UK Home Improvement Blog

Fitted bathroom furniture can add precisely the right proportion of wonderful to suit your bathroom space.  Fitted furniture is designed to exactly fit your space making it a favorite choice for bathrooms.  Fitted furniture can be adapted to a myriad of décor types and is also available in many materials and designs.  It’s the perfect way to achieve a bathroom that’s tailored to your exact needs.

Benefits of a Perfect Fit

A custom fit is necessarily better than something that is a good fit or fits more or less.  Fitted furniture fits a space as if it were built there from the beginning and constructed to exact measurements.  Why lose an extra three inches of counter space?  Why waste any space if you can possibly help it?  Fitted furniture is not only a practical solution, but a stylish one for many homeowners that want to achieve that perfect fit.  Because fitted furniture is mounted to the wall, it is also extra sturdy.

The Fitted Vanity

This is a common type of fitted bathroom furniture that can be both function and stylish.  The bathroom vanity accommodates the sink and the two often complement each other in terms of décor.  A rich wood hue might be the perfect contrast for a gleaming white sink.  While a fitted vanity may come in finished or unfinished wood, some homeowners prefer other materials like cast metal.  The vanity may be large or small depending on the size of the bathroom.  To get an idea of styles, you can shop online at websites such as HG Bathrooms.  Some vanities feature a bank of cabinetry or even built in hampers.  You’ll be able to select a vanity style that suits your bathroom’s storage needs as well as its decorative ones.

Fitted Cabinets

A cabinet unit or bank of wall-mounted cabinets can be fitted to any spot of your bathroom.  Such units sleekly provide storage will adding a look of elegance to your room.  Clunky stand-along shelving units can be put in the yard sale once you install the perfect cabinets in your bathroom.  These units can also help you maintain organization in your bathroom and prevent it from looking cluttered or unmaintained.

Additional Fitted Features

Some homeowners choose to create fitted features like additional counters atop chests of drawers or a special cabinet for the toilet.  A fitted armoire adds a touch of grandeur to any bathroom.  You can find ideas by shopping for fitted furniture and checking out various bathroom design books.  Custom fitted furnishings may be more affordable than you think and will fill a need better than other types of furniture that are simply meant to make due.

Shopping for Fitted Furniture

Before shopping, be sure to have your bathroom’s measurements.  Knowing the measurements can better enable a fitted furniture dealer to provide a quote.  Take your time to shop and try to choose a timeless style as this type of furniture is meant to be permanent.  It is sometimes favorable to choose a style in keeping with the era of the home, for instance.  You’ll find, however, that there are plenty of styles and designs to choose from and, in the end, you’re sure to love how fitted furniture transforms the look of your bathroom into something singular.

Amy Parry is a retired English teacher who still loves to educate others. In her spare time, she enjoys blogging about a variety of topics, including home improvement and decorating on various Internet blogs.

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In a typical city apartment or even smaller home, bathrooms are not always as large as you would like them to be, let alone as luxurious as you wish they could be. Older style homes often have baths with overhead showers, while modern homes are limited to showers alone. Luckily for you however, it is still possible to add more space to even the tiniest of bathrooms, allowing you to create an oasis of calm at the end of each day.

How to Add Space to Smaller Bathrooms

Depending on whether you wish to renovate the entire bathroom or simply add a few changes here and there, there are many different ways to add space to smaller bathrooms. Some ideas include the following:

• If your bathroom has a bath only, adding a shower attachment can be done without too much drastic work. Ideally, this option works best if you have a single tap however, which allows the attachment to work with your existing plumbing. You can purchase attachments and install them yourself if you have sufficient DIY skills, or have them installed by your handyman or plumber if you prefer a professional job.

• Fitting bathroom shelves is a simple way to add more storage. Wall mounted shelves can be attached using brackets, and used to keep towels, bath products and other items. You can also purchase wall cabinets if you have enough space, which can double up for storage and the all-important bathroom mirror.

• Corner baths are a great way to optimise on limited space, taking up far less space than regular shaped baths. While this job is best left to the experts, it is worth considering if your bathroom only has a shower or if your current bath takes up a lot of room. As an added perk, many modern corner baths can be sunken, giving a luxurious touch to your bathroom.

Hooks and rails can also be added to maximise storage space without adding to the clutter, while from an aesthetic point of view, large mirrors placed over the bath will help add the illusion of space without making any major structural changes. As a final bit of advice, it is best to avoid dark colours or busy wallpaper in small bathrooms. Instead, stick to light, neutral shades to make the room seem larger and more spacious. Along with these tips, you will be able to create the perfect bathroom, regardless of its size.

