Pimp my bathroom

[Mrs Pingu]

Well, it's been a while. I was all prepared to start bathroom hunting when I went skiing, but when I got back to work  in January it went mental and has been like that ever since so I've not really had the bandwidth to think about it. However, my neighbour has been getting a new bathroom fitted this week which has spurred me on.
Having spent the afternoon on the internet I think I'm leaning towards:

Matki New Illusion shower enclosure. Quintesse shape?
Duravit Starke 3 toilet
Aqualisa Dream(?) Dual divert valve shower
Hansgrohe Axor Citterio M Single Lever Basin Mixer
Or Hansgrohe Metris Classic Single Lever Basin Mixer
Duravit washbasin either:
D code furniture w/basin 650mm 175mm deep
Or Happy D or Starke 3

[Sergeant Pluck]

Before you start, have you considered underfloor heating, extractor fan arrangements etc.? If you have a cold-ish house, underfloor heating in the bathroom is most agreeable and as the floor area is usually small the running costs don’t seem too high. No idea about fitting costs, as I rent.

“Duravit Stark 3” 

They don’t name toilets like they used to. If there was such a thing as a McPherson Long Drop Force 10 I’d find it more appealing. But hey it’s a nice looking bog.

[Polar Bear]

Nice shower.   We went for something more basic, a Triton Eleda.   

[chrisbainbridge]

I would recommend the underfloor heating without any hesitation.  We have it in the kitchen and our bathroom.  It is the single most luxurious thing in my life.  I went from being a shoe wearer around the house to being a bare foot person.  It is one of our biggest regrets that we did not get underfloor heating throughout the house.

[Mrs Pingu]

There's an extractor already. It might get replaced if ICBA. Currently no underfloor heating. Not convinced that I need it but the room is on the 1st floor and is currently carpeted though will be getting replaced with cushioned flooring.

[Kim]

There's only one thing worse than carpet in a bathroom...

[Mrs Pingu]

There's only one thing worse than carpet in a bathroom...

Go on...

[Kim]

There's only one thing worse than carpet in a bathroom...

Go on...

Carpet in a kitchen.

[Pickled Onion]

I actually like cold tile floors in bare feet, but I accept that might be an odd nostalgia having grown up with Lino on the bedroom floor in a house which had ice on the *inside* of the windows in winter,but I'd consider underfloor heating in a bathroom to keep it dry and mould free.

[chrisbainbridge]

house which had ice on the *inside* of the windows in winter

That was just Jack Frost visiting at our house.  We used to leave the clothes for the next dat beside the bed and pull them into bed in the morning to defrost them before we got up.

Spent the first few years of my life learning that once in bed you do not move until the morning unless you want to move to a cold bit of the bed.

[Mrs Pingu]

There's no danger I'd be putting tiles on the floor!

[Mrs Pingu]

There's only one thing worse than carpet in a bathroom...

Go on...

Carpet in a kitchen.

No, I think the bathroom is more disgusting.

[Kim]

I suppose that depends on levels of clumsiness, damp and whether anyone's habitually weeing on the floor.  (As you can imagine, we have quite a lot of the former, and not very much of the latter.)  The carpeted bathroom we had in the Sheffield house wasn't too bad.

OTOH, never share a carpeted kitchen with students. 

Now I think about it, don't share a bathroom with them either, regardless of floor covering.  Actually, just don't live with students.

[BrianI]

My bathroom is also getting done next month. Im ripping the bath out, taking th room back to the bare shell and starting from scratch. (Not me personally, getting a bathroom company to do the job)

Im getting a rather nice 800x1000mm quadrant shower enclosure put in, a nice sink and a "comfort height" loo!

[T42]

I would recommend the underfloor heating without any hesitation.  We have it in the kitchen and our bathroom.  It is the single most luxurious thing in my life.  I went from being a shoe wearer around the house to being a bare foot person.  It is one of our biggest regrets that we did not get underfloor heating throughout the house.

It's hell on the furniture: the wood shrinks on the underside and bows upwards.  We had it in one flat we moved into south of Paris and it buggered a solid mahogany table Mrs T's parents had brought back from Uganda.

