It’s 4 years since Mr S and I moved into our home, on the anniversary of the move date, looking through photos and reminiscing, I find a photo of the old bathroom taken on the day we moved in, and it all comes flooding back…
I’m standing in our new home for the first time on a scorching day in May 2008. So far I’ve had a range of emotions, sadness leaving our old house and London behind, elation driving through the sun soaked rape fields of Hertfordshire, relief that house looks much bigger without the previous owners stuff in, and horror when I see the bathroom…
It’s smaller than I remember, the sun streaming through the two skylights making it unbearably hot, appropriate as it’s disguised as and smells like a sauna. Mr S can’t even stand up straight! I’ve no idea how the previous owners, a couple and their THREE children lived with this teeny bathroom for fifteen years.
the old ‘sauna’ of a bathroom, squeezed into the eaves with very little space to maneuver
Opposite the bathroom is the equally tiny ‘nursery’; it’s really a large cupboard.
nursery or large cupboard?
Over the next eighteen months Mr S and I completely redesign the top floor to create a practical layout. Then the builders arrive! They rip out the old bathroom to make the spacious corridor.
Upstairs Corridor
The nursery and old hallway are combined to create a new larger bathroom and separate room for the toilet to maximise the space.
shiny new bathroom, complete with a childhood photo of bath time with my sisters & brother
I used limestone, marble and mirrors to reflect the light and make the space feel bigger. Even though it’s a small bathroom, it feels luxurious and there’s plenty of head height for my hubby. Most of all, I now look forward to a soak at the end of a long day :)
{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Funny when one comes across old photos and one is immediately transported back..
I suppose when needs must, everything is possible. I think we are all quite spoilt (that includes me) with our need for large housing and forget that not everyone lives like that.
Well done hubby for re-design and fitting in a shiny bathtub amongst other necessities:) it certainly looks luxurious!
It is funny, I love looking through the old albums for that reason.
You’re right about being spoilt, but I guess it’s also about priorities. For my husband and I, who are both quite tall, a larger bathroom is important, but the previous owners probably needed the box room and had more important things to spend their money on with three kids!
You also get used to the shortcomings of your home, to be honest after eighteen months of using the bathroom it didn’t seem that bad.
Thanks for the compliments, I will pass them on to Mr S :) x
What a transformation! Love the family bathtime picture idea :)
Thanks Sarah, it’s one of my favourite childhood photos and thought it was the perfect spot for it! :)
Well our bathroom is about the size of your original one and there are four of us. But thankfully no sloping ceilings! Great job Kelly it looks lovely and how nice to have a view from the window. My friend’s husband has a similar picture of him and his siblings in the bath tub when they were little. They’re half Burmese and there are six of them so it’s really cute! xx
It is nice to have a view in the bath, the window company tried to convince me to frost it, but it seemed such a shame, and I’m glad I didn’t now.
Six kids in the bath, how adorable, bet that’s a lovely photo! xx
Love the use of mirrors to maximise the space and the warm stone is delish. Really like the idea of sentimental pictures in a bathroom to ponder on while having a soak :-)
Thanks for the lovely comment Alex and for visiting :) x
Kelly, somehow I can’t leave a comment on the Clerkenwell post?
Have you recently changed the theme on your blog?
Let me know when it all works x
Hi Kelly, your blog is really lovely! Love the bathroom too :)
Laura xx
Thanks Laura and thanks for visiting! xx
Hi Kelly, thanks for posting up this bathroom article! It’s given me hope and inspiration as we have a very similar sauna-esque bathroom. We’re also planning to knock a few walls down to move it and make it bigger…
Hi Angela,
No problem, I’m glad it has given you inspiration. Best of look with your renovations, it will all be worth it in the end!
Kelly x
Thanks for stopping by my blog – not least because it introduced me to yours! I love the transformation of your bathroom – it all looks incredibly luxurious so you must be very pleased. Amazing lighting as well.
Hi Sian,
Welcome, it’s lovely to hear from you.
Thank’s for your compliments :) I’m really pleased with the bathroom, it was a hard slog, but all worth it in the end.
We bought those lights when we were on honeymoon in Hong Kong and I was so pleased when we got home and they worked!