Author Bio

Denise Jones researches and writes about a variety of home and office repairs that can be done with or without handyman services.

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We’ve heard it all before, life seems to be getting more and more hectic and we’re being left with little to no time to relax and unwind after a hard days work. Holidays seem to be few and far between and getting to a spa resort to recharge is near on impossible. So how can you bring that spa experience into your bathroom to enjoy every day? Read on to discover it’s not as difficult as you might think.

Minimalist Design
To create a peaceful feeling in your bathroom it’s imperative that you begin by removing items that are cluttering up the space. Old bottles, combs and the like should be tossed or placed neatly in drawers. Think ‘less is more’ and you’ll be heading down the right track.

Clean and Lush
When you visit a spa you are likely to enter a clean room with perfectly folded lush clean towels. Do the same in your bathroom. If your towels are ripped, stained and have generally seen better days then now is the time to replace them. The same goes for soap, hand lotions and other essential items that are in need of being replaced.

If your bathroom isn’t pristine then take out the cleaning goods and gloves and start scrubbing. Spas offer clean, clutter free spaces that make you feel relaxed and indulgent and there is no reason why you should not respect yourself enough at home to offer these very same things on a daily basis.

Indulge Completely
You might not soak in a bath at the end of everyday but when you do be sure to indulge yourself completely. Add a few drops of essential oils to the water such as rose or lavender and fill the bath to luxurious depths. If you have spa jets in your bath remember to utilize them at the start for a gentle massage before relaxing back and soaking up the oils and slowly inhaling the fragrant steam.

You can add other spa like experiences to several rooms in the house, not just the bathroom. For example, create a small cosy space to relax into and read your favourite book. Or take a minimalist approach to the kitchen, freeing up the benches of clutter and replacing it with iced tea and fresh fruit. In fact, organizing, minimizing and calming any of the spaces within the home will lead to a more relaxing environment for everybody in the house, which is certainly worth spending time on to enjoy many peaceful days in the future.

We know our lives are busy and that’s reflected in the bathroom renovation movement having taken on a life of its own, in particular the minimalist movement that continues its stronghold as one of the most popular bathroom design choices. Now you know how to create a mini spa within your very own home you can enjoy minimalist Zen like peace at the end of every day; now isn’t that time well spent.

Stephen Roo is a writer, and occasionally writes on
bathrooms accessories. He is fond of Modern and Traditional Style Cabinets for bathroom.

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Shopping online gives an entirely new meaning to the idea of window shopping. The Internet offers products from around the world to anyone with a Paypal account who is willing to pay for shipping. It is possible to purchase everything from swimsuits to home improvement supplies, movies to travel reservations. If you have not yet purchased anything online, here are some of the benefits to doing so.

Convenient

Instead of having to drive all over town to purchase various products, shopping online enables you to buy anything you need from the comfort of your own home in front of your computer. Rather than making countless phone calls to find the item you seek or visiting multiple locations and searching through the store, you can find all the places online that offer that item within minutes and never leave your home.

Price comparison

Because most businesses now have websites, even local purchases can be shopped for and compared to find the best prices, bulk quantities or specific sizes.

Use less gas

For those living in rural communities, shopping can be especially time consuming. In the time you drive to the nearest city to find what you need and drive home you could have purchased online and finished the laundry. There are those who would argue that online shopping leaves a bigger carbon footprint because of the shipping. Those individuals do not understand or appreciate people who do not live within the city limits.

Options otherwise not available

Another beauty of the online shopping experience is the ability to discover products you never knew existed. View artwork, pod beds and bathroom fixtures in one location and see images of items you would never see in your local stores.

Delivery

Online purchases can be delivered to your door or to any other door you indicate. You can purchase gifts, have them wrapped and shipped to the recipient without so much as opening your front door. What previously would have been at least two errands has been transformed into a brief amount of time in front of the computer or on a smart phone instead. Gift cards can actually be sent via email on the day of somebody’s birthday, on those occasions when you forget to plan ahead.

Additionally, if you live in an area where public transportation is more common than owning an automobile, having larger items delivered to your door is much simpler than toting it onto the bus or the tube.

Product reviews

Perhaps one of the best aspects of purchasing new items online is the ability to read reviews posted by other consumers. Product reviews appear in many places online, often times on the very site from which you want to purchase. When considering two similar items made by different companies, the reviews will often help you decide which is best for you.

Purchasing new products online can quite possibly save you time, effort and money, and you can find ideas on the same computer from which you can purchase the supplies you’ll need to make those ideas reality.

