We swapped our bath for a double vanity uni
Sarah and Jon Waterworth created a luxurious scheme thanks to clever cost-cutting cheats along the way
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WHO LIVES HERE?
Sarah Waterworth, 36, a supply chain
specialist, lives in a three-bedroom 1960s
semi in Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire, with
husband Jon, 35,a cost and estimating
coach, and their children Charley, nine,
and Maisie, six. They’ve lived there since
November 2014.
WHAT DO YOU LIKE MOST
ABOUT THE ROOM?
I love the copper radiator and vanity unit.
I get so many messages on Instagram
asking where they’re from.
WHAT WAS WRONG
WITH THE OLD ROOM?
It was beige with a small shower cubicle,
a single basin and no storage or towel rail.
The majority of the space was taken up by
a bath that we hardly ever used.
WOULD YOU DO
ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY?
‘I probably wouldn’t copper plate the
chrome fittings as the taps have tarnished,
but I’m pretending that’s how they’re
meant to look.’Before
H
aving returned from a three-year stint
in Australia, Sarah and Jon Waterworth
were excited to buy a house five
minutes away from Sarah’s mum. However, the
bathroom needed a revamp. ‘The space was
bland and tired with no storage, plus mould was
appearing around the windows and ceiling,’
says Sarah. ‘My biggest bugbear was the single
basin my husband and I would compete over.’
Keen to inject more personality, Sarah took
to Pinterest. ‘I loved the idea of a navy and
copper scheme, although the copper fittings I
loved were £3,000, way over our budget,’ she
explains. As the couple rarely used the bath,
they decided to replace it with a bespoke oak
double basin unit made to match the dark-blue
paint on the opposite wall. ‘I couldn’t find
anything the right size and most vanity units
cost over £1,000,’ she says. ‘This worked out
cheaper and has loads of storage as well as
lighting underneath the worktop.’ The made-
to-order design also complemented the new
copper heated towel rail perfectly.
Enlarging the shower area also made a big
difference. ‘We fitted a screen rather than a
door to increase the sense of space,’ says Sarah.
‘The cubicle also has a handy recessed shelf and
LED lighting.’
The biggest challenge was the hunt for
copper fittings. ‘There was little choice within
my budget and I wanted contemporary taps
rather than old-fashioned or industrial styles,’
says Sarah. ‘Bathstore had a selection of
rose-gold taps but not a shower, so in the end
I bought chrome fittings and found a company
that was able to copper plate them.’FRAME GAINS
Sarah bought the pictures online as
jpeg files and a friend who runs a
stationery business printed them out
for her. Copper frames and a matching
Feature light tie into the schemeKaren WilsonPhotosKatie Lee52 June 2019
The taps, shower head, control knobs, door
handle and basin plugs were all transformed in
this way although because the shower control
panel was plastic and the screen frame was
coated in a rust protector they had to be left in
their original finishes. ‘The quote was £600 but
I ended up paying about £360 as a few items
weren’t finished as well as I expected so
I sent them back to be done again,’ says
Sarah. ‘I think I probably put them off doing
a job like this again!’
Sarah loves the finished bathroom, even
though some of her ideas fell by the wayside.
‘I was going to continue the floor tiles into
the shower enclosure but mum pointed out
they’d be a nightmare to clean, so we opted
for practical shower panels instead,’ she says.
‘Another idea was navy grout, but I felt I might
get sick of it. The tiler wasn’t keen either and
said he’d end up looking like a Smurf! Instead,
I opted for grey grout to complement the
marble-effect shower panels.’
Looking back, Sarah’s proud she’s created
a unique space on a tight budget. ‘My mum
says it’s just like me to choose something I
can’t get easily,’ she laughs. ‘But I like to be
different and chrome wouldn’t have looked
as good as the copper does.’DOUBLE UP
Investing in fixed and handheld shower
options offers more flexibility in a
family bathroomBATHROOM PROBLEM ROOM