I have been thinking a lot about how to achieve high end renovations with a low end budget. Champagne taste on a beer budget! There are many drivers behind this thinking. Perhaps you want to renovate or rebuild your home to be your Forever Home, but are economically restrained (or just prudent). Perhaps you want to renovate an investment property that might be subjected to less than respectful tenants, but you still can’t countenance producing a result with fittings sourced from your local hardware store or budget bathroom supplier. Perhaps you or your tenants are domestically challenged, but are hoping for Bathrooms and Kitchens that still look great without spending your days mopping the floors, cleaning the splashbacks and fighting the good fight against mould.

Here are some of my thoughts on Bathrooms:

1. Never skimp on waterproofing. It might be a hidden cost, but to scrimp is a false economy.
2. Underfloor heating is not worth the cost (at least in Australia) and doesn’t deliver enough heat to dry out wall tiles and prevent mould growth.
3. Combined heating/exhaust lights are effective at delivering instant warmth, removing steam and drying out tiled areas sufficiently to prevent mould growth. The attractiveness of combined heating/exhaust lights (such as Tastic) has improved significantly, and who spends their time looking at the ceiling anyway? They vent to the ceiling or roof cavity and so save the cost of ducting to the outside (which is really not necessary unless you are running an industrial laundry).
4. Pendant lighting and wall mounted lights (which I particularly dislike and think scream generic five star hotel) are unnecessary and don’t add much to the styling of Bathrooms and Powder Rooms (but do add cost). If you really have your heart set on lighting features, then install the combined heating/exhaust light at the centre of the Bathroom and install a pendant above the basin.
5. Whether or not the room allows for a separate bath to the shower, consider a freestanding bath. Composite stone freestanding baths are now readily available at very reasonable cost and are ultimately more cost effective, because you avoid the need for the cabinetry and tiling associated with a drop in bath.
6. I love the look of a seamless level moving from one flooring type to another. However, having a small lip up into Bathrooms and Laundries can deliver quite significant savings (and the vast majority of people will never notice or think twice about the change in level if they do).
7. Painted skirting boards in Bathrooms save on tiling and ensure no dirty water mop creep staining on wall tiles and wallpaper.
8. Limit tiling and incorporate painted walls/capped tongue and groove sheeting with painting skirting boards (using Kitchen Bathroom appropriate paint). This delivers a much softer result than fully tiled Bathrooms and is much cheaper to achieve.
9. Limiting tiling also limits grout, which in turn limits the opportunity for mould to grow. Darker grout, particularly in wet areas, is also useful to hide mould that does grow. I do not understand how mould growth in grout has not yet been conquered, but it looks like we need to continue to live with it (along with the common cold and Covid-19).
10. Wall hung toilets with hidden cisterns are undoubtedly chic (if a toilet can be chic). Back to wall toilets look almost as good for a fraction of the price (and look just as good if not better in a more traditionally styled Bathroom or Powder Room).
11. Freestanding console basins with drop in basins or with combined composite stone tops and under bench basins deliver a high end and timeless look. Console basins are quick and easy to install and comparable in price to cheap and nasty off the shelf cabinetry. They avoid the cost of bespoke cabinetry and they avoid the generic soulless look of most off the shelf cabinetry. They also don’t suffer from any wear and tear like cupboards (particularly with less than careful tenants or children). A stand alone cupboard or shelving unit, whether antique or contemporary, can introduce an interesting design feature instead.
12. If you feel an overwhelming need for inbuilt bathroom cabinetry, then wall hung units with classic door profiles deliver a great look on a budget.
13. High end knobs and handles are a great way to add luxe without breaking the budget.
14. Install polished or brushed stainless steel or nickel tapware and fittings for timelessness. Black and rose gold and copper may be all the rage at the moment, but will scream 2021 in a flash. Do you remember the apricot and peach basins and toilets with gold tapware and fittings from the 1980s? Looking at you, Christopher Skase and the Port Douglas Sheraton Mirage.
15. High end wallpaper in small areas, like Powder Rooms and Hall niches, delivers incredible style and luxe, but at a very small cost. You could replace a small area every year or so to switch things up!
16. Limit shower screen glass. One wall sheet of shower screen class with an opening to the shower area is a stylish minimalist look and a fraction of the cost of a fully enclosed shower area with a door. This can also work with a bath, by stacking the bath and shower; install the bath against the rear wall of the Bathroom, followed by the shower fittings, followed by a single sheet of toughened glass, followed by the toilet and basin.
17. Consider no shower screen glass at all; treating whole Bathroom as a wet area.
18. Fluted frameless shower screen glass is a very high end contemporary look without a significantly increased price, and consider Sapphire Glass for clear finish (with no blue green tint), again a very high end look achievable at minimal additional cost.
19. Avoid marble and other natural stone at all times.  Bathrooms and Kitchens are brutalised daily by acids (such as vinegar), acetones (such as nail polish remover) and strongly coloured liquids (such as hair dye, red wine and beetroot). Even a vigilant homeowner constantly armed with a damp sponge, or domestic help, will not win the fight. This is an issue whatever the colour of the marble or natural stone. Pale stones will stain and dark stones will stain and etch white! As beautiful as marble and natural stone is, it only looks good for five minutes.