This article is provided by The Plumb Store, a wonderful place to purchase less-abled bathroom products online.

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Most people find with age that they struggle with some day-to-day tasks. For most of these tasks, there is a simple appliance or gadget available designed to make things easier. A walk in bath can transform the bathing experience for someone who is elderly and infirm or someone younger with mobility issues. They solve the biggest issue facing our clients, getting in and out of the bathtub safely. This style of bathtub makes safe bathing possible for the vast majority of people.

A walk in bath has a door built into the side of it. To use it, simply open the door and walk into the bath, closing the door behind you. At this point, you can fill the bath with water. When you have finished your bath, you just have to reverse the process. The step into the bath is very low, so most people are able to negotiate it safely and without help.

Other aids to safe bathing

At Premier Bathrooms, we sell a range of walk in tubs. All of our baths are designed to provide you with a safer bathing environment. To achieve this we incorporate, where necessary, things like grab rails, bath seats and non-slip surfacing into the designs of our bath range. We talk every customer through all the options available to ensure that the walk i

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If you are elderly and have difficulty bathing, an elderly bath seat may be the answer for you. These seats are specifically designed to help you get over the main difficulty of having to lower yourself down into a bath, as well as getting over the difficulty of having to haul yourself back up from that position to get out.

Whilst at Premier Bathrooms we do not sell bath seats, most of our easy bathe walk in bath range comes with the option of a fitted seat. We have been fitting walk in baths in the homes of the elderly and disabled for over 25 years and in our experience very few customers choose not to buy an easy bathe walk in bath without a fitted seat.

The right elderly bath seat for you

Finding the right elderly bath seat for you is a relatively easy process once you know what is available. The first point to remember is that a built in seat offers real stability, so it is definitely a better option than buying a removable one.

The next thing you need to consider is how mobile and agile you are. If you have a degenerative condition, you also need to consider how mobile and agile you are likely to be in the future. You will then be able to make a reasoned choice between a static moulded seat or a powered seat that will lower you into the bath and lift you back out once you have finished.

Tags: Bathrooms by UK Home Improvement Team
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Walk in baths come in all shapes and sizes meaning there is one out there to suit everyone.

Each person has different needs. Some people can lay down in the bath whilst others find this position too uncomfortable or painful and therefore need to sit upright. As a result of these needs, manufacturers produce walk-in tubs in both configurations.

In the UK, a growing number of people are suffering mobility issues relating to their weight. As they become more overweight, some people find bathing increasingly difficult. For some, taking a bath in a standard sized bath is too uncomfortable or difficult. Luckily, there is an answer: a larger sized walk in bath.

The Laguna walk in bath

At Premier Bathrooms, we aim to provide a tailored bathing solution for every individual. When we realised that some of our customers were struggling to use our standard sized walk in baths, we developed the Laguna walk in bath.

This large walk in bath provides a generous bathing area which can accommodate nearly all sizes at 34 inches wide. This large walk in bath also comes fitted with our signature Hydrovescent Therapy system to ease your aches and pains. Jets of warm air generate streams of bubbles which gently massage your body, helping you to relax. This system is designed to reduce inflammation as well as improve circulation.

Most bathrooms have more than enough space to accommodate an oversized walk in bath. These walk-in tubs are of a standard length, simply constructed with wider panels.

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Walk in showers are a great addition to any home. They look fantastic and are highly practical. They are also good for people who have mobility issues, with the elderly and the disabled finding them especially useful.

There are many styles available, so they can be built to fit in with any kind of bathroom. They also vary in size, so even in a small bathroom you can have a nice mobility shower installed.

Things to consider when buying your shower

When buying easy access showers there are a few things you need to take into account. The first is that everyone in the house needs to be able to use the shower. This means that if you have a wheelchair user in the house you need to fit a shower that, as far as possible, allows them to use the shower without help. You will therefore need a shower without a shower tray.

A fold down shower seat is a good addition to any mobility shower. It enables everyone to use the shower in comfort. It is there when people need it yet folds out of the way when someone who does not need it uses the shower.

At Premier Bathrooms, we have fitted thousands of easy access showers. We can advise you about which features you need to make a shower look good yet still be comfortable and practical for all members of the family to use. We have over 25 years’ experience, making our advice both professional and accurate.

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Ideally we would all love to have a huge bathroom, which allows us the space to incorporate the bathroom suite of our dreams, with a spacious bath and maybe even double sinks.  However, the reality is that many of us do not have bathrooms that are large enough to afford such luxury.  In such circumstances it is important to maximise the space that is available.  Of course, overcrowding the room with furniture can leave things feeling cramped, resulting in an oppressive vibe.  Here we consider how choosing the right bathroom suite can go a long way to creating the perfect bathroom when you have limited space.

