How to make your bathroom more functional (and a reveal)

Let me take you on a journey through our bathroom.

I'm going to begin with the true 'befores' back when we first moved in.

As you can see, there is no storage whatsoever, and this bath tub....?

 Mm, scrumptious.

For the record, you are looking at what I call 'sandpaper tub'. I could scrub it to death but it never looked clean as it was just so so old and the surface had eroded.

 Then, last year, we transformed it cosmetically with the goal of improving it without making any structural changes. I'll admit I was quite proud of this first 'reveal' because it really was pretty. The ruffle shower curtain and quatrefoil mirror were my faves:

Whilst it was drastically improved, we found over time that the lack of storage just got more and more annoying. See that neat little basket on the floor in the photo above? That's it. I'm pretty sure I just shovelled all my products out of the room for that photo. It is SO hard to keep a bathroom tidy when there is no storage. But we lived with it.

The real shove came when the old bath started leaking and we had bathwater dripping into the kitchen below. The old tub (made of cast iron) had to be smashed to remove it and get to the joists beneath, so we had to install a new bath, and figured we may as well update the whole thing while we're at it.

A simple update, that would be an improvement but still basic, inexpensive, and functional for future renters. 

Because we don't plan to stay here very long.

No subway tiles or brass fixtures here... sorry design bloggers!

The result is a modernised, functional little bathroom.

I did like the ruffle shower curtain a LOT, but this is sleek and practical, i.e. what we were after.

In the spirit of "making your home work for you", here are a few ways I've made this bathroom even more functional and easy to keep clean and tidy.

1. I keep a cleaning cloth on the shower caddy. So I can literally wipe down the glass screen and the basin every single day... should I so desire ;) I strongly believe in making things less of a chore so I'm more likely to actually do them.

2.  Suction Cup towel hooks. We weren't sure where to screw a hook into the wall for a hand-towel, and these suction cups just suck right onto the glass screen. They are moveable of course and we use them for the hand-towel, as well as the facecloth that is otherwise left lying limp in a puddle in the basin. 

3. Wall mounted toothbrush holder. Because that slimy run-off that you get if you keep them in a cup...? GACK.

4. The laundry basket is right there in the corner so I never need to lift piles of dirty clothes off the floor and drop socks all over the stairs on my way to the laundry, ever again. 

5. A rubbish bin next to the bath (in the back corner not shown here) for hair balls. I'm not kidding, we do not enjoy that stuff getting into the plughole! Long-haired ladies unite. Keep a bin in arm's length of the shower.

Again for dramatic affect:

After:

 Better.

And I'm quite enjoying having the old quaterfoil mirror at my disposal for future projects in other rooms.

:)