The bathroom "hadn't been touched for decades"

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Bathroom renovations can cost thousands of pounds, but one woman from Essex has managed to save money by using bargains from Amazon and IKEA to transform her bathroom which "hadn't been touched for decades".

Sally Killington, 43, has completely renovated her dated bathroom. Due to the age of the bathroom and the fact a new boiler was needed, the renovation cost £10,000, but Sally says she saved up to £2,500 along the way by using supplies from Amazon and IKEA.

As reported by Latestdeals.co.uk, Sally told money-saving Facebook group DIY On A Budget UK : "I severely underestimated the amount of work needed [when I bought the house], with the bathroom being in the most desperate need of modernisation. The property once had a water tank so there were large cupboards in the bathroom that used to house it, which were now dead space.

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"The bathroom itself was old - I think the sink and toilet may have been the originals from when it was built at the end of the 60s - and barely functional. An electric shower had been installed at some point which was so far back from the end of the bath, you had to practically limbo to get the water to hit you.

“The bath was a cheap acrylic one that would drop as soon as you put the smallest amount of water in it. The taps had eroded, the pipes were ugly and exposed, the radiator had rusted and stopped working and the light switch was practically in the middle of the room – it was a bit of a disaster.

"There was also a really old boiler that had had the front panel removed so that needed replacing too. I knew that I wanted to utilise the space in the cupboards and I was sure I wanted a bigger bath, so that’s where I started.”

A friend’s Dad took a look at the bathroom to share his thoughts on the space. Sally continued: "We discussed having a large vanity unit and I liked the idea of gaining back some space whilst maintaining some storage so that’s what I went with. The boiler had to remain in the bathroom so I decided that I would get some mirrored cabinets to cover it.

"The large mirrored doors would then give the illusion of a bigger space. Once I’d decided on how I wanted it to look, finding what I had imagined was a bit of a nightmare! It took months of looking at showrooms, going through brochures, trawling websites, reading reviews and so on.

“I had that many tile samples sent, I could have probably tiled the whole bathroom with them in the end! I wanted a bit of colour in there and whilst other colours are more on-trend, I opted for the greenish-blue tiles as blue is my favourite colour so I knew I wouldn’t get bored of it after a couple of years.”

Sally ended up buying everything separately from different places. She said: “I bought the main bathroom suite from a bathroom shop called Damans of Witham. The mirrored cabinets were bespoke from a company in Portsmouth and the rest I bought from various online shops including Porcelain superstore, Plumbworld, Big Bathroom Shop and Amazon. It was a very big job, so I had to get the professionals in, but luckily my friend's Dad does bathrooms for a living so I knew I had someone I could trust.”

The bathroom transformation cost just over £10,000 in total, including the boiler and labour. Sally explained: “The labour, including plastering, pipes, skip and all building materials, came to £4,25. The electrics were £300, the boiler plus installation was £1,700, the bathroom suite was £1,550, the bespoke cupboards were £670 and the tiles were £600. Other bits such as the shower, taps, towel rail, shower screen and lights came to £1,100.

"It was a lot more than I hoped and I had to get a loan to cover it. My tips on saving would be to ask your workman to recommend suppliers – they often have relationships with suppliers that will give you good deals and discounts with a builder’s recommendation. Shop around: get the brand and model of things you see in showrooms and look to see if you can find the same products cheaper online.

"Try and look for things like taps and showers that come in ‘value packs’. You don’t have to buy everything from specialist bathroom suppliers. I researched the type of lights that are safe for bathrooms and ended up buying mine from IKEA and Amazon which worked out at a fraction of the price of specialist suppliers.”

Sally has further advice for people wanting to carry out their own transformation. She said: "Plan your budget and be realistic: if the bath you like is £300 and you find something similar for £150, chances are it will not be the same quality. My advice to anyone doing something similar is to do a lot of research before you buy things.

"Read reviews from companies you are ordering from to make sure the products are the quality you are expecting – cheapest isn’t always best! Also, order samples where you can and shop around for brands. Joining DIY and interior design Facebook groups for ideas is really helpful, too.

"Think about logistics – you will be using the room for a long time so you not only want it to look nice, but you want it to be functional. And lastly, check everything for damage as soon as it’s delivered. A lot of companies give a really short return window, so you don’t want it sitting in the box waiting for installation for a week only to find out that there is a part missing or it’s broken and you can no longer get a replacement.”

Sally believes she saved around £2,000 to £2,5000 by using high street stores and money-saving tips. She explained: “The biggest saving was probably on using the builder's recommendations for suppliers of large goods. It was a bit stressful living in such a small flat with such a big job happening, but it was worth it. The first night that I sat in that giant bath with a glass of wine and looked around at what a difference it had made, I definitely fell in love with it.”

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