Hello, my loves,
This is your first glimpse of the design decisions I've made for the house.
And it arrived in a van.
We filmed episode four over the summer, two weeks into the build. Two walls are down, the PVC door has gone, and the kitchen and the old dining room are now one room.
Which brings me to this week's episode, and Doug from Sanitary Salvage turning up with a van full of colourful bathroom goodies. That's the first thing we're bringing into the house.
Blue upstairs, yellow downstairs
I really wanted blue, Sam really wanted yellow, and we were going back and forth, back and forth. So we'll take both. We're going to go blue upstairs and we're going to go yellow downstairs.
Actually, to be fair, I'm really lucky, because Sam backs my decisions. In his words: babe, I'm going to trust the vision.
Downstairs is the cloakroom, with a butter yellow sink and loo. I'm planking the whole thing, tongue and groove panelling, and it's all going a soft, really pale yellow. This is the Rice Krispie bathroom. Then I've got this amazing blue picture and a red mirror that I'm bringing in there.
Upstairs I'm going for a cornflower blue scheme, with very olive green tiles and the blue sink and loo going on top.
And the bath. I had such a vision that I wanted a bath that was all blue, so not just the outside but also the inside. It's being made for me in India, by a company that's never made one before. It was a little bit of an experiment, but I was like, we can do it.
Whether the floor will take a cast-iron bath is another question. You'll have to watch for that one.
I know this won't be to quite a few people's taste, but it's my taste. I just love anything where you can add that splash of colour, and I think the bathroom is such an opportunity to bring more colour into a space.
If you only want the bathrooms, jump straight to 7:50.
The first look at the colourful sanitaryware…eeeeeek
Why vintage
Why I love finding vintage pieces is, I think when you're doing a house renovation, you can fall into the trap of getting everything new, and then it feels a little bit flat, and it lacks a bit of soul and a bit of personality.
Some of what Doug brought is new old stock. It's been sat there for 35, 40 years and never been used.
I also wanted it to match the house. What's quite nice when you're thinking about designing a house is, when was it built? Is there a way that you can bring your own style but lean into the style of the house as well? I knew this was built in the '80s, and two of these pieces are actually '80s too, so I really wanted to find the sanitary ware to match when the house was made.
But obviously, being me, it had to be colour.
One thing a day
I think taking time to source things, I almost set myself the task. One thing a day.
That could be one light, or the shower. Otherwise there's too much choice and it all becomes a bit overwhelming.
I've literally gone on the hunt. Right, I'm going to find the perfect sink. And I almost make it my mission that day to find that one thing, and then it becomes so enjoyable.
The money you'll never see
Byron Sharp is our builder, and he's also my brother-in-law. His company, Sets, has done an incredible job, and really fast.
This is a very simple project for us. There's really not a lot that can or should go wrong. The thing that tends to go wrong in these projects is when clients start to change their mind about what they actually want once they start to see the space.
There was this big box on the landing with the water tank in it. It's not a massive landing, but when you came up the stairs you were faced with this box, and it really blocked everything off. We need to move this up into the loft.
Just a small little request.
It was going to be £8,000 just to move it into the loft, and we don't have a huge budget with this house. But do you know what? I would rather do this now. When the grandparents come round, it'll feel like we're all together.
What I always find kind of amazing about these types of projects is how much money you lose in the stuff that you don't even see. Demolition, and skips, and just setting up the project, building control, surveys on the way in, asbestos surveys. You can really quickly get to 10, 15 grand, and you don't even really feel like you've achieved an awful lot.
The budget
The budget's really difficult to stick to. We're probably going to go over it, like every other person who's ever built a house. We sort of had a contingency for that.
The things we've kept are the things we really, really wanted. There were some things we would've liked, but that's life. That's okay.
And when we asked Byron what he'd have done differently, his first answer was this:
Probably wouldn't have bought it. I'm just saying. You can cut that.
We didn't cut it. His real answer is the one worth stealing:
I probably would've moved in, and I would've lived here for a year, and I would've gone, how do we actually use the space? I honestly believe once you've lived somewhere, you have a much greater understanding of how you're really gonna use the house, and therefore, where is it worth spending money, where is it not worth spending money?
The bathroom source list
Where it's all from, as promised on YouTube.
Vintage coloured bathroom suites: Sanitary Salvage. They're on Instagram at @sanitarysalvage
The upstairs fittings are all Burlington Bathrooms in brushed nickel, via Elite Plumbing:
Basin tap: Guild basin mono
Shower glass: Corner enclosure with end panel and wall bracing bar
Shower tray: Calton rectangular shower tray
Toilet seat: Wooden soft-close oak toilet seat
Olive green tiles: Colourful mosaic zellige squares, Otto Tiles
If you're sourcing a bathroom this month
Look at salvage before you buy new. Vintage coloured suites are out there, and some have never been used.
Find out when your house was built, and see if you can lean into that decade with your own style.
Use the bathroom for colour. It's such an opportunity, and a little cloakroom is where you can really go mad.
One thing a day. It's what stops sourcing from getting overwhelming.
If you want a cast-iron bath, ask whether your floor will take it before you buy one.
Ask your builder early what the work you'll never see is going to cost.
If you can, consider living in it before you spend big.
Behind the camera
A big thank you to the talented team at Storybear Studios, who are helping us with the filming and editing for all the videos for YouTube. Ed has been the wonderful man doing the filming and editing, under the watchful guidance of the marvellous Ben Anderson. We will share more about them as we continue the journey of trying to build a YouTube Channel together!
Nothing's finished yet. But you know when you can finally do stuff to your house that you've been wanting to do?
Best wishes,
Tash x
PS. If you missed it, episode three is the kitchen, and the whole series is on the channel. And if you've got a coloured bathroom you're secretly fond of (or desperate to rip out), hit reply and tell me about it.