Sunday, December 14, 2008

Self-Renovation Tips: Cost-Effective to Renew your Bathroom

By Tal Potishman

In the current critical state of economic depression, spending another fortune on renovating your bathroom is probably the last thing you're thinking about. Having a comfortable, roomy place to decompress after a stressful day's work is never a bad idea, yet when trying to pay off your mortgage and energy bills, a new bathroom is a luxury many of us cannot afford.

Bathroom renovation does not, however, have to be expensive. There are various cost-effective strategies one can use to create the bathroom you have always wanted, while still managing to minimize your expenditure. By looking at the different ways in which we can use mirrors, tiling, furniture, and paint in a financially advantageous manner, the bathroom of your dreams can, in fact, become a reality.

As many designers will tell you, mirrors are highly effective for creating an illusion of space. Placing full-length mirrors on walls and small mirrors on cabinet doors can make any small bathroom look twice as big. Lighting and tiles styles have similar effects on how spacious a room looks and feels. Using large-size tiles and large warm lamps increases the size of your bathroom significantly. Therefore, instead of spending hundreds of pounds on extending your bathroom's area, create an illusion of space.

If you need further physical space to place your bathroom furniture, there are still more financially feasible ways to create your desired space. Getting fitted or built-in furniture is, for example, an effective space-saver. Large standing cabinets take up a lot of room, so small, deep overhead and wall cupboards are ideal for freeing up floor space. Additionally, buying your own wooden planks on which to place items such as beauty products and towels, and hanging them on the wall, is also a useful means to clear up extra floor-space. Utilizing a space effectively is therefore essential for the creation of your ideal low-budget bathroom.

As colour is a large contributing factor that sets the atmosphere for any bathroom choosing the right type of wallpaper or paint is crucial. Painting a room yourself is the cheapest way in which to drastically alter the tone and create the ambience you seek.

Seeing as there is no 'one way' to decorate, it is up to you to decide the colour scheme based on what style you are looking for:

If you want to provide an illusion of space, the use of soft and pale colours is recommended (such as peach and off-white).

Cool colours (such as sky blue and jade green) to set a tone of calm and peace.

Bright, warm colours (such as orange and apple green) are effective for creating a cosy, restful ambience.

As is demonstrated by the above examples, a bathroom renovation does not necessarily have to be pricey, nor would you need to enlist the help of a high-budget professional designer. By changing the furniture, adding some mirrors, and splashing a fresh coat of paint on the walls, you can transform your bathroom into your ideal safe haven. - 15790

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