Happy New Year! Hope you all had a great Christmas break. The start of a new year always gets me very excited to start things afresh, almost a bit like the back to school feeling you get after the summer holiday. There is just something about a new year, a clean slate, that get my creative juices going and I have a lot of DIY en craft ideas in the pipeline for you! And to start the year a new episode of Hester’s House Updates.

Just before Christmas I finished my bathroom makeover and I would love to show you how I changed the room from small and boring to fun and spacious. Have a look at this before and after video.

A big difference right? My bathroom is rather small, around 3 by 1,5 meter and with small spaces I think you should always make a statement. Yes I could have painted everything white to make the room look brighter and bigger but I think with the right colour scheme and some bold patterns you can create a bigger space as well. Do you remember my bathroom makeover in my previous home? Where I put a bright patterned tiles everywhere? If not have a look here.

I started the makeover with finding a fun wallpaper, on walls that don’t come in contact with water wallpaper is a great decorating choice for your bathroom. This lovely patterned wallpaper is from Wallpaperdirect.com, I love that site! It doesn't matter what you are looking for they have the paper for you. The paper I used is called Mad Dogs and is by Albany, the black and white animal drawings have a hint of Alice Wonderland in them and doesn't the doggy look just like my Kermit? The print is quite in your face but because of it's monotone colours it isn’t to overpowering in the bathroom, the opposite even, it made the room look bigger. I used the wallpaper on two of my walls and painted the other wall white.

All the budget went into the new bath and shower, Mister Handmade Home found a good deal online but with plumber costs it did eat up almost all of our bathroom money so there wasn't anything left for new tiles. Luckily you can easily paint tiles to give them a whole new look! Doesn't the grey look so much better then the weird green marble look we had before? I used grey tiles paint from Wilko, it takes a few hours to paint the whole room and you do have to let it dry for 3 days before you can get it wet but that waiting time was definitely worth it. The grey makes the room look so much more sophisticated.

I build the bath surround out of a sheet of thin plywood and some off cuts. It has little doors so you can store all your toiletries and cleaning products out of sight. The space underneath a bath is hardly ever utilised while you can pack so much away underneath the tub! I didn't make the surround into a tutorial as all baths and bathroom have different dimensions and you might need an other way of building yours. I must say it was way more difficult to build then I initially though! But if you would like to make your own surround and don't know how to do it send me and email and I will give you some tips. :)

The vinyl floor was stuck down so well that I just ended up sticking something over it. I used vinyl wood effect planks from B&Q they are only a few mm thick and because they are self adhesive super easy to put down. You simply cut them to size with a Stanley knife, and stick on the floor. The grey wood tone really brought the whole look together. I like these planks so much I might get some more to do my toilet floor!

From some other pieces of leftover wood I build a vanity that fits around the sink. It has a shelve so I can store my towels and space for a basket, the seagrass texture of the basket goes great with a grey tiles.

There are also a few drawers that hold all the small bits. I recycled these drawers from an old unit, and made the shelve to the right height so they slot in nicely. A new handle and it looks like the drawers were made for this vanity!

The wooden boxes keeps the product we use every day, like tooth brushes and moisturisers, looking neat and tidy. The worn look of the wood once again compliments the colour scheme nicely.

And there you have it, a whole new look for my bathroom! Do you like it? Is painting tiles something you would do in your bathroom? And what about the wallpaper? Doesn't using a bold pattern in a small room look great?

If you like the Mad Dogs wallpaper as much as I do and like to use it in your home leave a comment on this post and you be in with a change to win a 10meter roll! The competition is open for UK residents only and further conditions can be found at the bottom of this blog post. Good luck!!

I'll be back next week with a new episode of Hester's Book Club, see you then!

xx Hester

The giveaway is open for UK residents only and emails should be received before the 30rd of January 2016 23:59 (GMT) the wallpaper is non-transferable and only one entry per person please. The winner will be informed within 2 days of the closing date and must response within 7 days to claim their price.

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