This bathroom planning guide aims at providing you with bathroom design ideas useful in planning a bath space, dressing area or cloakroom. You may be planning a revamp of your old bathroom or doing it from scratch, these are some basic points you may like to ponder upon. Let’s start with the basic questions,

i) What is the area of the bathroom?
ii) Who will use it? Children, guests, you, two people or the whole family?
iii) What are the fixtures you would like to install?
(Shower cubicle, jets, tub, vanity etc)
iv) Which parts of the bathroom you plan to revamp?
v) Is the lighting appropriate?
vi) What bathroom furniture you would like to buy?
vii) Does it require plumbing work?

Start with first things first. Measure up the bathroom area and make a rough sketch with the fixtures you have, you wish to change, and even fix in case it’s a new bathroom. This will help you estimate the exact area you have around to play with. Next thing should fall in place with a realistic budget. Even if you are thinking of redoing the plumbing job, estimate the costs, for it can be expensive. With the budgets and fixtures you want in hand, it would be easy to dwell on ideas and new fittings. It could be a vanity, shower enclosure or a new tub; make sure you think of the space. It’s important to move around too, and you don’t want to clutter your bathroom.

Modular bathrooms done in little space are in vogue. There are more people looking for smaller bathrooms fitted with modern amenities. With meticulous and creative thinking, you should be able to fit in the things you desire, say a shower cubicle, for instance.

You get corner shower cubicles that save space and if there is space constraint, you could always use a separate overhead shower cubicle and use curtains to keep away the water splashing.

Of all the hassles and nuances you go through while picking the right bedroom furniture and furnishings for your home, reaching a ‘stuck-up’ situation can be the worst. It can happen when you buy furniture without looking into practical details of your home, or a particular room, the bedroom, for instance. Buying bedding set, bedroom mirrors and storage furniture like an armoires and dressers may be tricky. The kind of practical problems you face while buying furniture is different from the world of modern bedroom furniture and suites that you see on online furniture stores.

It helps to have a basic guideline in place. Here are a few tips on buying furniture that fits your home,

1. Local retailers can be a source of information to help you decide. Sometimes you may end up finding a great deal unlike retail shops that spend so much on floor space and as a result, hike up furniture prices. As online furniture stores save on this part, they get to pass on some part of the savings to customers as discounts.

2. Define your style. Each one of us has his own unique liking. If Bahamian is your style statement, you can buy furniture that fits the idea; and also combine it with other traditional and modern furniture.

3. Bed sizes
Who will sleep in the bed? What is the size of your bedroom? Take into account the number of people and the size of the person/s. Master beds are the largest, followed by King-size beds (California and standard), queen beds, full beds and twin beds. The dimensions of each size are as follows:

California king bed: 72 inches wide x 84 inches long
King bed: 76 inches wide x 80 inches long
Queen bed: 60 inches wide x 80 inches long
Full bed (or double bed): 54 inches wide x 75 inches long
Twin bed: 39 inches wide x 75 inches long (80 inches for extra long twin beds)