Back again to the bathroom project I started thinking about months ago. It’s got to be a budget project, but seriously, anything will be better than the mouldering hole I have at the moment. The basics of the room are great – it’s a good size for a London one-bed flat. It has a very large window and is very light. It has an enamelled steel bath that’s still fine and the sanitaryware can stay. But the walls and floor are a nightmare. The peach wall paint is peeling and staining, while the peach vinyl floor (thanks previous owners!) is grubby and gross, not to mention wonky enough to look like the trades vinyled over a mouse when they installed it.

Above is an image of what I’d like to create, not what is there at the moment. I have some boxes of white subway tiles which will instantly improve the walls – especially as I’m planning to black-grout them. But the floor is trickier. Because of both cost and ease I would ideally like to just replace the vinyl flooring. But I had assumed this would mean a choice of approximately 3 patterns, all of which scream ‘buy-to-let’. While the type of flooring I’ve been pinning to my mood board is chic, monochrome and geometric. Hmmm.

I was surprised then, to find not one but two vinyl flooring options that could work with the room, and even enhance it. I really like the simple honeycomb tiles, either black or white, that Jill has in her bathroom, but the thought of actually getting them installed makes me want to cry. However this vinyl, available in both colour ways, looks pretty good to me.

The other look I really really like is, I thought, even harder to achieve. It’s a bigger geometric print in black and white, and usually created with beautiful but costly small tiles tessellated to create the pattern in situ. The floor is just too wonky to think about tiles, but once again, perhaps there is a more affordable solution. Both the bottom image and the honeycomb one above are part of the Mardi Gras vinyl collection from Carpetright. Who knew?

Both are a far cry from the ‘pebbles’ pattern I had to put up with last time I bought some vinyl flooring. For more of my endless bathroom musings, check out the Pinterest board.

This post was written in collaboration with Carpetright.