Prefabricated shower surrounds and fancy imported tiles are undoubtedly good looking but they are very expensive and often too pricey for most of us to afford. That does not mean you cannot have a great looking bathroom for just a few rands. It does not matter what the cost or quality of the materials are. Your shower wall will either look well made or very bad depending on the amount of time and effort you put into the project. One of the main points is appropriate attention to detail.

Broken Tile Mosaic

You can visit construction sites, tile shops and DIY stores and ask them for free broken tiles. Be creative and try out a few designs on a scrap piece of wood or paper. When you are happy with your design, use it as a guide to install the broken tiles on the shower walls. If your shower walls are not waterproof, you can use cement-fiber board as a subsurface. Leave at least about 1/8 inch between pieces so you could grout between them.

Pebbles

You can use a technique similar to laying tiles to create a shower wall that reflects the seaside or a river’s edge. Instead of broken tiles, build a mosaic of interesting, small, polished river pebbles. Use a sand-colored grout between each pebble to resemble the beach or a riverbank. If you want to make it more interesting, intersperse seashells or beach glass. This whole project is free to collect, except the tile glue and grout. If you cannot collect your own pebbles, purchase pebbles from a quarry or pebble tiles that already attached to a backing for easy installation.

Galvanized Sheet Metal

If you want super cheap but durable shower wall, you could use ordinary galvanized steel roofing. It is easy to install, horizontally or vertically, with ordinary screws and rubber washers to prevent leaking around fasteners. It comes in many lengths to suit different ceiling heights, and you can cut it with tin snips or drill with ordinary metal bits or hole saw for installing fixtures. Coat it with a clear sealer to keep it bright and shiny, or allow it to oxidize naturally for a mellow rust effect. If it rusts too much, replacement is cheap and easy as well.

Stained Glass

Like broken tiles, broken glass is a resource often overlooked or disposed of. Set clear or colored glass pieces with white tile adhesive that dries to allow the colors to show at the best they can. These techniques works equally well with broken mirror pieces. With a little bit more effort, you can use a glass cutter to cut pieces to interesting shapes before installing them for added appeal. A dark grout between colored pieces of glass, will give it a stained glass effect.

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Small bathrooms can be a huge design and decorating challenge but if you have the right combination of fixtures, surfaces, colors, decor and lighting, you can create the illusion of a much larger space. In recent years, bathrooms have expanded in size but you still get the small, cramped spaces that are difficult to handle.

Color and light

One of the first additions of small bathroom decor is color and light. In general, any space will always seem larger if it is lighter and brighter. Be sure to take full advantage of any natural light available in the bathroom. Make sure any curtains or shades are translucent and keep your windowsills empty so that there are no obstructions to sunlight. When you are choosing paint color or a color scheme for the entire bathroom, focus on lighter, livelier colors.

Style

Your choice of an overall stylistic approach for your bathroom can also serve to expand or contract the space. Even though any style can work in a small space if it is minimal enough, traditional, rustic or country styles tend to have more adornment and decor than contemporary or modern styles, which are usually more sleek and streamlined. A great example of a space-saving fixture that works well in a more updated design is a pedestal sink. This sink can work great with a simple, straightforward style.

Lighting

Lighting can go a long way in creating the illusion of more space in a small bathroom. Task and decorative lighting can be played to open up the bathroom, with the ink and shower illuminated with task lighting. You can then illuminate the space above and below cabinets with decorative lighting to create height and depth in the space.

Space

Another way to add height and depth is with your choices for surface patterns. For walls, you may need to consider beadboard or wallpaper with vertical stripes to add a sense of height to the entire space. Hardwood floors or tile should run the length of the space to make it seem longer. Tilework on the walls should be perpendicular to flooring, in order to create further depth in the space. For wall tilework, consider adding unbroken, continual horizontal line designs. These will create the illusion of s space that keeps going everywhere you look

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Different types of bathroom tiles:

Vinyl bathroom Tiles

Vinyl tiles are probably the most popular bathroom flooring material out there. It has a low cost, high degree of durability and it is very practical. These tiles are well-suited for every bathroom in the house. It beats other popular choices for safety, comfort and durability. Over the years, vinyl tiles have come a long way i aesthetic appeal and ease of installation. The material is self-adhering and it can be cut by a utility knife. These bathrooms tiles are very easy to get and most suppliers will have them.

Ceramic and porcelain bathroom tiles

These tiles might be very beautiful, whether you love stone, wood, patterns or shocking colours. Ceramics score high with regard to maintenance but they are not as comfortable to the bare foot as vinyl. Installing underfloor heating might help to change that, but hard is hard whether or not it is nice and warm. These tiles are also more difficult to install than vinyl but it is a job you can tackle yourself, if you don’t mind struggling a bit. When they are protected with a high-grade glaze, they will resist wear and scratches. Porcelain tiles are harder than clay-based tiles and they may have through-body color, which helps when they chip.

