When we decorated our last house our oldest son was just a twinkle in his dad’s eye. So the ‘family bathroom’ was our bathroom and we decorated it accordingly. A big deep bath, pale grey floor tiles and glass mosaic wall tiles, all grouted in white.
13 years later, we were in the loft and the boys had taken over downstairs. While it was still in good nick, it was not a boy-friendly scheme. Everything needed regular swabbing and the grout was hard to keep white, especially on the floor. As for the basin, more of a bombsite. A bit like this in fact (the new bathroom unstaged, with old style mess)
I’m all for instilling civilised standards, but I’m also aware that my standards are on the exacting side of reasonable. And I’ve got other things to nag about. I decided the new bathroom must be boy-proof – that it could be set straight in seconds, and cleaned in minutes.
First up – no white grout. The wall tiles are tiled in dark grey grout – not black as it’s prone to develop a purple bloom over time. The floor isn’t tiled at all – I went for a neutral colour lino from the Colour Flooring Company. In a single sheet – so no joints to get grimy. And the basin and loo are wall hung for easy cleaning.
The mirrored cabinet is inset, and has a charging point so the electric toothbrush can be hidden away. And liquid soap in a refillable container saves mess.
Bath-side, I’d had enough of mini-floods from incautious showering, of spouts being bashed loose, and tiled shelving getting grotty with gels and potions. And lovely big baths are expensive to fill. Cue a shower screen with a fixed panel, a wall mounted valve with a nice neat filler, and shelves finished in silestone. Plus a much smaller bath.
Last House But One 
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