Some example fittings that deliver a high end look without breaking the bank

Laufen is a 125 year old Swiss bathroom fittings brand which delivers high end and timeless design but is not expensive. Duravit, a German brand established 200 years ago, is another (with some impressive designers such as Philippe Starck).

Toilet

Console basin

Wall hung vanity

Alternatively, I love a wall hung shaker style vanity.  Timeless. Stay with me with this image. A Quartz or Caesartone composite stone top is an available option (without the splashback shown in the image). Inset basins are available. Brushed nickel seashell handles are also available (or high end handles could be sourced and used).

I also like this one for a more modern but still traditional and timeless look.   

Painted wall panelling

Painted wall panelling is an incredibly economical way to deliver a very high end look.

Some wall tile initial thoughts

Opulence – Products – Surface Gallery – I love the tile “Splash” in this collection using a herringbone/double herringbone placement.  Scroll through this gallery link for Splash and other examples.

Kasbah – Moroccan Tiles – Products – Surface Gallery – I like the tile “Aqua Gloss” to echo blue tones used elsewhere.  Scroll through this gallery link for Aqua Gloss and other examples.

OXFORD HAND MADE TILES – Products – Surface Gallery – I like the tile “Light Blue” in both sizes, using a herringbone/double herringbone placement for the 75mm x 300mm or a straight placement for the 130mm x 130mm.  Scroll through this gallery link for Light Blue and other examples.

Some floor tile initial thoughts

Encaustic Tiles – There are many cheaply made, but not necessarily budget option, encaustic tiles available. I have had bad experiences with most, except for the imported encaustic tiles available from the Olde English Tile Company – https://www.oldeenglishtiles.com.au/collections/encaustics-tiles#collection_id__feature-encaustics. These are produced by Winklemans and are seriously good quality. Sealing is absolutely optional and they stand up to high traffic. Have a browse. My favourites are Seville01, Amsterdam 01, Amsterdam 03, Deauville 02, Deauville 03, Vieuz-Lille 03. They are all timeless designs and will deliver a high end finish.

Di Marmo Terrazzo Porcelain Tiles – Products – Surface Gallery – I am definitely warming to terrazzo and terrazzo look floor tiles, and I think they look good pared with polished floor boards and with polished concrete.

Venus – Products – Surface Gallery – These warrant being looked at in person.

Quality Porcelain Tiles – Products – Surface Gallery – Again, these warrant being looked at these in person, but could be an interesting choice if you have polished concrete beyond tiled areas.  I like the large format sizes to minimise grout (which keeps everything looking new for longer, particularly with less than careful tenants).

Some more examples of my ideas

Now let me start thinking about Kitchens…..

I have been cautious about embracing terrazzo. Or is it really re-embracing? Once I moved past my aging public toilet flash backs, I could appreciate its beauty and functionality. The speckles are very forgiving of those with less than adequate domestic abilities and motivation. Unlike dark tiles and light tiles (both of which show every speck of dirt), terrazzo’s speckles hide everything!

A recent renovation in Biscayne, Florida has convinced me that terrazzo is less aging public toilet and more 1930s grandeur! https://www.englishtapware.com.au/journal/kate-walker-design-biscayne-mount-martha

This house has made me realise that it is really the Caribbean Colonial style that I love, not the ubiquitous Hamptons style. I adore everything about the interiors of this house, except for the very strong choices in marble. Perhaps they will grow on me. The terrazzo throughout really calls to me.

The interior designer who created this house, Kate Walker of Kate Walker Design, has some very good advice:

“If you do make a mistake, the hard finishes are the most expensive elements to replace. You only get one chance to install flooring, wall tiles, kitchen bench tops and splashbacks – and tapware which is one of the most frequently used fittings in a home. So focus your budget on investing in quality hard finishes, fixtures and fittings – because you can always build up the furniture, decorator items and artwork at a later stage when funds allow.”