The right bath

The bathtub is the one item of your bathroom suite that you will get most enjoyment from.  As such you want to be able to stretch out whilst you have a soak and let the bath sooth your troubles away.  This probably isn’t going to be possible if you have had to go for a compact model, which tend to measure just 1500mm.  Standard baths measure 1700mm x 700mm, with the extra length affording the user that bit of comfort.  If you don’t have enough space to incorporate a longer model then you should consider installing a less conventional shaped bathtub.

Your first option here is to go for a slightly wider model.  You will be surprised at how much more room your will have by increasing the width by 100 – 200mm, which allows the bather to lie in a more diagonal position.  If you don’t have enough room to compensate for the extra width then you may want to consider a corner bath.  Models are available in a variety of sizes, with different lengths along each side.  It is even possible to source a square model, should such a bathtub make best use of your available space.

You final option is to go for a short, yet deeper than normal bath.  Whilst you might not be able to fully stretch out in the tub; the extra depth will mean that you can submerge most of your body.  You may wish to consider a model that has a sloped top end so that you can still lie back as you relax, as opposed to being sat upright.

A striking sink

Whilst the bath is the key bathroom suite item in terms of your pleasure; it is actually the sink that acts as the focal point of the room. So how can you ensure that it has the desired aesthetical impact when you do not have enough room for a large ornate basin that would take up too much wall space? One good option is to go for a narrow floating sink, with the pipe work hidden behind the wall tiles. The absence of a pedestal will mean less clutter and provide a more open impression.

In the event that you need to utilise the space underneath the sink for storage then you could opt for a vanity unit; achieving nice visuals and practicality. Even a small and basic sink that has been sunk into the vanity unit will look fantastic. Alternatively you could choose to sit the sink on top of the vanity unit. Such an approach gives you the freedom to select a more sumptuous sink design, with funnel shaped models being a popular choice. Not only do they have the capacity to hold a decent amount of water; they will also look great without taking up to much surface space.

Toilet options

When it comes to the toilet there isn’t really much you can do in terms of saving space. Obviously you should position it appropriately, whilst making sure that you allow enough room for it to be used comfortably. In a visual sense you can achieve a spacious feel by way of a floating toilet, where the cistern is hidden behind the wall.

An alternative approach

In the event that you can’t find a suitable tub to suit the shape of your bathroom, it may be time to consider a different approach. Removing the bathtub completely and opting for a walk-in shower can transform the feel of the room. Whereas installing a bath might leave the bathroom feeling cramped, a shower enclosure of the same dimensions can actually make the room look and feel much more open. The question is; are you prepared to sacrifice your bathtub in order to achieve that goal?

Tags: Bathrooms, Other by UK Home Improvement Team
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• Firstly, lift/unscrew the plug itself (if possible) and use tweezers (or your fingers!) to remove the offending articles. It might be an off putting sight and smell the first time you do this, but repeating this regularly (perhaps once a fortnight, or once a week) will allow you to keep on top of the blocked plug problem.

• Hair removal cream for legs (scientific name – depilatory cream) – don’t spend too much but put a tube of hair removal cream down the plug hole and leave for 30 minutes to an hour. Some even suggest overnight. Then rinse, preferably with the power shower directed at the plug for maximum cleaning effectiveness! Your hair will have been dissolved and the water will wash it away.

• Bicarbonate soda, followed by white vinegar. A natural solution that uses nature’s own power, the soda will fizz when it hits the wet pipe, the vinegar then cuts through and encourages the blockage to move.

• Hot water and salt. Boil a kettle of water and then pour a small amount of salt down the plug. Allow to settle for about a minute and then wash down with hot water.

• Plughole chemicals – whilst there are many well-known brands, a number of plumbers and drainage experts actually warn against these solutions. Yes they work, and yes they are an affordable fail safe, but the chemicals within aren’t always suitable for your specific pipes. Whilst providing immediate relief, don’t become dependent on them and find that it causes further trouble down the line.

• Call in a pro. If you’ve tried a number of the ideas above, it may well be time to call in a pro. They’ll have the tools and know how to unblock everyday problems – they do this day in, day out after all. They may use a Plumbers snake, or some small rods to correct the drain blockage. Alternatively, a professional plumber may choose to use chemicals that only tradesmen have the experience to handle correctly.

Tags: Bathrooms, Plumbing by UK Home Improvement Team
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