Being brave enough to get creative with our interiors rather than sticking to what we know doesn't come easily for everyone, but this mum of two built a one-off bathroom using forest wood – and managed to bring the cost in at just £100.
'How' we hear you ask? With hard work, lots of vision and some shopping around. The result is rustic, colourful, and completely unique… and well worth a look if you're after some small bathroom ideas.
Forest-wood bathroom makeover
Finding inspiration for such a unique bathroom wasn't hard for DIYer Masha Lofstedt, a designer and Airbnb owner from Oregan, USA. Building houses with her partner, which are documented on Instagram at @mandmsimplelife, Masha was determined to create something spontaneous and original.
'The idea for this bathroom came purely from my mind – that’s the way I design,' she told money-saving community LatestDeals.co.uk. 'There was no planning it out beforehand. I just see how I feel that day about what I’ve created so far. If I don’t like it, I start again with something else.'
Masha started with a dark backdrop to the room, eventually choosing a rich black colour for the walls. ‘After building this house with my husband, we decided the bathroom would be made completely out of wood,' she explains. 'At the beginning, I painted the room a mustard colour, but I wasn’t a fan of the shade after the paint had dried. I then decided to go for darker bathroom ideas and chose a charcoal colour, even applying it to the ceiling.'
Next up was the black vanity unit, which Masha built herself using raw wood from the forest, having been inspired by famous Chinese YouTuber, Li Ziqi. 'She creates so many intricate designs just by using simple tools,' she says.
'I watched a video of her creating a wooden washstand – all she had was a hacksaw to chop the wood, a hammer and some nails. It was mesmerising to see the process. She turned a pile of wooden slats and small tree trunks into a beautiful rustic washstand, which fitted in perfectly with her bathroom decor. It must have taken several hours but she made the process look so easy, even doing the plumbing herself. It’s a fantastic skill to have.'
‘The raw wood really enhances the look of the space and avoids giving it a completely polished look. When I'd watched the video from Li Ziqi it looked easy and effortless to build a vanity in this way, but it wasn't the case for me. It took a lot of planning, focus and patience. Plus, I was very pregnant with my second child – maybe eight months – so moving around and building was somewhat challenging. We spent about £25 on additional wood, and picked up the mirror from IKEA for £32.'
With the vanity built, it was time to source a basin, and Masha found the perfect design. ‘The paint cost no more than £30, and I found this sink for the same price,' says. 'I got it from a rebuild-it centre, which sells secondhand donated home items after people have completed remodels. It’s like a combination of a charity shop and the leftovers you sometimes see outside IKEA in the UK – when people return items of furniture.
'As soon as I saw the sink I had to get it. I didn’t know where it would go yet but I figured I would design around it. So at this stage, I had a bathroom with rich, dark walls and a bright red sink with a wooden mirror and exposed wood around the edges. I decided a pop of colour would work best next to give the space some lighter colours and balance it out.'
The stunning wall mural came next, with Masha opting for a sweet botanical design. ‘I had many tins of sample paint left over from decorating other rooms, so I decided to paint a botanical wall of flowers in line with the rustic nature theme,' she recalls. 'I used different shades of green, yellow and orange and the end result is lovely, it really adds depth to the room.'
The finished result is something for Masha to be proud of, having put her heart and soul into the design. But did she do all the DIY herself too?
‘Fortunately, my husband did all of the plumbing – I definitely don’t understand any of that, so I was so glad he knew what he was doing,' she says. 'The only step left is to re-finish the wood with water-resistant polyurethane. I still haven’t done it and it’s tricky now to go around the sink because it’s already installed.
‘Overall though, we are really happy with how the bathroom looks. It’s a really unique space with a colour palette not many people use in their bathrooms. It’s a daring move to have dark walls but I think I’ve managed to pull it off.’