Kitchen

Kate Walker on kitchens and the current obsession with Butler’s Pantries:

“In the kitchen a deep island bench is a must-have. People often think they need a long island bench but it’s the depth that’s important so you can create two zones, one on either side. And whereas a lot of people believe that a butler’s pantry is a must have, I actually subscribe to a very different thought process. If a kitchen is well designed, we don’t need to find room for a butler’s pantry. The concept is quite antiquated and conjures up the idea of hired help. It separates you from your family completely. To have the woman or the man of the kitchen hidden in a cupboard whilst preparing and cooking is isolating. I much prefer to design kitchen joinery with a concealed appliance cupboard, a concealed breakfast cupboard and a built-in bar.”

Bathrooms

There are so many different styles of bathrooms throughout this grand home. There are many style choices that may need braver souls than most renovating a more modest home, but it is the trailblazers like Kate Walker who provide us all with snippets of ideas that we can take away. Stay with me here, I have saved the dreamy Powder Room until last….

Most of us have a Main Bathroom, if we’re lucky an Ensuite, and if we’re really lucky a Powder Room (or at least an extra toilet in the Laundry). Some however have the luxury of an Ensuite, a Girls’ Bathroom, a Boy’s Bathroom, a Pool Bathroom, a Laundry AND a Powder Room. If you have the luxury of that many loo options, then you are likely wealthy enough to be very daring with your finishes. You can always change it out if you don’t like the result! For those of us on more modest budgets, we can still take away some of these ideas.

Master Ensuite

The Master Ensuite has a number of features that are both timeless and attainable for most of us.

Classic freestanding pedestal basins will never date and save the cost of bespoke built in cabinetry (and the sheer soullessness of most available off the shelf cabinetry). The basin top does not need to be natural stone; composite stone can deliver the same look at a far cheaper cost and is a more durable finish.

Mirrors provide a great opportunity to introduce uniqueness in bathrooms. Please, I implore you, look past bathroom suppliers for your mirrors. Mirror specialists, furniture stores and antique stores are all rich picking grounds for some sensational mirrors.

This Master Ensuite uses very little wall tiling, and then only in wet areas. And uses a tiled skirting to prevent the mop creep from the floor to the paintwork. This is a softer look than a fully tiled Bathroom and is delivered for a fraction of the cost. Of course, it is only practical for those walls not likely to receive daily splashing. This is manageable in an ensuite only used by one or two sensible adults. Choose your untiled walls more carefully in bathrooms used by children and teenagers, although the Bathoom and Kitchen paint available from all paint companies is very forgiving. I say this from experience.

Wooden flooring can also be appropriate in low use Bathrooms and again is a softer look.

Don’t start me on wall hung lights in Bathrooms. I don’t like them. They are impracticable and unnecessary, and make me feel like I am in a generic five star hotel.

Girls’ Bathroom

I love the terrazzo floor tiles, tumbled Moroccan style wall tiles and white mirror in the Girls’ Bathroom. The pink in the floor tiles and on the bath and cabinet top could be significantly softened to deliver a more timeless result. Delete the wall hung light.

Boys’ Bathroom

Again, a softer colour in the highlight terrazzo floor tiles and the tumbled Moroccan style wall tiles would deliver a softer result in the Boys’ Bathroom. That blue toilet and basin will only be fun for five minutes, so I would not recommend. You have heard me on the wall hung lights.

Pool Room Bathroom

The Pool Room Bathroom pulls a much softer look together. The painted wall paneling is a timeless and affordable look and is practical and stylish with the painted skirting and terrazzo floor tiles. The mirror is delightful (again minus the wall hung light). And if I had a Pool Room, and by extension a Pool Room Bathroom, then I might just have a basin with blue highlighting and a blue door!

Laundry

This Laundry just works. White painted skirting and wall paneling, cupboard profiles to match the Kitchen, the blue door, and the chequerboard tiling in a tumbled look porcelain tile. This is a timeless look, an eminently usable space, and achievable for all of us.

Powder Room

As promised, I have saved the best till last. This is the Powder Room of my dreams. (Apart from the wall mounted lights which look like Paracetamol capsules.) The Gucci Heron wallpaper with Flamingo Pink background is just gorgeous. The freestanding basin is timeless. The mirror delivers style. The white painted skirting prevents mop creep and damage to the wallpaper. The chequerboard marble floor tiles pull it all together, and the same look could be achieved with porcelain tiles. Or terrazzo.

