need a vanity even. You could 

just have a, 

you know, exposed pipes and a basin sink. And,

um, 

just 

Kate: think anything 

under 500 mil. Go with just a floating sink and the bottle trap and maybe a shelf underneath, because I think vanity is below that kind of 5 

50, 500 mil look a bit bitty.

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Yeah, 

Kate: look like crappy bits. furniture. And small furniture sometimes

actually 

makes a space feel 

smaller and like I would probably put in the 

biggest vanity I can fit comfortably. So like try and flush it [00:07:00] out with the wall so it doesn't step in or out. And if it's if it's in a kind 

of, it's, if it's in the width of, a 

small 

downstairs toilet, go wall 

to wall.

Like 

Jen: go wall to wall 

Yeah, 

Kate: side? So I think it actually makes the room feel bigger when you fit, 

you know, wider, longer units that fit into the space well, and they feel more custom then. And sometimes I think if it's a teeny tiny

bathroom, get it up off the floor, whether it's on legs or it's

a, wall-mounted drawer vanity or

something like 

that. 

Jen: Yeah. Agreed. Totally agree. Um, and you can get those kind of, uh. 

Just free. They look like freestanding little 

kind of basin holders. Almost, they're not like enclosed 

vanities, but they might have a little towel holder on 

it 

or something like 

that, 

That just, 

Has everything you need.

Um,

and that's it.

So 

yeah, I think 

Kate: if you love like

those free or those wall-mounted basins, like the stone ones and stuff like that, a lot of people are going for those

now or the, the colored

concrete ones and stuff like that. 

Jen: That's what I have. I love those. 

Kate: place actually for that kind

of

stuff.

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Yeah, 

Jen: I got mine [00:08:00] on Etsy.

I have a concrete

basin, 

um, that I got on 

Etsy from a guy who makes things called Roberto Ante. I'll put him into the show 

notes. He 

was fantastic. I'd 

really 

recommend

him. Um. Or even if you look him up and see that kind 

of style, I'm sure you'll 

get other 

suggestions 

of 

others as well that 

you can, that you can browse around.

But he has lovely stuff. And then there's also this beautiful but really expensive ones from 

the London Basin

Company. If you've seen, those are these gorgeous, like decorated basin sinks, and they're so beautiful. 

but They're really expensive, but you can get lots of that 

type of style 

Kate: But I think, yeah, if you have a tiny one, have a tiny, spectacular stone base or color concrete, rather than a tiny bitty

vanity that won't look that 

impressive. If 

Jen: Yeah. Yeah. And the other thing as 

well then 

is if you're not doing the enclosed vanity that

the you're gonna see the pipe work coming out from that sink. So 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: cap. You 

Jen: have to get your 

bottle trap and you 

probably want to make it look good. So that might mean investing, like upgrading from 

what might just be plastic pipes that are hidden away from behind a vanity into [00:09:00] something, uh, into something sturdier and better looking.

Kate: That probably 

Jen: a cost. 

Kate: well, right? So if you have like a black tap it has to be a black bottle trap or a chrome tap or whatever, that they all match and like I think crucially in your 

sink, it's nice if your waist. Your click, like waist, you know, your, your, like 

Jen: Yeah. 

Kate: Whole thing. If they all kind of 

match.

It's nice. Or if you have a white

basin, I love

just a matte White 

waist, you 

know? So 

then it's almost invisible, but like, try to 

try to keep these, those, kind of cohesive or matched 

up.

basins, I 

Jen: Yeah. And they are, they're, 

they are, things worth investing in because the cheap

ones, they chip and 

they wear away and a few years later you're just 

gonna have to replace them anyway.

Now you can. 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: you can, 

Jen: you can. Buy temporary ones now and invest later if you need to save up in the meantime. But just be 

aware that 

you're paying 

for quality, you're paying for 

longevity with those, with those, um,

Kate: Agree. I agree. I think like. 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: once 

Kate: get into hardware and brass wearing and bathrooms, it's like

looking at jewelry, like it's kind [00:10:00] of, you go down a bit of a rabbit hole.

It's a little bit like,

lighting 

as well, right? 

What you don't know, you're 

like, 

oh, it's just a tap. But then when you actually start looking at the really nice 

brands like 

Samuel Heat, and maybe, you know Laroy Brooks, 

or a 

lesser extent, maybe Burlington mid-range 

or 

something, Then 

you're like, oh, these actually do look really nice.

