So you’ve decided that it’s time to update your bathroom. Whether you’re planning to sell your home or you’ve simply decided your family needs a more updated space, there are a few important decisions you should make before you start.

First of all, consider what needs to go (no pun intended). Are you remodeling because all of the fixtures- tub, shower, toilet and sink- are outdated? Or is there a specific area of the bathroom that doesn’t work for you? Maybe the floor is outdated or peeling, or the mirrors are in inconvenient places, or you’d like to knock out a closet or install some shelving. Before you start, pin down the exact things about your bathroom that need work. Don’t immediately assume you need to overhaul the entire room. You may be able to save yourself big bucks by starting with the problem areas. If your bathroom seems too small, you might not need to tear out a wall. Maybe you just need a pedestal sink instead of a cabinet one.

If you’re more than ready to just tear the whole thing up and start from scratch, you’ll have to make some decisions about what’s going to replace the current fixtures. Take some measurements of your tub, sink and toilet, the replacements you’re considering, and the size of the room. Keep in mind that just because you want a claw foot bathtub doesn’t mean you should have one- your bathroom may be too small for anything but a tub that fits closely into the wall. Draw some diagrams, and move things around until they seem to fit. But keep in mind that the layout of a bathroom is fairly limited. The water pipes only come out of the walls in certain places, so unless you’re planning on tearing up the walls and the plumbing, your toilet and shower will probably stay where they are, even if you replace them with new ones.

Making decisions about what new items to buy should be the easy part. Look into purchasing a low-flow toilet. If you haven’t had a new toilet in awhile, you will be amazed at the savings on your water bill once a new, water-saving model is installed. This is also a huge plus to potential buyers, who will love the idea of saving on utilities each month.

I had to play a joke on the maid at a hotel where I was staying. You know that little paper wrapper they place over the toilet seat, that thin paper band that is supposed to convince you that the facility is clean. You normally take the paper band off and throw it away when you go to use the john. Instead, I saved mine and each morning before leaving the room slipped it back on the toilet seat, giving the impression I never used it.

After day five of this I could only imagine the maid’s reaction.

Staring, she said, “What are you, some kind of a lizard?”

To me, bathrooms are like Greek temples, made of stone and cool marble, reassuring, serene, little worlds of their own, a place of refuge, shut away from the world and its problems.

Such places thus earn the more dignified name of “rest room.”

For example, if you hate your dead-end job, and you share a communal bathroom down the hall with the employees of other companies in the building, chances are you’ll spend more time here than you should, away from a threatening, dishonest boss, ringing phones and mountains of paperwork.

I admit I’m selfish. When I use the communal john, I want it all to myself—alone.

I also don’t want my imitation Greek temple sullied. Therefore, I never perform major bodily functions here (the only time I ever did I was sick).

There’s this guy. Every morning at 8:45 a.m. he’s seated on the throne. Now, I fully know this is not a common subject for a column, and I don’t want you to think I’m strange. But I’m truly curious about this guy, perplexed, baffled, whatever.

Since it’s only 8:45 in the morning, he can’t have been at work very long, not much more than an hour. Why can’t he hold it longer? Why can’t he do his disgusting business at home before he comes to work?

If you’re lucky enough to have a "guest bathroom", one that isn’t used by the family and one where you can always keep clean hand towels hanging for the guests, good for you. For most of us however, we have one or two bathrooms, and they both get a lot of use from the family members on a daily basis. Let’s see how you can organize your bathroom so that it’s guest ready too.

The one thing that most of us have too much of is lots of bottles of "stuff" sitting around the sink and countertop. Go through these and discard what you don’t use on a daily basis, and what only has a drip left in it. Go buy two decorative baskets and have a "his" and "hers". One for his stuff, and one for her stuff. You could keep your toothpaste, hairspray, brush and comb, moisturizer, etc., in a basket that can be simply picked up and moved when guests come, and then put back when you’re ready to use them again.

If you like to have magazines in the bathroom don’t let them just pile up in a corner next to the toilet, get a nice magazine rack for them.

Next take a look at the inside of the shower. How moldy is that curtain? They cost around $4.00 - buy a new one. Look at the bottles in the shower, they tend to get left in the shower even when they’re almost empty. Throw them out and try to streamline the number of bottles in the shower. If you don’t have built in shelves around your shower get an organizer that hangs over your showerhead, or one on an extension pole you can put in the corner of the shower.

A cheap way to make your bathroom like new is with accessories. Buy a nice shower curtain with a matching rug. You can also get matching towels. If you have limited towel space you can buy a towel rack that hangs on the wall, they come in many different designs. With a nice wall towel rack you can make a display of beautifully colored towels - that you can also use too! Purchase a set of matching bathroom accessories, soap dish, toothbrush holder, cup, liquid soap dispenser.