Plastic laminate bathroom tiles

Plastic laminate tiles are also a good choice, especially when you are renovating your bathroom. It is quite similar to the laminate material that covered kitchen countertops, but they do not significantly raise the height of the existing floor. This makes it easier to plan transitions from room to room. While these bathroom tiles are durable and easy to clean, they cannot handle a lot of moisture. Standing water can gets into the fiberboard core and causes the material to expand and buckle. When you are using laminated plastic, you need to caulk gaps along the walls, around the and surrounding the fixtures so that water cannot get it. Another problem is that laminates do not come in the same variety of styles you will find with ceramics and vinyl.

Stone bathroom tiles

Stone tiles were once used in the foyer of various buildings. In the past decade, they have become popular in other rooms as well. These are made from limestone, marble, granite and slate. They can be purchased in a variety of colours that range from cream, to blue, red, green and gold. There are also a variety of textures such as cleft, tumbled, sandblasted, etched and flamed. Stone tiles do require more maintenance than ceramic tiles. It is recommended to regularly cleaned and seal them. As for the price, they vary and they are also more expensive than similar-looking ceramic or porcelain bathroom tiles.

Wood bathroom tiles

Wood is only for those who don’t care. Once water gets through the finish, it will stain forever. When the bathroom tiles are installed, the wood parquet tiles must be carefully sealed around the room perimeter and at all other joints. Two coats of polyurethane must then be applied as protection.

Linoleum bathroom tiles

Linoleum is made out of linseed oil, cork powder, wood flour, ground limestone and pigments. It is best used in contemporary or retro styles and it is well-suited to the bathroom. It is touted as naturally inhibiting the growth of microorganisms and being able to repel dust and dirt, while retaining its colour. Click-in-place plank designs makes these bathroom tiles very easy to install and it also looks great. Linoleum is a bit expensive though.

Cork bathroom tiles

Cork is a warm touch and very easy on the bare foot. These tiles also come tinted in a variety of colors. The installation process is fairly easy. If they are unfurnished, you need to protect them with two coats of polyurethane. Normally, cork tiles are installed with a troweled-on adhesive, but they are also available in click-in-place floating floor tiles.

Glass bathroom tiles

Glass floor tiles are about as different as you can get with your choice. These tiles are durable if they are installed properly.Textured glass tiles can resist slips. Small glass bathroom tiles with lots of grout joints are also slip-resistants. The aesthetic appeal can be good for two reasons. Covering the floor in a thin layer of class, creates the illusion of depth. If the glass is tinted, you get a beautiful stained-glass effect. Prices and stock will vary according to supplier.

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The following bathroom safety tips for kids may help you but you might already have an idea of how to protect them. Just like the elderly, they are vulnerable to injuries and it will affect them later on in life.

The simplest way to avoid injuries in the bathroom is to make it inaccessible unless your child is accompanied by an adult. You may install a latch on the door at adult height so that your child can’t get into the bathroom when you aren’t around. Make sure you have a lock on the door that can be unlocked from the outside just in case your child gets locked in from the inside.

The following bathroom safety tips for kids will help you to prevent any injuries while your child is using the bathroom.

Bathroom safety tips for kids:

Bath safety

Children can drown in only a few inches of water, so you should never leave your child unattended, even if it’s just a few seconds. If you really have to answer the door or the phone, wrap your child in a towel and take him or her along with you. Bath seats and rings are basically only bathing aids and they aren’t meant to be used unattended either. Please note that you should also drain the bathtub when you are done.

Water safety

Scalding is a real threat when you bath your child. The hottest temperature coming from your tap, should be no more than 48.9 degrees Celsius. In some cases, you can adjust your hot water heater. Another great thing to get is a mixer tap. This helps you to correct the temperature while you are filling the bathtub. When your child is old enough to use the taps, teach him or her that its better to turn on the cold water first.

Slipping

Who knows of someone who never slipped in the bathroom? Your child might be small but hey, injuries can become fatal. Install non-slip strips or mats on the bottom of the bathtub. Put a cushioned or soft cover over the taps so that your child doesn’t get injured when accidentally bumping into the taps. Always close your toilet lid and try to get a toilet lid lock. A curious toddler who tries to play with the water can lose his or her balance and fall in. You could also close the bathroom door at all times but make sure it is ventilated.

Medicine

Make sure you keep your medicine in containers with safety caps. These caps are merely child-resistant and not childproof. It is always best to store your medicine and cosmetics in a space too high for your child to reach. Do not keep your frequently used items in the same cabinet. Rather have a second cabinet that’s also hard to reach with a safety latch or lock. This prevents your child from accessing the items even when they do reach it.

Electrical appliances

This might not be the case with most households but there are some who use electrical appliances in the bathroom. If you use any appliances such as hair dryers or razors, make sure you unplug them and store them in a cabinet with a safety lock. The safest option is to use them in a room where there is no water. An electrician can install special bathroom wall sockets that can lessen the likelihood of electrical injury when an appliance falls into the sink or bathwater. The problem is that these specialised plugs do not always work an fatal electrocution might take place.

Please consider the above bathroom safety tips for kids so that your child is safe and out of any danger. As you may already know, children are very curious and they tend to let their curiosity get the better of them.

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