I see this is a very old thread , with lots of comments . I've just skim read them , but I haven't seen anyone suggest anything like my 'top-of-my-head' idea -- I love the wood , and the white contrast , but pretty boring . Whats your favourite colour , or what ties in with the other rooms ? It might be blue or red or yellow or orange or green , as examples . So paint the skirting board and around the door a pastel shade of your choice , and add a small 30cm x 30cm abstract painting featuring that colour as the primary dominant one , above ( or possibly below , or maybe even get 2 matching/complementary ones ) the control panel . One lighting crowd suggested glass shades -- I'd actually go for someothing large but wooden , in much the same shade as your floors and steps , with LED bulbs -- you can get some stunning ones around 80-100 cm in diameter ( sort of a star ball shape ) for $300-400 . Total budget then $500 plus a painter and maybe electrician , unless you DIY .

I am struggling to find any pictures of where someone has the shower fittings higher than their shower screen to see how odd it actually would look like. One of my 101 learnings about getting the wrong tradesperson to "project manage" my bathroom renovation (until he went MIA), was not voicing louder to the plumber's assistant who actually did the shower connections, that what the "project manager" had suggested for heights of shower connections was way too high. I had actually double-checked it on the previous weekend with a friend and we both thought that it needed to be lowered by 100-150 mm, but when I said this to the "project manager" he ignored me as did the plumber assistant who made the connections....I know how a handheld shower only (which is all I wanted) fitting that is at 2070mm in one bathroom and 2020mm in the other bathroom. As there is no shower rail (because I wanted things to look simple), I get my daily stretches just to reach the handheld shower.....I am happy with the progress of my bathroom, except for all of the stuffups caused by this particular "tradesperson/project manager". We live and learn....I can't do anything about what has happened, but can only minimise the impact where possible and learn from all the things that went wrong, if there is ever a next time. I should make a list of the learnings once bathroom is finished.

always hard to change your late parents' home and the current colour scheme sound more 50s than 20's but 1920 colours included a soft warm grey so why not try that below the picture rail and lighter version of the same above the picture rail and grey should look good with the gold carpet and fresh white ceilings and trim and be acceptable to most prospective buyers...paint specialty stores and paint websites usually have a visuallzer that can use your home photo to test the look of different colours

Ok my question then is which side....when you look in the room your eye is probly more drawn to the left side as thats where the vanity is....but perhaps the towel rail would be better on the right side away from the bath spout? Here are some more pics.