A first-time buyer has revealed how she transformed a drab extra bedroom into a spacious bathroom decked out with Instagram-worthy touches.
Vlogger Madeleine Abbott and boyfriend Alex, both 27, bought a £230,000 four-bedroom cottage in a west Cornwall village in December last year with plans to make it their own.
‘It was a fixer-upper and was exactly the sort of thing we were looking for in our budget,’ Madeleine said. ‘I loved the idea of renovating a period property back to its former glory.’
After trawling Pinterest for inspiration, Madeleine and Alex set about turning one of the small bedrooms into a large bathroom to replace a small en-suite they wanted to remove from their master.
The couple spent £6,388 on the project, which covered the cost of everything from re-plumbing (£2,750) to trendy tiles (£314) and a shelf made from reclaimed wood (£15.99).
Before: Vlogger Madeleine Abbott and boyfriend Alex, both 27, bought a £230,000 four-bedroom cottage in a west Cornwall village in December last year with plans to make it their own. One of their first projects was transforming this bedroom into a spacious bathroom
After: After trawling Pinterest for inspiration, Madeleine and Alex set about turning the small bedroom into this bathroom worthy of Instagram – complete with a roll top bath and shower
After: The thrifty couple worked hard to shop on a budget. Among Madeleine’s favourite finds was this old school desk that she picked up for £52 and re-purposed as a unit for the sink
Speaking to FEMAIL, Madeleine, known as Madeleine Olivia on Instagram, explained how she was able to create a calm, yet trendy space without spending a fortune by shopping second-hand and searching for bargains on online marketplaces.
Among Madeleine’s favourite finds was an old school desk that she picked up for £52 and re-purposed as a unit for the sink.
She said: ‘We made so many changes to the design of the room until we found the perfect fit and from there I sourced as many pieces and fittings secondhand.
‘I want all of our renovations to be as sustainable as possible, so finding bathroom fixtures and fittings secondhand was a great budget and eco-friendly start.
‘I looked on places like Gumtree, eBay and my favourite, Facebook Marketplace for items every day.
‘It was fun and also rewarding to find most of the parts needed for a fraction of the price and to put them to good use rather than ending up down the dump.
Waste of space: The couple thought a bigger bathroom would be a better use of space than this small bedroom, pictured. They hired professional tradesmen but decorated themselves
On trend: The YouTube star, who boasts more than 435,000 subscribers, was bursting with ideas on how to give the bathroom their desired ‘cottage-y yet modern aesthetic’, pictured
‘We then removed the old en-suite and got started on plumbing works and building the new bathroom in the spare bedroom.’
The bulk of the £6,388 they spent went on paying professional tradesmen to carry out the work.
However the costs were inevitably higher than the average bathroom renovation as they had to plumb the room from scratch.
‘We were working with no space under our floorboards as our house was built in the 1640s,’ Madeleine said. ‘The plumbing therefore had to go on the walls which our tongue and groove panelling hides beautifully.
‘We did however do the painting, hung our mirror and shelf and fitted our light plus all the finishing decorating touches such as the hooks on the back of the door.’
The YouTube star, who boasts more than 435,000 subscribers on her channel, was bursting with ideas on how to give the bathroom their desired ‘cottage-y yet modern aesthetic’.
Traditional touches: A roll top bath, tongue and groove paneling and classic taps give the room a sense of history. However she contrasted these points with modern flourishes
Cool girl style: This industrial-style reclaimed shelf is one of Madeleine’s favourite features
Attention to detail: These Herringbone tiles bring a sense of modern design into the space
Clashing textures: A woven bath mat works well with the geometric floor tiles, pictured
She continued: ‘We went for a classic roll top bath, tongue and groove panelling and traditional taps, but kept it modern with herringbone tiles, a large frameless shower, industrial-style reclaimed shelf and a toilet and towel holder made from old pipes.
‘One of my favourite parts of the bathroom is our sink which is an old school desk with a counter top sink and a large kitchen tap. It’s a really cool feature and the parts cost so little (£52) and our plumber just put it all together.
‘I think that my focus was to keep all the main parts of the bathroom traditional and simple, with the finishing touches a little more modern.
‘Minimal, unique and traditional was the effect we were going for and I think we achieved it! I feel so lucky walking into our bathroom now as it just feels like a dream.’