Bathroom Renovation vs. Bathroom Refurbishment

When delving into the realm of interior makeovers, face-lifts and general home improvements, one can easily find themselves tangled in terminology. So, to renovate or to refurbish? What’s the difference? Here’s a quick breakdown of both routes, with a couple, added bonus bathroom design tips!

A ‘Mish’ to refurbish?

At first glance, this word might sound like the doorway to a never-ending, tedious travel towards your new bathroom. However, the process is rather the opposite and much closer resembles the ease of the word rolling off your tongue. In fact, a refurbish has a lot more to do with the restoration of what you already have.

Rather than hack-away at your entire space, refurbishing acts as a general face-lift for your home instead. Sound more up your alley? Well, if you’re looking at refurbishing your bathroom, you’re most likely looking at things like redecorating and “adding” rather than resurrecting completely.

Redecorating

When redecorating your bathroom, one might opt for new light fixtures, a new paint job, some fancy new copper basin taps or even adding some modern cabinet doors to replace the existing ones.

Quick design tip: Refurbishing will naturally clean-up your space, but be sure to keep to a clean bathroom design too if you’re looking for a real “wow” transformation.

Retrofitting

This term isn’t nearly as retro-old school as it might sound. In fact, retrofitting falls under refurbishing and is often necessary to bring your bathroom into the modern age. This includes adding improvements mostly based around installations. Think heating, adding improved piping fixtures and anything which essentially makes what you already have, work better.

Quick design tip: Keep your light fixtures close to your bathroom mirror, and opt for timeless pieces which will blend with the rest of your home.

Next up, renovation station!

Rather than restoration, this term deals more closely with a complete bathroom re-work and resurrection. And yes, it can be just as daunting as it sounds. Don’t worry though, with the help of a team of trusted renovation experts, the efforts of heading this route can be most rewarding.

Okay, so plainly put, to renovate is the opposite of a face-lift. Instead, it is to commit complete surgery on your bathroom space.

When looking to renovate your bathroom, one might look at stripping everything clear and starting anew on a blank canvas. This leaves multiple options for an entirely new bathtub, flooring, walls, storage-space, shower, or even storage-space IN the shower! The possibilities are endless.

Quick design tip: When you are installing a new bathroom, pay close attention to the heights of things. Make sure they are both beautiful AND practical. Also, be aware of future water-damage when choosing materials to work with.

If done well, then no matter which route you go, both are bound to give you the boost your bathroom deserves. Happy designing!

Find out more about home renovations

Home Decor Interiors has over 20 years of experience and during that time we’ve renovated hundreds of bathrooms. We pride ourselves on being a premium bathroom renovator in the Western Cape. Let us help you customise or upgrade your dream home.