When older homes are purchased, it is widely expected by homeowners that certain remodeling projects will be necessary to make their house a home. One of the first areas that are typically updated is the master bathroom and the guest bathroom that is typically located in the interior hallway.

Some of these bathroom remodel projects might only entail repainting the walls, and changing the toilet that is severely out-of-date or broken. Other bathroom remodeling projects are better left in the capable hands of a bathroom remodeling contactor because the changes that are needed go past the capabilities of the current homeowner.

The homeowner knows that bathroom remodeling can be expensive and prepares themselves for the worst case scenario. These homeowners are thrilled to learn about online bathroom remodeling sites that offer exquisite fixtures and beautiful furnishings in all of the colors that they like.

Many homeowners are surprised to find bathroom furnishings in an online web store environment. The selection of furnishings, that they find in online bathroom furnishings and fixtures web stores feature name brands that are offered right down the street, but the prices at their hometown stores are quite a bit higher than they will be paying for at the online remodeling site.

Homeowners begin to experiment with all of the furnishing styles they find online. They find that a bit of traditional will work quite nicely with a sparing amount of contemporary and that unique mixture of furnishing styles is just the right touch that defines their individual lifestyle.

Many women prefer to adorn their personal bath areas with furnishings that are hard carved, and hand painted, and husbands will quickly agree to a touch of that being added to the unusual mix. With antiqued accent fixtures adorning the double sinks design they selected, they have truly achieved the look they wanted in record time.

The color tones in the wood finish can also be intermingled to finish the unique furnishings, and homeowners can dabble with their choices online for hours if need be and nobody will mind at all. There are many sink colors that can be chosen and homeowners want to make sure they have selected just the right hue.

If space will allow it, some homeowners have dreams about adding a whirlpool spa to their master bath and quickly find out that many sizes are available that would fit nicely, not only in their budget, but in any room in the house that they are installed in. These elegant spas can be incorporated into any bathroom designs, and homeowners can choose to enclose them for privacy, replace an existing tub or shower stall or leave them at a unique floor level for a Grecian spa effect.

There’s nothing worse than a stinky, smelly bathroom. It’s not only bad on your eyes and nose, but a dirty bathroom is a real health risk too. Lots of germs and mold can build up, exposing everyone who enters to an array of bugs and viruses.

The good news is that dirty, smelly bathrooms can be turned into squeaky clean, even pleasant places to conduct your personal business. It helps to take on one section of the bathroom at a time.

You can break it down into: sink, bathroom mirror, shower, toilet, floor, mats and rugs.

Sink

If your bathroom sink has a counter, the first thing you want to do is clear off all the clutter on top of the counter. Items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, facial creams, lotions, shavers, grooming items, and such can be neatly organized into storage baskets or bins. Fit as much of these items beneath the sink or on storage shelves, etc.

Use a gentle cleanser to clean the sink basin and the counter. Be sure to thoroughly clean the area around the faucet, since that can get grimy. Dry with paper towels or a soft cloth.

Bathroom Mirror

This is probably the easiest thing in the bathroom to clean. You want to spray on some mirror cleanser and wipe clean with a paper towel or soft cloth. Make sure you clean the whole mirror and not just a portion of it. A clean mirror is less likely to steam up completely.

Shower

The shower is probably the one area that people hate cleaning the most, especially if it is full of dirt and grime. However, this is a necessary chore and if it is kept clean on a regular basis, it’s not such a big deal.

Dirty tiles can be cleaned with a solution of one part white vinegar and four parts water. You can also use a spray cleanser that prevents the build up of mold.

Grout can be cleaned with a solution of one part bleach to six parts water. Use an old toothbrush to do the scrubbing. A grout cleaner is also just as good.

A bathroom whether it is an independent unit or attached to a bedroom will always have tiles running around all wall surfaces. I some cases the tiles are fixed up to 4 feet height and then the wall are painted with a waterproof painting to prevent the seepage of water into the brick walls.

If you bathroom is small, you can use this to your advantage. Normally the small or big size of any space is perceived because of the border walls of any room. Using unique flooring and wall decor ideas you can easily remove the perception of borders and the room looks bigger.

You can do this by creating a flooring pattern in the bathroom using tiles and then continue this pattern on the walls as wall decor theme. You can do this up to 4 feet height as well. This will break out the dimensions of the bathroom and it will appear bigger.

Thus bathroom wall decor plays a major role in how the bathroom look when finished this because unlike every other room in your home, a bathroom has a limited number of furniture and decorating accessories available.

