8 Ways To Bring A Dated Bathroom Into The 21st Century

No matter whether you’ve just moved into a new property or you’ve been in the same home for two decades, everyone deserves a welcoming and relaxing bathroom.

So, if you’re looking at your off-yellow bathtub, leaky shower head, dirty broken tiles or tatty curtains and feeling deflated, it might be time for a change.

Sure, that look might have been all the rage in the 80s, but it’s time to bring your dated bathroom into the 21st century, and we can help.

Check out our top tips, advice and inspiration in the guide below.

1. Repaint Your Room

You’d be amazed how quickly you can transform your bathroom with just a lick of paint, especially if it’s been a while since the room was last decorated.

Over the years, bathroom trends change and paint can become dull and flaky, so by simply repainting your walls (and maybe your cupboards and shelves too), you’ll see an instant change in your bathroom.

If you opt for light and neutral colours, you can make the room feel more spacious and create a spa-like atmosphere. For example, white, creams, greens, blues and light grey tones are beautiful natural colours that can help create a tranquil space.

2. Don’t Neglect Your Grout

Another quick and simple way to update an old bathroom is to clean the existing grout and seals around your tiles and appliances. If these are beyond cleaning, it might be better to re-grout these spaces instead.

Again, this can give your bathroom an instant refresh after the years of use have taken their toll. But it’s important to stay on top of this and clean between tiles and around your appliances regularly to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

You might even wish to replace your tiles altogether and in this case, the grout will be refreshed anyway, but we’ll discuss this in more detail later in this guide.

3. Update Your Bathroom Suite

Has your bathroom suite seen better days?

If it’s been decades since you last had a new sink, bath or toilet, we’ve got news for you, the style has changed a lot since then!

Whether you buy a whole new suite or just replace a few of the key items, these can quickly make your bathroom more modern. If you opt to do a bigger renovation, buying a full matching suite can make your room seamlessly sleek.

By replacing your suite, you can choose from loads of beautiful items, including minimalist bathtubs, sleek sinks and modern shower cubicles.

4. Transform Your Shower Experience 

Following on from this, there are now loads of great options for transforming your shower, whether that’s the cubicle, shower head, tiles or any other accessories.

If you’ve got an old bath, you could even get rid of this altogether and replace it with a sleek, modern walk-in shower. This can be a great way to save water and slash your bills.

What’s more, you don’t want weak or leaky shower heads that make your bathing experience miserable each day. So choose from rain, dual and panel shower heads and make the experience far more pleasant and enjoyable.

There are also loads of great new cubicles you can install, from modular shower screens to contemporary enclosures with sliding doors.

5. Create a Statement Wall

You might consider creating a statement wall somewhere in your bathroom and there are several ways you can do this. For one thing, you could paint one wall a bolder colour, or perhaps the alcoves if you don’t want to cover a bigger area.

Alternatively, you could use colourful or statement tiles or even wallpaper to accentuate one wall.

If you do choose to do this, it’s best to select light or neutral tones for the rest of the room to ensure that it doesn’t become too dark or overwhelming.

6. Change the Lighting

There are loads of unique and great lighting trends that you can incorporate into your bathroom right now and updating the lighting can help to create a warming ambience.

For minimalist bathrooms, you can’t go wrong with spotlights on a dimmer or a mirror with built-in lights.

Or, if you’d rather your lighting made a bit more of a statement, perhaps as the centrepiece of the room, choose something bolder. This could be a chandelier, antique wall light fitting or pendant light.

You could even mix it up with a combination of different light fittings to suit your mood and needs. Low lights when you want to soak in the bath and a light-up vanity unit when you need to get ready for a night out.

7. Renew Your Floor

If your tiles have cracked to the vinyl lino is peeling up, your floor could be holding your bathroom back. If that’s the case, you need to choose something more modern that’s going to fit in nicely with the rest of your aesthetics.

You could re-tile the floor and checkerboard tiles are really in right now. Alternatively, you could choose a new patterned vinyl floor, maybe even one that looks like tiles but doesn’t require as much time or money.

Or, if you’re hoping to match your neutral, spa theme, a wooden floor can be a beautifully natural way to decorate your bathroom and renew your floor.

For the ultimate experience, you could even add underfloor heating to keep your feet warm in the winter and get rid of that unsightly radiator on the wall.

8. Think About Your Accessories

Finally, if you’re trying to stick to a budget you may not be able to change the whole suite, but a touch of paint and some new accessories could be all it takes to spruce up your bathroom.

There are loads of options here, you could add some of your favourite artwork to the walls or a beautiful mirror. This will help to make the room feel bigger too.

Other options include new and interesting taps, wooden shelves, a new rug or bathmat and some cosy candles. And sticking with the neutral spa-like theme, putting plants in your bathroom can make it feel more welcoming. Plus, it’s great for purifying the air and adding a pop of colour.