En-suite bathroom walls and shower purchases

Concrete rendering is completed in the en-suite and we have some plumbing components ticked off the shopping list

It's really nice to have all the finished surfaces complete on the walls and ceiling in a whole room - apart from the final decoration of course - as you can feel exactly how big (or small) it's going to be.

Bathroom wall rendering

The concrete render in the en-suite bathroom has now been done and it's exciting to feel the final shape and size of the room. We are surprised to say it feels quite generous in size and there should be plenty of elbow room to towel-down after a shower. Nothing worse than knocking your elbows on the walls, doors and furniture all time in a tiny bathroom!

Again, we're really pleased with the quality of finish - even though we know it's going to be covered with bathroom tiles everywhere. It seems solid and should hopefully hold the weight of all the tiling.

The plasterboard boxing-in around the waste water pipe, ventilation valve and incoming water supply piping is tidy - although it's a shame this couldn't have been hidden in an internal wall or something. This isn't even something I considered when looking over the house plans originally. It shouldn't look too unsightly though once all the tiling has been done. Actually, it will create a nice little shelf next to the loo for something. Handy!

Plumbing purchases

Bathroom fittings isn't something we'd really thought about until now either. So much energy is consumed with the overall design and build of the main house, that most of the small details tend to get left until they're actually needed.

As the plumbers will be needing showers and taps to fit quite soon, we thought we should get these items purchased, ready to go.

We didn't want to spend a fortune - just something good quality and practical, whilst looking smart is fine. We certainly don't want to be like those people on Grand Designs who spend £800 on a tap, and then worry about overspend on the whole project. Keep it real!

It did take a long time and quite a few visit to Wickes, B&Q and Homebase and other bathroom showrooms to find units we were happy with, but in the end we settled for these (see photo). They have a nice finish, seem quite solid to use (no flimsy plastic components) and look fairly comptemporary. Oh, and they're affordable.