And then you start

comparing them and then you start upgrading to the next levels and

stuff. But if it's not something you're into,

it's not something you're 

into. So don't pay for it. But if it 

Jen: yeah. 

Especially if it's gonna 

be hidden. Don't bother. Like, just get, you just need something sturdy that's gonna not have 

to be fixed. And 

that's it, um, what are your 

thoughts on, 

uh, the tap itself being

wall-mounted versus just 

Kate: I 

have a wall 

mounted because I think it's just a bit.

Less mess to kind of tidy around. But I will say wall-mounted taps, 

you have to mount them at the right height relative to if you have just a standard under mount basin or you have a countertop basin. So like, you know, decide off 

your vanity height, and then your countertop 

basin will probably come up another 150 or 200 millimeters, and then you need your.

Tap wall-mounted another a [00:11:00] hundred or 150 mil

above that, 

so you've clearance, so like usually 

for a one mounted tap,

you're talking about like 10 50 off the floor, 

10 uh, 1,050 

millimeters

off the 

floor. 

like, 

I, I like 

that if it's done well and it's 

positioned well, it's 

clean And the walls are clean around 

the taps. you know?

the last thing you want 

is these lovely taps coming 

out of a wall and 

they're. 

finished 

poorly around it,

whether 

that's 

bad 

cuts in a tile or bad plastering up to 

it. So the

paint finish isn't nice or

big caulk lines or silicone lines when you wanted 

a clean little look of wall taps.

so, 

it's all about the 

finishing,

I think.

Um, but I do love a wall 

tap

if it's done well. 

Jen: yeah. I have it in 

both. Yeah. Both my bathrooms. '

cause 

I base

in sinks in both my '

bathrooms.

So 

the, the floor mounted wouldn't necessarily 

work. Um, one thing to be aware of what mall mounted is that you might need to build,

um, 

in front of it.

So 

you 

might 

need to

have a little facade, like 

if it, depending on the type 

of wall, 

like if it's an internal wall, you can [00:12:00] put the pipework for the tap in 

down

through the wall. If it's up against an external wall, you might need 

to, Come out a little bit to, 

hide that. 

pipe work. So in my downstairs bathroom, 

there's just paneling 

that comes out.

It's

probably about maybe four or five centimeters from the wall. 

Um, and what I did there was instead of just having it in 

behind the tap, it 

is fully, 

uh, 

it's the full length of the wall.

So it 

kind of 

becomes a little shelf that runs along the full or the full width of the wall. Um, and I think that looks, uh, pretty damn good if you ask me. 

Kate: Yeah, 

like otherwise, it is a big job to kind of channel through, like channel through solid walls and stuff like that. It can be done, but it's a bigger job.

It's something you need to plan a bit

sooner. But also, like channeling

walls, 

I, 

I suppose, make the 

decision based 

on your vanity, and 

we talked about 

this 

in the mechanical plan, like where the pipe's 

coming from. Are they coming out from the wall? or they coming out from the floor? Like you need to plan that out.

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Yeah, 

Kate: You know, you need to plan out 

the whole stack of like the wall tap or if 

it's a [00:13:00] just a standard deck mounted 

tap 

or you know, 

is your vanity gonna hide all that pipe 

work

or is 

it gonna be exposed? 

You need a bottle 

trap. So you need

to kind of think through all 

these bits. And I always, 

like 

anytime I

do

one-to-ones

with people or they're 

like, I just want the bathroom 

design. And I'm like, I Bathrooms are one of the most

complicated rooms you'll plan when you 

actually 

look at all the tiny little bits 

that have to 

marry

up 

and be spaced right.

And, you know, decided 

early. It's one of 

the most 

complicated after your kitchen, but I but they're not far

off each

other, I

think 

Jen: like pipes are, pipes 

are, 

a nightmare.

And 

also it's, it's the 

place where things 

can go

wrong. So just like we said this 

in the mechanical planning episode, but if you just throw a toilet 

anywhere, like 

there's too 

many failure

points, especially 

if 

the piping is too long or 

bends 

have 

to happen or

whatever, 

and you do not 

want that going wrong.

So,

uh, you

do have,

to think about it early and, planned it out. okay, so that is based in vanities. I'm gonna say a 

word 

about.

What 

goes above your vanity?

