Now, more than ever, we need to watch the pennies and save money.

Bank holidays are traditionally a time for DIY and that’s why Ideal Standard, a leading provider of innovative and design-driven bathroom solutions, is shareing some expert advice to help you save both money and time, doing up your bathroom this bank holiday.

This is the last bank holiday before the summer, so it’s your last chance to make the most of the extra days to update your home.

Don’t worry if you can’t afford to totally redo your bathroom, most estate agents believe that a clean, minimal bathroom is what impresses and regardless of your budget, it’s the finishing touches that give a bathroom a completely polished look and feel.

The good news is that simply updating furnishings and giving it a splash of paint, can make a world of difference not only to guests but, in the long run, to potential house buyers too.

Here are Ideal Standard’s cheap, quick and easy fixes to instantly improve your bathroom:

• Add some accessories- 30 Mins - Mirrors - Ideal Standard’s Concept range features a number of interchangeable mirror and splash-back panels that combine to give a really smooth, uncluttered line.
• Keep the areas around your toilet tidy with some nifty, discrete accessories.
• Installing a new shower screen - 60 minutes -  Shower curtains are one of the most ageing statements in a bathroom, yet one of the simplest things to change.
  Most bath and shower screens come with a hinged screen that is ready to fix to the wall, with sealing strips at the bottom already fitted.
• Add Storage - Half a day - Store your bathroom necessities in a handy under sink compartment, or behind a mirror; or have a separate wall or freestanding unit.
  Ideal Standard’s Concept range includes slow close dampeners, so doors shut without a bang and self-close mechanisms making drawers close with just a gentle push.

Web: http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk
Tel: (01482) 346461.

Created by award-winning German design studio ARTEFAKT, the MOMENTS bathroom suite conveys Ideal Standard’s vision of the ‘Total Bathroom’ by applying consistent design to all features in the collection.

MOMENTS is a fully integrated bathroom collection, which coordinates all the elements, from ceramics and furniture, to lighting, brassware, bathroom accessories, and baths.
 
The ceramic items are available stand alone, attached to the wall or directly onto furniture and basins, toilets and bidets can be floor-standing or wall-hung, thus offering functionality and intelligent use of space.

The MOMENTS bath is available freestanding or built-in and the head or foot of the bath can be fitted with a sliding door panel, to allow an internally illuminated sidewall; Other innovations include ‘fold-away’ taps and bath showerheads, plus a detachable bath enclosure for hidden storage space.

The collection offers eight different pieces of furniture, featuring high-quality wood veneer with colours of light oak or white lacquer; also a wide range of accessories that reflect the MOMENTS design, including towel rails, soap dishes and soap dispensers.

Price for the MOMENTS suite starts at approx £1,850 including VAT.
 

Web: http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk
Tel: (0800) 590311

The new SMALL+ bathroom builds on the success of Space, the revolutionary bathroom concept introduced in 1998 by Ideal Standard.

The SMALL+, bathroom suite designed by Franco Bertoli is a fun creation, presenting young and fresh designs that fit together for the intelligent use of available space in small bathrooms.

The innovative new range features a comprehensive choice of products comprised of:

• 15 bathroom ceramics such as wash basins and WCs.
• An original collection of bathroom furniture including, matching cabinets in various dimensions and a choice of three finishes -whitened oak, dark oak and lacquered white.
• Mirrored doors, vertical drawers and adjustable wall mounts.
• A twin wall-hung toilet bowl and bidet, and a 34 x 34cm corner washbasin for hand rinsing with optional matching cabinet.

Ideal Standard offer customised advice on design and installation.

Price for Small+ (including a Secrets bath) starts at approx £1,174.

web: http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk
tel: (0800) 590 311

Delineo is the latest addition to the elegant Sottini Bathroom Suite Collection from Italian designer Franco Bertoli and Ideal Standard.

The refined rectangles and fine edges of the design reveal trends that are leaving behind the cold minimalism that has been fashionable in recent years.

The Delineo suite fulfils everything a modern bathroom should encompass and presents a unique contemporary look that will endure for many years.

Design Highlights:

• Five different basins: 60cm and 70cm semi-pedestal, 60cm vessel basin, 45cm hand rinse basin and 62cm countertop basin.
• The WC bowls feature the same rim design as the basin and have clean lined, uncluttered sides, which aid cleaning.
• A variety of close coupled, back-to-wall and wall hung WC’s, which are all fitted with soft closing hinges.
• Two bidets available in the collection, back-to-wall and wall hung, both designed to sit perfectly side by side with the WC.

The Delineo suite is priced from approx £910.

web: http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk
tel: (0800) 591586

This is an example of the Space bathroom from Ideal Standard.

As the name suggests, the Space bathroom has been designed specifically to make the most of confined spaces, and allow a bathroom to be added to areas which might previously have seemed too small to accommodate one, such as under the stairs. Space bathroom products would also allow the creation of an en-suite, with the minimum loss of bedroom space.

The Space range contains corner washbasins, short projection washbasins, toilets designed to fit into corners, toilets with angled seats, shorter but wider baths, and shower baths. There is sure to be something within the range to enable a bathroom to be fitted in to even the most awkward area.

A range of fitted cupboards and bathroom furniture is also available, to provide sufficient storage space within the smaller bathroom.

web: http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk
tel: (0800) 590 311

Ideal Standard have created The Bath, to provide the ultimate in freestanding luxury bathing.

Inspired by the 1929 design icon the “Barcelona Chair”, The Bath has been designed to be visually as simple as possible. The Bath has no tap deck, allowing a simple narrow rim around its circumference - this also has the benefit of maximising the internal bathing space.

The Bath is available in two versions, with the stainless steel Wave legs (pictured), or alternatively with Trestle legs in maple laminated aeroply.

Prices for The Bath start from £1,500.

web: http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk
tel: (0800) 590 311