Graph Paper

If you are remodeling your bathroom then you need some graph paper square

Before starting work on your bathroom-remodeling project you will need to draw a plan showing where everything is going to go. If you draw your plan to scale and you've taken care over getting your measurements right then you will be able to see from it whether or not your new bathroom design is going to work or not. Believe me if your bathroom design isn't going to work then it is much better to find out before you start ripping out the existing bathroom than afterwards when you have bought the new stuff and you find that it doesn't fit in the room.

Drawing a scale diagram of your bathroom isn't difficult; you might remember doing something similar at school. The trick to making life easy for yourself is to draw your plan on graph paper square or squared paper. This is nothing more than a sheet of paper with horizontal and vertical lines drawn at regular intervals but it makes things so much easier.

Yes there is software you could use to design your bathroom

Why does everyone want software to do everything for them today? People expect that all they have to do is buy a remodeling or design program for their PC and it will do the job for them. Well this just isn't the case. Is there software available? Yes there is and some very good programs there are too. Will it make my life easier when I remodel my bathroom at home? Unlikely.

Now if you are a property developer or a professional designer of kitchens and bathrooms then remodeling software is an essential part of your life because it enables you to reuse your work over and over again. However if you are just redesigning your bathroom at home then I would advise against it. Here is a list of arguments against using software:

• Bathroom remodeling software is expensive (More than a sheet of paper)
• You will need to learn how to use the software, which takes time.
• Producing a design could take longer than using graph paper square
• It isn't easy to change the design while you are in the showroom
• The software may not do everything you expect it to do.

The scale drawing method is very simple

If you are worried about the scary words "scale drawing" then don't be. All it means is that you are going to make a smaller than life drawing of your bathroom while keeping all the distances in proportion. For instance if your bathroom is 8 foot by 10 foot and you have some squared paper with 16 squares by 25 squares then you can simply use the scale 1 foot = 2 squares. Your scale drawing would then use 16 squares across the top by 20 squares down and leave 5 unused squares at the bottom.

How did I arrive at that scale? I divided the number of squares across the paper by the length of the shortest side of the bathroom. Then I divided the number of squares down the page by the length of the longest side of the bathroom. This gave me 2 squares to the foot (16/8) across and 2.5 (25/10) squares to the foot down. Now both scales need to be the same for a true scale drawing so I chose the lower of the 2 scales, which was 2 squares to the foot. This ensured that my drawing would actually fit on the paper.

Cut out all the bathroom fixtures and shuffle them about

I think that the fun part of using squared paper to design a bathroom is drawing the new fixtures to scale on graph paper and cutting them out so that they can be pushed into position on top of another sheet of graph paper with a drawing of the room on it. You can spend many happy hours experimenting with different arrangements like this.

Spend time getting your bathroom design right

Make sure you spend plenty of time on the design phase of your project because whatever you come up with will be what you have live with for some time to come so it pays to get it right from the beginning.

Don't forget the bathroom accessories

When you are having fun rearranging the fixtures using your graph paper square design paper, bear in mind what accessories you will want to put in the bathroom. While accessories aren't fixed they still require room so if you are planning to put a large potted plant in the bathroom make sure that you leave enough space for it.

Draw plans of the floor and walls

You will need plans of the floor space looking down. You will also need plans of the walls, especially if you are planning vanity units, mirrors or cupboards.

Discuss the bathroom remodel plan with your contractors

Before you finalise your design make sure that you have discussed it with your contractors to avoid any disappointments later. They will point out any problems with the arrangement and any difficulties that you might face with regulatory requirements that you must adhere to.

Free tutorial and free graph paper square

For free graph paper and a tutorial on how to use graph paper square to design your bathroom visit Bathroom Remodeling Ideas - Free Graph Paper Square

Steve has more ideas on bathroom remodeling on his web site How to get ideas for bathroom remodeling projects at http://www.bathroomsremodeling.this-info.com