Um,

which in 

my, I should always be a mirror, but, uh, 

I think 

anyone mounting 

a 

mirror over a 

[00:14:00] sink, they

need, you need to put in the biggest mirror, that you can 

get and I will 

die. in the cell. I hate

really, really 

small little mirrors hanging on the wall. It's exactly to your point about the 

bathroom vanity. It's kind of a counterintuitive thing. You think if you have a small room, 

you shrink

down the things 

to 

put in It 

but you're 

totally right. It just serves 

to make the 

room feel smaller and weirdly, kind of 

more cramped.

Um. what would really help, no matter how tiny your 

bathroom 

is, 

is,

if you put in the biggest 

possible mirror, 

and 

I really 

mean like wall 

to wall, you 

know, almost 

floor, ceiling or kind of uh, uh, counter shop

ceiling. Um, that is really gonna help to make that bathroom feel just bigger, more spacious area, everything.

Um, and then. Wall lights on either side of that

mirror is, uh, to

Kate: I am, I'm into wall lights on one side, I 

must say 

Jen: one

side. Yeah. It looks 

Kate: I 

Jen: I like, having 

the evenness 

of lighting 

when I'm doing my makeup.

Kate: yeah, 

yeah, 

yeah. 

No, but, uh, it's, it's kind of like, it's up for debate. I 

think 

wall light on

both sides is 

definitely. 

More [00:15:00] formal and more, 

you know, obvious

where the 

light, light, where the mirror is and everything is

centered 

in 

symmetrical. 

And I find putting wall 

lights 

off to one side, 

sometimes it's

just a bit more, it's a 

bit more of a

casual look I suppose. But like, 

Jen: yeah. It's 

Kate: depending on the fitting and the style of

fitting.

Um, 

but I 

think yeah, 

plan 

out for some sort of wiring there 

anyway. 

Um,

that you have something for a light 

and potentially a heated mirror. If you're doing a 

Jen: a heated mirror, 

talked to

us about the heated mirror.

This is

something you did 

Kate: yeah, like sometimes they're integrated into light and heated mirrors.

Some of them are just demy your pads in the back, and then you can buy demmy pads 

completely separately that you just stick to the back of a standard glass mirror and, 

um, 

that 

can be wired then to your maybe lights in the bathroom 

or on a separate circuit or whatever. So 

like, I think, uh.

I think they're worth putting in.

Especially if you don't have an enclosed shower and it gets very steamy and two people are using it or whatever. Um, otherwise you're waiting for ages for the place 

to fog. 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: def 

Jen: Yeah, Yeah. 

Kate: Yeah, talking about [00:16:00] enclosed 

showers, something we should probably talk about 'cause it's gonna need a lot of time, is showers and shower enclosures.

And like the types of tray, the types of enclosure itself, and then where to put your kind of

stuff in there. 

'cause I 

think I love tile, a shower 

trays. but they're 

not 

without their 

challenges on first floors

because

especially 

if you've old floors that have have bit of movement 

in them, those walls and

everything and the surrounding 

area haven't got to be tanked correctly before any tile shower tray goes 

down.

Otherwise,

you're. Essentially collecting a bag 

full of water that has to go somewhere. Um, 

if it's 

Jen: and it's going into your floor Joyce, And 

it's rotting them. And 

that's gonna come back to 

Kate: Or it's 

coming down your ceiling as well through your ceiling which we've had before as well. So like that tanking really has to be done.

Right. And tanking is where the, you kind of paint on this 

black, 

almost like a tar paint. And it's painted around all the kind of areas where water can seep out and maybe 12 to 18 inches up the wall as well. So essentially.

Before [00:17:00] any kind of shower 

tray goes in, it should be like 

a swimming pool that should be able to hold water,

almost. 

and then your

tillable shower 

tray or your slate shower 

tray or 

your standard 

formed shower tray can kind of Go in 

there. 

But tanking once you're upstairs

is 

so, so, so important. 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Yeah, 

Jen: absolutely. Um, 

but I think in any, in any instance, 

like it's, I love, I love that look of

just 

the, the same

height going

into a flower or going into a flower tree, a 

shower tray. it's so nice, it's so

elegant. It's just easier. I don't like 

stepping out of a, 

of a a height of shower, but you're right, your bathroom has to be tanked and it's not worth doing it 

if it isn't. Um, you can get tillable, you can get 

the slated as 

you said, 

or I just have my downstairs bathroom. I just have a,

a plain white one. 

