Jess Flaherty’s old bathroom was looking tired and dated (Image: Jess Flaherty)
When I first viewed my tiny house, I loved it – but I despised the bathroom with a fiery passion.
As soon as I got the keys, I had big plans to rip it out and get a beautiful new one installed with fresh flooring and snazzy new tiles but since I’m not rich or privy to the generosity of a Sugar Daddy, I had to bench my dreams.
I set about making the rest of my a home but the still bothered me massively. The tiles were poorly applied large white squares and the grout between them had been coloured in – badly – with a grey grout pen in a bid to make them look a little less sad and tired. There wasn’t a proper shower rail and instead, a plastic curtain pole that had been stuck up in its place.
The flooring is vinyl black tiles that don’t quite meet the skirting boards and, all in all, it just looked a bit neglected and uncared for. I was convinced removing the old, wonky tiles in favour of beautiful new ones would make a massive difference to how the room looked – and how I felt about it.
I called my trusty handyman to come around and take a look and give me a quote to rip out the existing tiles and install some new ones I’d been eyeing up at B&Q. He implied it was a pointless exercise and I’d be best off buying a new bathroom suite altogether if I was going to go to the effort and cost of having it re-tiled.
I explained I didn’t have the budget for that option, but I had managed to save a little to buy some new tiles. He was unimpressed. I got the feeling he just didn’t want to do the job unless I was able to cough up for a full renovation. Eventually, he quoted me £650.
“To take the tiles off and re-tile them?” I asked. He shook his head. “No,” he said. “That’s just to tile. You’ll have to take them off yourself and I’ll need you to buy the grout, too.”
Reader, this wasn’t at all the price – or workload – I had been expecting. I asked a few friends if any of them knew a tiler who could get the job done for me.
Jess’s bathroom after the new tiles were completed (Image: Jess Flaherty)
I got the number of a local tiler who came out and quoted me £280, including removing my old tiles, replacing them with the new ones, and supplying all required materials. Naturally, I booked him in.
I ordered seven boxes of B&Q’s . They come in packs of 50 at £14 per box so cost me £98. The tiler got to work and even before he’d done the grout, I knew we’d made the right choice. The new bathroom tiles now go floor to ceiling on two walls; they’re light, fresh and stylish, and they’ve ensured the room looks completely transformed.
To heighten the effect of the new look, I got rid of the awful curtain pole in favour of a vintage looking , which was a bargain at £15. Our bathroom ceiling is quite low and many rails were unsuitable so I was happy to find this one. Though the rail is great, it’s not the strongest so I ordered a cheap silver curtain pole holder which could be screwed into the ceiling to give it a bit of extra support. I also replaced our shower head for a Victorian-style one which cost £17.
The materials and work cost around £410 and it looks like I have a completely new bathroom! I’d never have been able to do a full renovation for less than £500 so I’m over the moon with this budget-friendly spruce up.
I’ve also passed my tiler Ged’s number on to several friends – and even strangers who enquired after I shared the transformation on TikTok – and they’ve all booked in with him.