Clever mum reveals the secret to saving £1000s on a dream bathroom renovation

It's safe to say that bathroom renovations can be pricey, but one clever mum was happy to let us in on the secret to her £3,500 makeover, with plenty of bathroom ideas to boot.

By bagging free items on Facebook Marketplace and taking on some of the labour herself, Jade Simpson from County Durham managed to keep costs to a minimum and create her dream bathroom. And, as an interior designer herself, she was well used to project managing, organising everything down to the last detail.

Faced with a bathroom that didn't work particularly well, Jade was left with no choice but to update her tired scheme.

'The bathroom looked okay when I bought the house, but once we started using it we realised that the old electric shower didn't work very well and we ended up showering at the gym most of the time!' she told Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK and LatestDeals.co.uk.

Before

'The taps were the same, they were almost falling off, while the toilet kept getting blocked. I found out from the plumber that the soil pipe wasn’t tilted enough so it kept flooding the backyard. It was something that had to be done.'

The previous bathroom ideas were a little uninspiring, with bland beige floor tiles and an old corner shower. 

'As the bathroom was so big, I wanted to create a stud wall so that the shower was separate,' says Jade. 'My friend and I took all the old bathroom suite out, pulled the flooring up and removed the tiles off the wall so it was ready for the plumbing. Then the stud wall was built and the whole bathroom plastered, as it was a mess under the tiles.'  

'The tiler then came and tiled the shower and floor before the plumber came back in to do the second fix. It took around four or five weeks, so we were without a shower and sink for that long, although the plumber kept the toilet in for us for most of the time, which was good.' 

After

The finished result couldn't be more different, with a luxurious roll-top bath, wall panelling, and a separate shower enclosure complete with Art Deco-style wall tiles that Jade found on Facebook Marketplace. 

'I bought eight metres of grey hexagon tiles for just £80,' she says, 'they would have been around £300 if I'd bought them from a tile shop! The design started from there… I knew I wanted to keep a monochrome look, as the shower tiles were quite busy, so I went for the wood-effect tiles on the floor in different tones.' 

As an interior designer herself, Jade knew a bargain when she saw one and snapped up a free bathroom suite from one of her clients, that was hardly used. Then it was on to the rest of the fittings and fixtures.

'The black shower was just £80 from Facebook Marketplace,' she recalls. 'It was new but in a shop it would have cost about £200. The shower door was £130 and the stone shower tray was £90, both new from eBay.'

The taps on the roll-top bath and sink were originally shiny chrome, so Jade used a smart budget bathroom idea and sprayed them (and the feet of the bath) with a cast-iron effect spray paint, that she bought for £10. 

'I also found a towel rail for £30 on Facebook Marketplace, so I sprayed that too,' she says. 'Above it, I made a shelf out of an old scaffold board that I had outside, and I bought the shelf brackets for £5 each from Ikea. The wall panelling was free from a job where I had some leftover, as was the blind.'

'I think it cost around £3,500 altogether, which is hardly anything as many of my friends have been quoted around £6k to £8k for new bathrooms, and that’s standard,' Jade continues. 'I wouldn’t have been able to afford a new bathroom if I didn’t make those savings and find the bargains I did. My main tip is to definitely use Facebook Marketplace!'

The new bathroom scheme has made a real difference to the family, all of whom love the new look. 'Even the kids love the new shower and being able to have a nice bath,' laughs Jade.