However if you follow a design theme while creating the plans and other drawings, it becomes very cost effective. First of all in most cases such as apartment bathrooms the height of the bathroom is smaller than the rest of the room. This is done because the dimensions of the bathroom are smaller too.

In such cases all can be treated with murals of ceramic times. While choosing the tiles it is necessary to understand who is going to use the bathroom. A bathroom wall decor theme will differ from a teenager’s bathroom that a kid’s bathroom.

Everything from color schemes to which pattern you choose on the tile such as baby animals, flowers, etc will have a great impact on bathroom interiors. For example a mural on the wall showing baby animals taking a bath is a great choice for the kid’s bathroom wall decor. However for a master bathroom or teenagers bathroom use of mirrors on the walls will bring more attraction and the teenager will love it. So bathroom wall decor is all about fulfilling specific needs for the specific age group.

Bathroom vanity lights are often overlooked in a bathroom. Artificial light from vanity bathroom lights and general lighting is important during hours when natural light is not available. Without good lighting, the decor and the personality of your bathroom can not be developed properly. And since the day usually begins and ends with a trip to the bathroom, time spent there should be comforting, relaxing and easy to see when grooming.

Bathroom vanity lights typically include one light or perhaps two or more above the mirror. Or, there may be lights or sconces on each side of the mirror or medicine cabinet and one ceiling light or a row of recessed ceiling lights over the vanity, depending on the size of your vanity and mirror. Make sure your bathroom mirror is evenly illuminated and free of shadows since this is where applying makeup, shaving and other grooming activities will take place. If you have two bathroom vanities, each one should have the same bathroom vanity lights setup.

You should have both ambient lighting and task lighting in the bathroom. Here are lighting types for providing artificial bathroom light:

• Ambient Lighting - chandeliers, surface-mounted, bathroom vanity lights, wall sconces and recessed fixtures are types of general lighting that illuminate the overall bathroom area. This type of illumination allows you to move around and see safely in the room. These types of bathroom light fixtures should be controlled by dimmers where you can change the intensity of the light for a relaxing feel when you are soaking in the tub, for example. General ambient lighting gives your bathroom the most illumination towards the floor, but it will produce more glare than other types of bathroom light fixtures.

• Task Lighting - is a direct beam of light that illuminates a particular area with very work-specific tasks, not intended to light the entire room. Task lighting can be a beam of light directed towards the reading area while in the tub, while shaving, reading, exercising on the treadmill, applying makeup or putting in your contact lenses. It can be turned on only when you need it. Use wall sconces on both sides of the mirror or medicine cabinet as bathroom vanity lights so that you benefit from lighting from both sides.

• Accent Lighting - these types of bathroom light fixtures are intended to create a certain visual drama and atmosphere in the bathroom, and they provide focus to selected details of the room for a decorative touch. Consider using track lighting to spotlight decorative objects or to provide a relaxing environment that you will enjoy when soaking in the tub.

Bathroom tile ideas for bathroom floor tile can help you know what options to consider for your bathroom. Bathroom tile comes in a variety of shapes, sizes, patterns and textures and they are the basis for any bathroom design. Bathroom tile ideas can help you have the very best bathroom possible.

Ceramic bathroom floor tile is often used because of its durability, resistance to dampness, its safety to walk on when wet and its ease of cleaning. If you select ceramic tiles for your bathroom, consider using a tile that has a slip-resistant surface for bathroom safety, which is one of the best bathroom tile ideas.

If you buy and install unglazed tiles, they will need to be washed frequently because they absorb stains quite easily. Bathroom floor tile shapes can be squares, rectangles, hexagons and octagons while accent tiles can be narrow and small diamond-shaped pieces.

Here are bathroom tile ideas for bathroom floor tile:

1 - If you use solid color ceramic bathroom floor tile in your bathroom, you can add tile borders of a different color to the tile floor, or you can create a border by alternating different colors. This kind of visual treatment can create a more interesting bathroom floor.

2 - When using the same color ceramic tile for the floors and walls, choose a different tile size for the walls or lay the wall tiles diagonally to create a more interesting visual effect.

3 - Another of the bathroom tile ideas is to choose a grout color that contrasts with the ceramic tile color. For example, if you are using white tiles, you could use blue, red or yellow grout for contrast. Be sure and apply sealers to grout lines in areas of heavy wear since sealers will protect and preserve grout colors.

4 - If your favorite color for a bathroom is pink, for example, add a few pink decorative tiles for the walls or use shapes, textures and borders to give it some visual interest. Select some rows of the walls where you can also use some of the pink tiles placed diagonally.

