My friend the folk singer only really found musical success in his 40s. I heard him interviewed on the radio once, and he described himself as ‘the longest drum-roll in history.’ So it is with my plan to make-over my bathroom. You’d be within your rights, dear readers, to ask when I’m going to quit going on about it and just do it up already. It’s true I’ve mentioned it plenty on the blog already, but as a new year looms I may finally have the cash to put my bathroom plan into action. Below is my lovely Art Deco mirror (that’s staying) with the heinous reality of my bad bathroom just visible in the reflection.

So, I’ve been having a think about what pieces of pottery I need to replace, and which can stay – I’m working on quite a tight budget. The loo is fine, and the bath is enamelled steel so hard to argue with. However I hate the big, bulky basin, and I’m pretty sure that by replacing it, plus the tiles and the floor, I can give the room a whole new look. The only thing to decide now then is, what sort of basin to replace it with? My natural inclination is towards the somewhat shabby, and I loved this sort of idea (minus the big bride’s dress, obviously!)

I’ve ruled it out however, because a pedestal is a pain to clean around, frankly. I’ve written enough ‘Easy-clean bathrooms’ features over the years to know that an obsticle-free floor is preferable for the time-poor mopper. Better then to have something that is either wall mounted or a basin that sits on a countertop.

I think both of the above set-ups look pretty smart, and thanks to the largesse of Jill, I have a stash of both these types of tile languishing beneath a cabinet in my living room since…erm… long time. Rectangular basins mounted on a countertop like this look really no-nonsense and sculptural in a good way, I think. The only thing is that as I don’t need storage under the basin – I have an adorable pink chest of drawers for towels and bits that fits perfectly into an alcove opposite – it would take up floor space and make the room feel smaller. More sensible would be to go for a similar-shaped basin that mounts onto the wall.

Love this, especially the brass taps and the shelf formed by the top of the ceramic. Then there is this…

A bit dinky, but you get the idea. I love how simple it is, and this is probably the closest to what I’m going to end up with overall. Again, after years of working – with Jill – at a kitchen and bathroom magazine, I know that the sensible thing to do when you’re planning a bathroom on a budget, is to save on the ceramics and spend on the taps. The idea is to look online, somewhere like here, that has lots of shapes, sizes and options of basin, then splash some cash on taps that will last and last. Maybe in copper… What do you think? I’d love to know which of these basin shapes have worked well for you, and which didn’t.

This post was written by My Friend’s House in collaboration with ClickBasin.co.uk