Um, 'cause there wasn't enough space to go further down 'cause I'd already dug up the floor to get a tillable one on 

it. Um, and it 

was cheaper and I 

think it '

looks perfect. I think it looks fine 'cause my floor tiles are. 

they're terra, but they're white base, so it kind of [00:18:00] blends in quite seamlessly. 

Kate: Yeah, I think the the most important thing is your shower tray is close enough to your tile floor color. or your tile, Your floor tile color,

and then it seems a bit more seamless. We flushed our tile of a shower tray in our last 

place, but that's really challenging when you have joists upstairs because

you have To

cut away the joists. To a certain level so that everything is sunk in. And so you can get 

that kinda that level finish between the, the floor and the shower tray, because obviously under the shower tray, you have waste and pipes and whatever. So it 

needs to 

be sunk 

in lower before it's tiled and the rest 

of the floor. So it is challenging.

And it's more expensive to do. Um, So yeah, to your point, like

if it just

makes sense to 

put in 

a, a slate shower tray, you know, with the kind of flat kind of roughened surface or a form shower 

tray that's the same color, your tiles. There's so many 

color 

shower trays now, whereas 

they 

used to just be all white.

Now you can kind of match them to your tiles. So That might be a much more straightforward. 'cause I know like I would say 50% of builders or plumbers are 

allergic, to [00:19:00] putting in tile of a 

Jen: Yeah. 

Kate: Once you mention it, they're like, oh, no, no, no. Because they 

don't wanna

stand over it if it leaks 

Jen: Especially upstairs, as you said. 'cause which is where most showers are, 

so Yeah, 

Kate: Yeah. And there's movement 

in floor 

joists, whereas if you're doing it Downstairs

it's a no brainer. 'cause you probably have a concrete floor under, it's not gonna move or whatever, you know? It doesn't matter as much

as it 

leaks, but um, 

That's my 

2 cents on kind of shower trays. and enclosures 

Jen: aligned to you there. Now I will, I'm just 

gonna circle back on all of that and say, I still feel that tiled looks best. It's super elegant. 

It's flush all the way through. It's really 

really,

nice. But with all 

those 

caveats

that

if it's just not workable, it's not worth the 

risk necessarily.

Like there's, there's lots of other options. Um, I want to, I'll come to chair fittings in a second.

Right. 

But,

uh, 

on our enclosures.

Uh, I like 

not having it closed 

in fully. I really, really like just 

having one shower

screen. 

with as like the minimal 

fuss 

around it as 

possible. So

maybe 

just like my downstairs one is [00:20:00] just like a black strip.

My upstairs is just a white strip. All the rest of it is 

plain. There's gorgeous brass ones you can get. I couldn't afford one at the time. They're too expensive, but they're beautiful.

Um. 

but again, 

all of that, 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: general, 

Kate: like just because there's so much

trim and bits and like framing to them. So if you're buying off the shelf, 

the simpler the better.

Like you have 

like just a sheet of glass, very minimal

frame, beautiful, but once you get into sliders 

and hinge 

doors, 

the off 

the shelf ones have so 

much silicone that yellows, you know, like 

the silicone trim and all that, that,

yellows

and there's just a lot of bulk 

and

frame.

No, 

like I think 

Jen: it very quickly.

Yeah.

Kate: if you 

have to go off the 

shelf. 

no, just

get the simplest glass screen you can,

but you have 

to consider 

splash and 

stuff as well, like, because if you don't have a big enough enclosure, you'll have a 

soaked floor. All the effing 

Jen: Yeah. so that's the 

thing. 

Yeah, you have to

go as big as you can. Some of them have a little flap on the end of it. 

That can be kind of helpful, although again, that's

additional, just [00:21:00] bulk, 

just like visual, bulk

and detail 

that 

I don't love the look 

of, but 

you, all of, these things, it's, it's the 

most important 

thing is to 

keep the 

space dry and stop leaking. 

That's. 

item 

number 

one, and then you 

have to 

come to the visuals and it's, it's as sleek as you possibly can with the 

visual.

Um. You had a shower curtain 

in 

your guest 

bathroom, I think in 

your 

last house.

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Yeah. 

Kate: I had a halo shower curtain because it was, um, a freestanding bath that you were showering in.

And I

really didn't want to do a built-in bath,

but I needed 

to be 

able to shower there. So what I did is I ceiling mounted the shower

head.

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Yeah, 

and 

Jen: yeah. 

