Greetings GAFFers. We’re begrudgingly coming back down to Earth after a bank holiday weekend where the sun shone and we didn’t wear our parkas (‘you’d think you were in Spain’ said every Irish person) and while the back-to-work Tuesday fear is holding us hostage as we type, there is one silver lining: we’re all kinds of inspired to make some summer updates to our GAFF, now that some semblance of summer has finally arrived.
Now we can’t promise more weather like what we’ve experienced over the last few days, but we can guarantee a summery feeling in your home. The thing is, you’re probably saving up for summer holidays and what not, so decor isn’t high on your list of priorities. We tend to make homeware investments as it’s coming into winter; it softens the blow of having to spend so much of our time indoors. But for a summery switcharoo you don’t need much; in fact you might only need one thing. Here we’re looking at the small changes you can make in your bathroom to instantly update it for the most fickle of all seasons. Try just one of these updates and you’ll notice a big difference.
For seasonal updates we advise looking to soft furnishings or accessories and no further. Across the home, think lighting, rugs, wall art, planters, bed linen and cushions. The rest – furniture – should lend themselves to all seasons (assuming we get to experience more than one).
Here, we’re honing in on bathrooms. For bedroom updates jump here.
- Have fun with your bat mats. They’re not expensive so you can have a few on rotation.
2. Now’s a good time to ditch any old hand towels for the bathroom (or kitchen). For less than a tenner you can inject colour and patterns and dramatically enhance your bathroom.
3. And while you’re at it. Invest in a new bale of towels for the shower and bath. Time for some colour. Don’t be overly concerned with matching your new towels with everything else in your bathroom. An eclectic mix can work well.
4. Toothbrush holders are something we should dump after a few months. No matter how many times you clean them, they just get grotty. That’s why we don’t spend too much on them but it’s also why we can have fun with them. For the perfect summery update, add some turquoise to your bathroom. Also, glass looks fancy and a lot more expensive than it really is.
5. If you rock a shower curtain, that’s another thing you can switch out. Again, these get a lot of wear and tear so should be bought cheap and cheerfully and replaced every few months. For summer, you can have fun with prints.
6. Laundry baskets have come a long way since they were plastic and easily confused with something you might throw up in. Now they are stylish statements of their own. If you go wicker you’re going to pay more. But if you want a quick update, choose a loose fabric option.
7. Lastly, think plants. We harp on about greenery so much because it really does make such an instant and enormous different to whatever room you include it in. For the bathroom you need to choose plants that thrive in humidity, but if scrubbing the toilet is enough hassle for one room, choose artificial options. Stick them on a high shelf and let them descend or go one step further with a hanging planter.