TL;DR
Get furniture and decor delivered free with Prime
- Fast, free delivery on millions of items
- Prime Video, Amazon Music and more included
- Member-only deals all year
Pam and Peter renovated the awkward-shaped bathroom in their Grade II-listed Guildford home in a project reported to have cost £14,000. An offset freestanding bath, curved vanity, storage bench and sliding shower door helped make better use of the room, while patterned tiles and brass details supported the owners’ boutique-hotel-inspired look.
A bathroom renovation in Pam and Peter’s Grade II-listed home in Guildford, Surrey, used a carefully adjusted layout to make an awkward-shaped room more practical and give it what the owners describe as a boutique hotel feel. Ideal Home reported the project cost £14,000; the design includes an offset freestanding bath, a curved basin unit, a storage bench and a sliding shower door.
The couple’s previous bathroom had wood-clad walls, a double basin and a shower over the bath. Pam told Ideal Home the arrangement made the room feel cramped, while poor lighting and heating made it uncomfortable. A rotten vinyl floor covering was another sign that the space needed updating. The home’s age and character also shaped the brief: Pam said new elements had to feel as if they belonged in a property with “so much history, personality and all sorts of quirks.”
Pam worked with BK Eleven on the design and renovation. According to her account in Ideal Home, the studio coordinated trades and handled product ordering and delivery. The couple wanted a freestanding bath, feature lighting, a basin unit with storage and distinctive tile, while aiming for a room that felt calm rather than purely functional.
The room’s shape influenced several specific decisions. The bath sits slightly off-centre to fit into a corner, and a bench occupies an otherwise underused area, providing storage as well as a place to sit. A gently curved washbasin unit softens tight points in the layout. In the shower, a sliding door avoids opening into the walkway; a hinged door, Pam said, would have made the route through the room feel more cramped. A recessed shelf provides space for toiletries and uses the patterned tile seen elsewhere in the scheme.
How the Layout Reclaims Space
The renovation illustrates how the position and shape of bathroom fixtures can affect a room’s everyday usability, particularly where a conventional, symmetrical arrangement will not fit. Rather than treating the bath, basin and shower as separate choices, the design responds to how people move through the room: the offset bath fits a corner, the curved vanity eases a pinch point and the sliding shower door keeps the walkway clear.
Storage is built into areas that might otherwise be wasted. The bench doubles as concealed storage, while deep drawers beneath the basin keep everyday items out of sight. For readers planning a similarly constrained bathroom, the project offers concrete examples of layout decisions to discuss with a designer. It does not establish that the same arrangement, price or products would suit other rooms; dimensions, plumbing and building constraints differ from home to home.
The visual choices also connect the renovation to the listed property. Pam described the patterned tiles as distinctive without overwhelming the room, and said brass fittings echoed features elsewhere in the house. The reported result brings practical changes together with materials intended to make the bathroom feel like part of the home rather than an isolated utility space.
freestanding bathtub for small bathrooms
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
From Cramped Suite to New Plan
Ideal Home’s account frames the work as a renovation of an existing bathroom, not an expansion of the room. The old setup combined a double basin with a shower over the bath; Pam said that arrangement contributed to a cramped feeling. The project instead gave the bath, shower and basin distinct roles while adapting their placement to the unusual footprint.
The material palette was chosen to balance character with continuity. The report describes patterned tiles, a softer pink wall colour, monochrome elements and brass taps and lighting. Pam said the house already had brass fittings and ornaments associated with its period, making the material a way to link the updated bathroom to the rest of the property. Warm-white bulbs in fluted-glass wall lights were also selected to make the room feel more welcoming.
Product details included in the report name a Merlyn sliding shower door in brushed gold and Hannover wall tiles in Bone by Porcelanosa. Ideal Home listed the shower door at £1,067 and the tiles at £109.66 per square metre at the time of its report. Those figures refer to the named products, not necessarily the full installed cost or a current retail quote.
“The bath is slightly offset so it fits neatly into a corner, which made much better use of the available space.”
— Pam, speaking to Ideal Home
Project Details Not Reported
Ideal Home gives a total project cost of £14,000, but its report does not specify when the work took place, provide a detailed cost breakdown or say whether the figure includes every fitting, labour charge and finishing item. The named product prices are presented separately and may not reflect current prices.
The article does not publish room measurements, a floor plan, the extent of plumbing or electrical work, or details of any listed-building permissions or approvals. It also does not provide an independent evaluation of the result or evidence about how the bathroom has performed over time. The description of the finished room as hotel-like is Pam’s view, and the account does not establish that the layout would work in other homes with different dimensions or constraints.
Applying the Plan to Other Rooms
Ideal Home’s report describes the renovation as completed and does not announce a further phase or a scheduled follow-up. For homeowners considering similar changes, the next step would be to assess the room’s measurements, access routes and plumbing before choosing fixtures. The story’s examples—an offset bath, curved basin unit and sliding shower enclosure—show the kinds of decisions the owners made, but do not replace a room-specific design assessment.
Any work in a listed property may also require checks on applicable permissions and building requirements. The source does not state what approvals were sought for this project. Further information about its detailed costs, construction timeline and the room’s measurements has not been provided in the report.
Key Questions
How much did the bathroom renovation cost?
Ideal Home lists the total cost as £14,000. The report does not give a full itemised breakdown or specify the date of the work.
What changed in the bathroom layout?
The renovation replaced the previous double basin and shower-over-bath arrangement with an offset freestanding bath, a curved basin unit and a separate shower with a sliding door. A bench in an underused area also provides storage.
Why was a sliding shower door used?
Pam told Ideal Home a hinged door would have opened into the walkway. The sliding door was chosen to keep the route through the awkward-shaped room clearer.
Who designed and managed the renovation?
Pam said she worked with BK Eleven on the design and renovation. She credited the studio with coordinating trades and managing product orders and deliveries.
Is the £14,000 cost a current estimate for another bathroom?
No. It is the reported cost of this particular project. The article does not give enough detail about timing, room dimensions or the full work specification to treat it as a current estimate for another renovation.
Source: rss
Fall Picks
fall essentials
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
