- I’m an interior designer in New York City and I just finished renovating a bathroom last spring for $13,000.
- The bathroom is great, but after living there for months, there are four things I regret.
- Built-in shower niches, glass shower panels and shallow tubs are beautiful but not functional.
As a New York City-based interior designer, I’ve remodeled countless bathrooms for my clients, but the lessons I learned while renovating my own were unprecedented.
Redesigning a bathroom has taught me that even with expertise, aesthetics can sometimes take precedence over practical considerations.
Last spring, I spent months planning and $13,000 on a bathroom renovation, and although the bathroom is great, I have four huge regrets.
Here’s what I would do differently next time, and what you should know before spending a five-figure amount on your next bathroom remodel.
Built-in shower niches look great but are not practical
I was excited to incorporate a built-in shower niche in my bathroom – it looks incredibly sleek and adds a modern feel to the shower area.
However, when I actually used this feature, it didn’t quite live up to my expectations.
Although this niche looks beautiful and minimalist, it turned out to be not spacious enough to hold all of our toiletries and shower accessories.
Pinterest-worthy bathrooms and hotels fill these niches with cute, refillable shampoo bottles to keep them looking great. However, I quickly realized that my shower routine needed more not-so-cute products. But I didn’t want my niches to look like shelves at TJ Maxx. In retrospect, I should have considered a larger niche or multiple niches to better suit my needs.
Another issue with shower stalls is maintenance: they need to be wiped down after every shower to prevent mold from growing. This extra step adds to your cleaning routine and makes it more of a pain than you might initially expect.
Not adding storage above the toilet was a missed opportunity
When designing the bathroom, we wanted to keep the wall above the toilet clear to maintain a clean, open look – a decision made primarily for aesthetics, not practicality.
I chose a two-drawer vanity from IKEA to meet all my storage needs, but it’s not enough: The limited storage space forces me to keep some items out in the open, which contradicts my goal of a clean, minimalist bathroom.
Installing shelves or cabinets above your toilet can give you the extra storage space you need without compromising the overall design.
Single-pane shower panels are beautiful but impractical
A single glass shower panel was another choice that suited my design sensibilities – it gave the bathroom a sleek and open feel and looked great – but it’s not the most practical feature for everyday use.
Single glass panels are particularly difficult to clean, as they need to be wiped down regularly to prevent water spots and soap scum.
But the biggest inconvenience is that cleaning it means it gets wet again after a shower. A full enclosure, or even a double panel, might have been a more practical choice, balancing form and function.
A deeper bathtub would have been a better investment.
A real estate agent once advised me that having a bathtub in the bathroom would increase the value of my home more than a freestanding shower.
This advice, combined with my love of the occasional bubble bath, led me to incorporate a bathtub into my renovation—but I regret choosing a shallow tub.
While this tub is great for a once-a-year bubble bath, it’s not deep enough to provide the luxurious bathing experience I envisioned.
For people who primarily use the shower, a shallow tub will go unused and feel inadequate when used. A deeper tub would have been a better investment, providing a more satisfying bathing experience and potentially increasing the bathroom’s appeal to future buyers.
Overall, when designing a space, don’t just consider aesthetics;
If you’re planning a bathroom renovation, follow the advice of interior design experts: prioritize not just appearance, but how the space will function on a daily basis.
This will help you avoid some of the pitfalls I encountered and create a beautiful and practical bathroom.