My next new personal project is to rebuild my home on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. The project is to retain the side and front walls of the current 1905 single fronted and single storey brick cottage into a three storey Hamptons style (please don’t yawn) rendered brick and timber clad home, including an internal single garage with car stacker and a roof terrace with beach views. The retention of the side and front walls is to maintain the existing side walls that are on or almost on the property boundaries and the front wall that is way in front of existing setbacks on the street. Without retaining these walls, the local council would never approve the proposed redevelopment.

I see this project as an opportunity to capture all of the learnings I have accumulated in my house renovations and builds to date. (There have been several!) This post is for me to capture my thoughts and experiences in one place and will be iterative (with me updating and re-posting until the build commences).

The COVID 19 Pandemic has wrought havoc with all our personal lives. It has also upended the World’s procurement supply chains. Any building project (in Sydney at least) will require a minimum 20 week procurement lead time, in addition to the local council development approval process. So, even though I am heading into two back to back HSC (Higher School Certificate) years with my children, I am planning my rebuild project in detail. I want to be ready to commence as soon as my children have graduated, with every last nail and tile procured and ready to commence by January, 2023. While that feels like a long time away, I know that it will pass in a flash.

An invisible garage door – A garage door that doesn’t look like a garage door

A single fronted house presents a huge design issue in incorporating a garage door. When you only have 5.2 metres of house frontage, a 2.4 metre wide expanse of Colorbond for a garage door will be overwhelming and seriously ugly.

Many architects working across the Globe with constrained frontages have designed creative solutions to narrow garaging. The best solution that I have found for my project is that designed by New Zealand architect Jonathan Smith, founder of Matter Architects. Jonathan worked with a cabinetmaker to deconstruct the frontage of an 1890s Auckland home to then assemble automatic doors and a moving fence to conceal a brand new garage space, all expertly retrofit into the historic structure.

A car stacker has also been used in this Auckland project, to transform single parking into double parking, at minimal cost, like this:

https://www.bendpak.com.au/car-hoists/parking-lifts/pl-6sr/

The sliding fence is also key to the solution, and is like this (but noting that this video is a tad long winded):

I hate sand. Like I really hate sand. I hate sand on the floorboards and in the bed. I hate how sand inexplicably finds its way into sandwiches. (Yet another reason I should give up carbohydrates.) This is unfortunate, as I live on the Northern Beaches of Sydney with a magnificent, but VERY SANDY, beach at my door step.

I thought I had the perfect solution to the problem. An outside shower in the back garden with hot water.

These fittings are Perrin and Rowe in a satin brass finish from The English Tapware Company. They have developed a beautiful golden patina over a few years. Brass and seriously marine grade stainless steel are the only outside fixtures that won’t rapidly rust if you live by the beach. The taps’ standard finish is white porcelain, but you can match them to your chosen metal finish, as I have done here. All the details and another outside shower layout are here: https://www.englishtapware.com.au/products/OUTDOOR-SHOWER-LAYOUT-11A/

However, my problem was not solved. It appears that nobody under the age of 18 will take the extra two seconds to walk to the outside shower to rinse their feet after heading home from the beach. This is despite whatever level of nagging might take place. I am speaking from experience here.

A better solution (or additional layer of protection) would be to place an oversized clam shell or a small Chinese porcelain goldfish bowl filled with water right beside the backdoor. You might then be in with a running chance of a house without sand.

Giant clams are classified as a vulnerable species, but you can increase your mortgage to buy an antique shell. Otherwise, source one of the excellent resin ones (https://pineappletraders.com.au/collections/resin-clam-shells/products/vintage-polyresin-clam) or one of the fabulous sculptures that are available (https://www.etsy.com/shop/TeeMorrisShells?ref=search_shop_redirect).

You will see various examples of both real and replica giant clam shells repurposed as bathroom or powder room sinks. Please avoid this path. Please.

Chinese porcelain goldfish bowls are readily available very cheaply online or head to China Town in your local city. We are not sourcing anything Ming Dynasty here.

Mosquitoes breeding in the water are not an issue, as you need to rinse the shell or bowl regularly. To remove the sand. You could add goldfish to be certain (they eat the mosquito larvae), but I think that would discourage the foot washing, and you’ll be back to sand tracked through the house….