It can either look really dramatic or too dark, depending on the size of the room as well as your other components. I've attached a couple of images of our work using dark tiles, the smaller bathroom we have surrounded the bath with dark tiles but then balance it with an extra large mirror to bounce the light around the room. The larger bathroom we have taken the floor colour way onto the wall but used a different texture on the walls for drama. Hopefully this gives you more of an idea but you shouldn't to nervous of the room being dark, it's where you can create a contrast as well as textures. Look forward to seeing what you go with in the end.

I've just had a similar dilemma trying to decide on how to liven up the boring white bathroom we ended up with thanks to a well known tile supplier mucking up big time. I've hopefully given it some bling by using this ornate frame on some art work. If you don't want a plain edge mirror, you could do something like that?? My frame arrives tomorrow (yay). If you'd like a pic of what it looks like hung on a white wall, feel free to sing out. We ummed and arrred about incorporating a mirrored shaving cabinet into our reno. We did, and it's way more practical than before. Everything is within easy reach. All is hidden and off the benchtop, which makes it neater and so much easier to clean. Most bathroom essentials (like soap, spray cans, toothpaste, razors, lotions etc) fit easily on the 15cm shelves. In fact, the cupboard under the vanity is now virtually empty and there's no kneeling on the floor, digging in the back of it to find stuff! The loo paper fits in a vanity drawer, so it's also out of the way. Bonuses all round. I agree with suggestions to relocate the towel holder (if you can, of course).

Hello everyone - Despite Coronavirus fears, I plugged away at the bathroom (the thought of several people in lock down with just ONE toilet was surprisingly motivating). And I just want to thank everyone for contributing to my tiny, but now very pretty, bathroom. I am a terrible photographer, but I truly hope the final result sort of appear! It is truly lovelier than it appears. We left the window in the original location. Because the bathroom intersects with another roof line, I could only move it across if I accepted a smaller opening. Instead, the frosted glass has been replaced with clear glazing. So now the room looks larger and more open. With the outlook from the window, somehow it made sense to use a softer tone than I first planned on the floor. It's now a patchwork tile. DM Stan was right - when I pushed the builders one more time, I could not raise the roof height...but I COULD follow the external roof slope better and rake it down to the lowest point. The high point is now 2.50 m high, which looks amazingly better! The door has stayed in its original position (shown) . Thanks to the raked ceiling I had enough room "above" to put a slider for a barn door on the inside - but when we marked it out, I realised I "lost" the logical space for the light switch, fan switch and some towel racks. After some deep angst (cavity slider?) I splurged on a heated floor AND heated towel rails, with the "heating"connecting wires and rods hidden in the wall cavity. My new luxury is that I can reach out of my walk-in shower and grab a warm towel, without soaking the floor. The vanity and the toilet are now side by side. Even though I can technically still see the toilet from the door, it's no longer the main focus. And the room feels much more spacious. Thank you again, everyone. If it was not for your advice, I would have ended up with the same awkward layout and oppressive ceiling. The first shot is the reminder - it was truly awful! It truly did look like this! The new walk in shower. Reach out and grab a dry, warm towel! With the Houzz - game changers shown: vanity and toilet rotated, and the sloping ceiling. Thank you a hundred times over!

Thank you for your rough guestimate, Louise. I will try to get to the cottage on Wednesday to measure and will post them then. Your questions answered: we are renovating to live in it for two years whilst we build our house. Our two sons will visit but probably at different times. I will place a daybed in the lounge in the event that we are all there at the same time. Once our home is built, we will Airbnb this cottage. We are in our 50’s and our intention is to move back into this cottage when the house gets too much for us. So it’s a long term investment with the view of having made the choice of where we would ultimately want to be later on in life - as much as one can make these decisions with all the unknowns. It is very close to a beautiful town - two minutes walking distance to all the amenities. We cannot do extensions as we have an easement and the land is small. As much as we do not want to be ridiculous in terms of costs, we also need to think long term and are therefore prepared to make the changes when our builder strips the cottage. The location will probably support the investment long term. Also to note, my thoughts: We need to add a freestanding gas fireplace into the living room. My thoughts were to place it on the wall that is shared with the kitchen. I intended to remove the wall between the family and dining. This will also allow the northern sun to stream into the living area in winter. The family room would become a dining room/eat-in-kitchen. The dining and living will become the whole living room. The entrance consumes valuable space and I like siriuskey’s idea of adding a powder room there - perhaps with the addition of an extra shower and basin where the linen is and skylights above both rooms for ventilation and light. Moving the front door would be problematic as it would throw off the symmetry and involve changes to the eves.