5 - To give your bathroom a contemporary style and look, consider using bright and bold colors with shapes or graphics against plain backgrounds. Contemporary style accessories and fixtures will further provide a modern-looking bathroom appearance.

6 - If you are trying to have a romantic or Victorian look in your bathroom, use floral tiles in soft colors like pink, light green or light blue plus handpainted ceramic sinks and perhaps a wooden floor. For a Mediterranean bathroom look, mix terra-cotta tiles with Mexican or other hand-painted tiles for the floors. For the countertop, perhaps mix the hand-painted tiles with another plain color tile.

7 - Bathroom tile ideas and tile color are important since color can greatly affect your mood, making you feel calm or energizing you. Warm colors like peach and yellow are fun, they make the bathroom feel cozier and they go well with a more country looking bathroom decor. If you use neutral colors like beiges and whites, they will make the room look larger, they will reflect light and they are always in style.

Colors like blue, green and violet are viewed as serene or cool colors. Brighter colors like black or red add drama to the decor, absorb light and will make the room appear smaller. In rooms with plenty of windows and natural lighting, consider using darker tiles to offset the ambient lighting. You can also work in colors you want through the use of accent tiles and accessories.

Good bathroom tile design should create a floor surface that is attractive, water resistant and safe to walk on. Bathroom tile designs using ceramic tile, rubber flooring or vinyl and linoleum floors are all examples of bathroom tile design material choices that should be available nearly anywhere.

These types of tiles are easy to clean, water resistant and safe to walk on. If you are going to use natural stone or terra-cotta ceramic tiles on your floors to create a more sophisticated effect, make sure you buy the kind with a non-slip finish.

As you consider which bathroom tile designs to select, each type of tile will have unique properties that may or may not provide characteristics that are good for your bathroom. Here are different material types for bathroom tile design along with advantages or disadvantages of each:

1. Laminate and Vinyl Bathroom Tile Design - these types of tile in bathroom tile designs can be found in a variety of colors, patterns and textures. Some tiles even imitate wood, stone and ceramic. It is not very expensive, is water resistant, easy to install and clean and it is durable.

2. Ceramic Bathroom Tile Design - ceramic tile can range from fairly cheap to expensive and it is the classic choice. Tile is made of clay, shale or porcelain and is formed and fired at very high temperatures until it hardens. The higher the temperature and the more times the tile is fired, the harder and less porous the tile. If you are using a white or cream ceramic tile for your bathroom, using a different color grout like "blue" will give your bathroom a dramatic look. Grout is the material used to fill the spaces between the tiles. Make sure you apply sealers to grout lines in areas of heavy wear like countertops. Sealers will also preserve grout colors.

3. Stone Bathroom Tile Designs (marble, granite, brick, slate, onyx, travertine and limestone) - this tile can be beautiful, very strong, durable in high-traffic areas, it will last a long time, is low maintainance and easy to clean. However, it is expensive, it’s a cold material, can be slippery and absorbs stains easily.

4. Linoleum Bathroom Tile Design - this tile is made of renewable and natural materials like linseed oil, ground cork, limestone, jute and wood flour. This type of bathroom floor is making a comeback with new marbled and graphic designs, and it is more durable and easier to clean than vinyl tile.

When it comes to remodeling the bathroom, one of the first items of interest usually concerns upgrading the shower to match a growing trend or add a different look to this commonly visited room in the house. As you approach the planning phase of remodeling the shower portion of your bathroom, the two most important factors to pay attention to include how much you can afford to spend on the project, as well as the space you have available for your intentions.

Since there are numerous bathroom shower designs and ideas to consider, it is suggested that you browse a couple of home improvement magazines. This will help to set your creative flair in motion, as you never know what will cause inspiration regarding this project. Another important part of planning bathroom-shower remodeling is to record accurate measurements, as this makes the difference in appropriately displaying your vision. It is also suggested to plan the placement of your new bathroom shower where plumbing already exists, as this can become a costly readjustment.

The features you are interested in for your new bathroom shower play an important role in making a final decision. It is recommended to create a list of characteristics and functions that you most desire. For example, do you want more than one jet or is there a need for a massaging jet showerhead? What sort of bathroom shower flooring and wall accompaniments will match your new shower? Do you want a shower that is also connected to a bathtub?

Bathroom Shower Remodeling Ideas

Depending on your budget, the new bathroom shower that replaces your old selection could deliver high-quality luxury that is similar to spa treatments. Offering a tower corner enclosure with eight jets, the Kohler BodySpa delivers a hydro-massage system that permits personalized settings. The angled jets cover all of the desired parts of the body, which provide a rejuvenating shower and massage at the same time.