Kate: so, you could shower in the 

center of the 

bath and then what they call a halo 

shower curtain, that is bolted to the ceiling 

and 

goes around 

like a hula hoop almost 

around the bath. So you

could draw it that way. So you 

could draw it away 

like 

for most of 

the time. 

But 

for the odd time 

a guest 

was showering 

there, you could pull it around you

like that? 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: And 

Jen: that looks really nice. And you can get really nice material like drapey, you know, elgan kind of material 

for, for those. 

What was it like to 

shower in it 

though? 

Like is it is, I dunno, I don't, I

really don't

like standing

[00:22:00] in 

Kate: That's why I I was very particular

on 

the type of bath. It 

was an 

800 wide solid bath. It 

wasn't a, 

a formed bath, so there was no flex in the bath 

when you stood in it and had a really flat bottom, no curved sides. So you had a big standing area, which was very comfortable to shower in. I

would 

say. Um,

I would 

say unpopular 

opinion, but I hated 

my open

shower in my last house.

In my guess that hated 

it. 

I felt it. I felt it was 

just, 

exposed. 

I felt cold, like I 

just 

I didn't like

it. My neck, my current one is 

under

the 

attic stairs, 

It's 

tiny. 

Well, like it's 800 by 800. It's 

not tiny, tiny, but you can close the door. Oh, I love the sound of the water in 

an enclosure. It just feels like you're 

in a rainforest or something.

And I just 

did 

a custom

glass 

door. Not 

as expensive as

you think. 

actually. You can buy the glass 

brackets 

and glass

knob that bolt onto the wall, and then it's 

just a sheet of top and glass, you know? So like, um, [00:23:00] it's just minimal, but it's so enclosed 

and cozy and like I 

just found my last place because 

the ceilings were three meter ceilings in that bathroom.

I 

felt cold when I stood in the shower.

when it was open, So 

Jen: I 

have open showers and I 

don't find that, but

I have standard tight ceilings 

and very small bathrooms, so 

I'm like, my whole room is the enclosed part.

Kate: Yeah. 

I 

don't know. Like, I mean, they can

work. I just didn't like it in my last

one. I just felt a bit 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: exposed.

Kate: Um, 

Jen: fair. 

Kate: then when you're talking 

Jen: All 

that to say though,

huh? 

Kate: no, no, go 

ahead.

Jen: All 

that to say don't necessarily rule out.

shower curtains. I like, 

there's a,

I obviously those plasticy 

ones that are close to you and kind 

of somehow stick to you are awful. 

But you can get, you know,

that nice 

like look 

for like nice 

draping material 

and if it's away far 

enough like it can be, it can look really good And I think that, you know, pull back and it's almost like a curtain 

looks, it can look 

out, 

Kate: And then finally, before we Move on to baths 'cause we have to 

talk about actual baths 

and freestanding [00:24:00] versus

built-in that your shower 

controls and 

all that. We kind

of briefly 

spoke about this 

mechanical, but like where you 

have them.

So your shower head's usually 

about like 2000 meters 

from the floor finished floor level

for kind 

of standard height, 

maybe a little bit taller,

maybe 

2,100 if you're a tall person 

or you're 

both tall people 

in your house or whatever. And then your 

shower

controls are typically like about a meter. To 1200. So something similar to your wall 

taps kind of height off 

the floor, but just have a think

about where

the controls are 

relative to the shower

heads. That you're not soaking yourself trying to turn it on,

or you're getting hit with cold water so that you can reach those 

controls and 

not.

be Getting soaked or you don't have to get in under the shower 

to turn 'em on. 

Jen: because there's nothing worse than a shower where 

you're not 

washing 

your hair

and 

it's really, difficult to not get 

it wet.

'cause when you 

turn on the shower, you're like, 

Kate: yeah,

Yeah. 

Jen: Trying to stand back and like re do a reach

around, you know?

Kate: Yeah, 

for 

sure. Um, 

but 

yeah, that's my 

kind of 2 cents on

showers.

and [00:25:00] Like slightly off topic, 

but 

I put 

in 

a, a steam shower unit 

in this 

time because directly above our spaces, 

the attic 

space, we had 

a bit of storage space 

up there. 

We bought a, a, 

standard enough steam unit for a couple of hundred pounds 

on Amazon, and you can plumb your little enclosed shower.

So There's a plus 

for an 

enclosed teeny tiny shower and

Make it a steam 

room.

