Blog — renovation

Moroccan sinks: They can be a drop-in or a vessel basin

As the Moroccan sinks have a lip, they can be dropped into the countertop, or put on top as a vessel basin to show off the design painted on the outside of the basin.

When looking at taps for our renovated bathroom, I really liked the look of the chrome taps such as the Nicolazzi Provincial taps from Reece Plumbing. But I needed 2, and at $895 each, it was more than I was willing to spend.

Searching online, I found something similar at only $55 each. Bargain....made in China! So I ordered these. Although they were not Australian Standard, my handyman was willing to install them. Even when they were first installed, they felt a bit flimsy, not robust. They did the job for 5 years....

Having a separate loo is convenient, but they tend to be quite tiny rooms. So we thought, "why not bling it up a bit!"

The toilet was old-fashioned and the boring painted plasterboard walls needed warmth, so we added additional features to give the room a bit of warmth and personality.

Here's what we did:

-Replaced the loo with a clever loo from Caroma which has a sink attached to the tank, so you can wash your hands and that water is recycled into the tank and used at the next flush. 

-Created a tiled...

Back in the day, a spa was the ultimate in luxurious living.

Well, we don't do spas, and the antiquated spa was mostly used in containing baby goats when we were forced to bottle feed the babies when their mothers walked off and left them to fend for themselves ....

So, we hoiked out the spa, which gave us room to add a modern open shower with a clear glass wall and an additional loo. Replacing the black slate floor, we re-tiled over the top of the slate in modern cream-coloured tiles. Painting the old wooden cabinets brightened them up, and to...