Oh, I do like to be beside the seaside ~ Thrifty & eco-friendly bathroom accessories

_{Some items have been gifted}

After finishing the storage wall in our bathroom and laying a wooden floor, this week has been all about painting more coats of whitewash on the wood (it just keeps soaking in!), and having a look around for some fab accessories to compliment the new beach-hut-esque look of the bathroom.

We started the project with good intentions to reuse what we already have (because the sink and toilet are absolutely fine) and to recycle discarded materials, and we are now starting to see how it IS possible to create a thrifty bathroom makeover that doesn’t have to cost a fortune. So far we’ve spent £11 on a huge pot of white paint, have needed to buy a few wooden batons to support the cupboard structure (about £5) and some hinges for the cabinet doors (£1.99). We already had some grab adhesive in the shed, but even factoring this into the price at £4 per tube and we are still looking at under £30 to get to this stage.

I’m especially proud of the free wood that we found in a skip and even though it looked terrible with a crusty concrete tidemark on the sides, it was quite satisfying to get to work scraping off the concrete, wire brushing off the debris and sanding the wood down to end up with a useable material that would have otherwise cost us about £100 for the same stuff. Considering we were looking at cheap stick-on vinyl flooring that would have cost £70 alone, I am rather chuffed with this!

So after a very thrifty, upcycling start, I wanted to be sure that any accessories that we brought into the bathroom were equally purse-friendly with good eco-credentials. Although it’s not the most exciting of topics, I knew we needed a new toilet because our old plastic blue one had clearly seen better days. I actually intended to keep it and make do – okay it was a bit wobbly and slightly dangerous but I’d lived with it so far… That was until I spotted a rather lovely (?!) loo seat on the John Lewis website. Of course, the first thing that caught my eye was that it was in the clearance section = bargain! The second feature was the natural woodgrain which would look great with the shelf above the toilet so I clicked through to read the description. I’m pleased to tell you that this toilet seat has excellent eco credentials! Yes, it’s made from rubberwood, which is a by-product of the latex industry. So rather than any of the tree going to waste, the wood has been used to create my loo seat!

Of course, after adding this to my shopping basket, I went for a little look around the website and found a couple of other items that I liked; firstly I spotted a striped guest towel that I thought would add a nautical vibe to the room. Secondly, and more importantly, I found myself needing this bath bridge. I’ve always wanted one, ever since watching the Darling Buds of May and seeing Ma & Pop Larkin having their dinner on a tray across the bath. I also thought it would be a good idea to stop my book getting wet while reading in the bath (the rack has a book stand) and it’s somewhere for me to put my glass of wine (also has a glass-holder slot, yay!). But of course, I wouldn’t get something just because I wanted it – it needed to be an earth-friendly product and luckily this one is just that. It’s made from bamboo which is a fast-growing, rapidly replenishing material, which is both lightweight and strong, so it’s an excellent alternative to wood and will fit in perfectly with my beach design. While I was there, I picked up this striped towel in seaside shades from a great range of patterned towels at John Lewis. It’s really lifted the room and links in with the colours on the photowall.

And finally, this week I picked up a striped beach hut cabinet at the carboot sale for just £1 and although I’m not sure where in the bathroom it will end up, at the moment it’s on the window sill, holding our toothbrushes and keeping them out of the reach of our cats (who love to rub against a bristly brush!). I was adamant that I didn’t want a load of cheesy seaside nick-nacks in the bathroom but at such a low price I had to give in and I actually think it’s quite classy with the dark blue stripe.

I’m sure there will be more additions to come this week as the bathroom is still very much a work-in-progress so check back soon for more bathroom decorating ideas 🙂

Some items in this blog post have been gifted to me and the pink links indicate a gifted product, affiliate link or information source. All thoughts and opinions in this post are based on my own experience and I am not responsible for your experience 🙂