[Mrs Pingu]

So it's not been done but hopefully this will be the year. 
Of course I've changed my mind about half the stuff now and a trawl through mumsnet (don't ask, I'm not a mum) has led me to ditch the tremendously expensive Duravit sink and vanity combo in favour of something a bit cheaper and with better reviews (possibly Ikea).

Question being is, what makes a good sink? Currently we have one of those round 'vessel' counter top sinks and we both hate it (from a practical point of view). I thought that identifying the reasons why would lead us nicely on to what we should be looking for. Problem is when we try to pinpoint what it is we hate about it, it's quite difficult to put your finger on....
For me it needs the tap to poke far out enough into the bowl for you to be able to wash your hands without smacking your knuckles off the basin or the tap, and the bowl should be deep enough that you don't throw water everywhere else while you wash hands.

So tell me about your sinks. I've been looking at these 2 from the Swedish Happy Halls of Joy.^{TM Charlotte}
Does anyone have them? Pingu looked at them and thought I might hate them for the same reason I hate our vessel sink, but I think that's just because they have curves.....
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/washstands-taps/wash-basins/br%C3%A5viken-single-wash-basin-white-art-30195548/
https://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/washstands-taps/wash-basins/odensvik-single-wash-basin-art-50195552/

[rafletcher]

There's only one thing worse than carpet in a bathroom...

Go on...

Carpet in a kitchen.

No, I think the bathroom is more disgusting.

Ours is carpeted, and it’s fine, I don’t see the problem myself. Use bath mats for wet feet. OTOH any covering with a Lino-like surface, or smooth tiles, get very slippery when damp.

[ian]

We have a square and narrow sink. Which looks cool.

But it also means that when you wash your face, you also wash your feet.

So, yes, make sure the bloody basin sticks out enough.

[Mr Larrington]

Do not go the way the lads who remodelled the Spa at Larrington Towers did and place the basin in such a way as to put the pipe for the hot tap in such close proximity to the end of the radiator that it is impossible to reach the bleed valve.

Bleeding that rad requires brute force and a 22mm socket 

[Aunt Maud]

Don't buy a stupid sink that enables you to brain yourself on the tap when de-foaming after an oral hygiene event.

[Mrs Pingu]

Don't buy a stupid sink that enables you to brain yourself on the tap when de-foaming after an oral hygiene event.

Ah now, heading off topic (again) we had some nice ladies visit us from the dental department who said you should spit, but not rinse, thereby reducing the likelihood of braining. 

[Kim]

Don't buy a stupid sink that enables you to brain yourself on the tap when de-foaming after an oral hygiene event.

Ah now, heading off topic (again) we had some nice ladies visit us from the dental department who said you should spit, but not rinse, thereby reducing the likelihood of braining. 

Wouldn't that leave things a bit foamy and minty-urgh?

(Do dentists actually follow all their ridiculous dental advice, or do they just get mates' rates when their teeth fall apart?)


As for choosing sinks, I'd probably start with the taps.  Because tap ergonomics is a major issue in this house.  Then it's mostly about avoiding teh stupid, vis not being able to get hands or drinking vessels under said taps, anything that likes to cultivate a little puddle of toothpastey water, or of a curvature optimised for delivery of splash to feet and/or crotch.  And avocado, natch.

[Mrs Pingu]

or of a curvature optimised for delivery of splash to feet and/or crotch.  And avocado, natch.

Ah, but how does one know what that curvature is?
Also, I find the spitting works fine if you just use the advised pea sized blob of paste.

[Kim]

or of a curvature optimised for delivery of splash to feet and/or crotch.  And avocado, natch.

Ah, but how does one know what that curvature is?

That's a very good point.  Process of elimination or careful mathematical modelling I suppose.  Bathrooms are hard!

[Polar Bear]

Many modern sinks I find are too shallow.  Ours is rectangular and quite deep in the centre though it rises up in a curved slope each side of the drain.   

I chose a wide and deep version so that I can get my hands easily under the tap without damaging digits, paws, forearms etc, and not leaving the bathroom looking like I didn't make it to the loo!