Jen: Make a steam 

room, and also if you have the space, get a 

sauna. I'm obsessed with 

saunas for houses. They're not that expensive. They're 

very, 

very cheap 

and energy 

efficient to run, and they're really

good for your health. So if you're listening and you're thinking about

getting a sauna,

this is your uh, this is your tick. Um, so one thing is, another thing 

I'll say about 

showers as well is, when you are designing 

it and wherever it's going, designed to have an alcove

shelf built 

into it. I 

feel really 

strongly about this. 

I don't, your 

stuff has 

to

go somewhere.

Like it has 

to go somewhere 

Kate: not on 

Jen: to Yeah, not on 

show.

It's 

going to 

gather around the corner, the floor you're 

gonna have to put in a shelf

or something like that. 

So 

get an alcove shelf 

cut into the wall. I like the full length or the full width 

of 

[00:26:00] the. of the shower, but 

just a little box even is fine. 

Um, and just know that your stuff has to go somewhere and 

you may as well do 

that. Um,

Kate: you 

forgot to do it or you're too far down.

You know the line now and You haven't 

put one

in. 

there's a brand, a finished brand called naca, NAKA. They do these beautiful kind of really simple powder coated metal shells, just like a little 

line, like you wouldn't even see them and they come in

every color to match tiles. So that's a really 

nice, after the fact.

Um, option. They do adhesive ones if you don't 

wanna drill 

to your, tiles, 

but 

you can get drill 

in ones as 

well. Um, so they're a really 

nice clean 

option that aren't 

those 

hideous chrome suction ones that you sometimes see in shops.

Jen: We 

will put that in 

the show notes.

Um, 

I think match 

your 

tap your shower hardware to your taps 

as much as you 

can. If it's black, go black again. If it's, you know, chrome brush deal, whatever, 

go again. Um, and I love, I love, a separate shower. Hose just for,

you know, doing a body 

shower [00:27:00] or whatever. 

It's just

way 

more 

Kate: Or holes in down the 

glass.

Cleaning down the 

Jen: Another glass, 

every just cleaning the bath out, whatever. Yeah.

Um, baths themselves. 

So you, I 

have a built-in bath 'cause that's just what the space

fit. 

Um, I need to reseal it. We 

keep promising to do a live episode 

or not a, like a 

YouTube 

Kate: we, I think 

Jen: that 

bath and I 

still 

have it done.

I actually have your 

stuff here to patch up my chipped paint in my wall, and 

reel my back. It will happen. Listeners. I'm just 

lazy. So sorry about that. 

Anyway,

Kate: Um, but I have a built-in this

time 

as well 

'cause we were building it 

into an oral

window. But last time I

did the freestanding, 

I don't know if I'd bother 

with 

freestanding. Again, 

I know 

everyone's 

obsessed with 

them. 

I dunno, it 

doesn't,

it just gives 

awkward 

spaces to clean around, 

in my 

Jen: the cleaning. the cleaning. 

it's 

like under your couch and 

bathrooms because they get wet. I suppose the dust 

just kind 

of sticks

to places and 

corners 

Kate: They do look 

Jen: the feet. 

Kate: I give you that. Like they do look beautiful. But I think like a built in bath, I use the same [00:28:00] stone for my kitchen 

as 

the stone 

top on the bath and I, I think that looks really nice as well.

You know? 

Jen: Yeah, yeah, 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: Um, 

Kate: but like each to their own, I guess the only thing I would say is if you're showering 

in a bath, just really consider the material that it's

not flexy and plexy and you have a good 

flat, 

wide standing area

so people can shower comfortably. And that the shower head is long enough or positioned well enough that you're not standing up 

against the edge of a 

bath. 

Jen: Yeah. like leaning across the sloped bit at the back that you can't, uh, 

wash your hair. 

Kate: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, 

Kate: didn't even really 

get to talk about 

your 

tiles. and you probably, but to be honest. You 

probably 

Jen: what? 

that just means you're gonna have to do a whole

separate tile episode, 

so. 

Episode 6 bathrooms WWWWKT video: so. 

Kate: But like, I suppose 

bathrooms are

just 

complicated. 

They are big Topics, but 

like, it's about nailing the layout 

first and then we can talk

about the prettiness of your

tiles and stuff like that.

Jen: Yeah, we will do 

that later 

Kate: in another episode 

maybe.

Jen: All right. We've [00:29:00] loads of the show notes there. I'll stick 

everything in and we will see you all next 

week. 

Kate: Bye.

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