Can you build a bathroom for under $5k? Interior experts give their cost-saving ideas

It’s one thing setting your bathroom budget at the ideas stage, and very much a different experience when you look at your invoices a few weeks later when costs have gone up and time pressures urge you to make quick decisions, making your costs spiral. 

When embarking on our transformation of a small spare bedroom into a new primary bathroom, I was determined that we would achieve the luxurious bathroom ideas I wanted on a budget. With the average redesign of a bathroom costing between $7,000 and $12,500 these days, I set our budget at a more budgetable yet ambitious $5,000. Below, I set out how we achieved this goal, alongside advice from bathroom designers and experts. 

1. DIY the design

Although designers from bathroom companies are an extremely useful touch-point for ideas and advice, they’re not necessarily there to help you stay on budget and you might indeed pay extra for their time. 

To design your own bathroom, you will need to be precise with your measurements of the room and be ready to adapt if things aren’t working as envisioned. Use online visualizer tools, or good old-fashioned graph paper, to set out the floorplan. Use standard sizes initially, and scale up or down as needed. 

2. Decent deals and discounts go a long way

Act as your own supplier and spend time sourcing coupons, looking for sales and bargain items. Black Friday and holiday weekends (think Presidents’ Day and Labor Day) are great times to stock up on fixtures and fittings before the prices return to normal. 

Also signing up to the newsletters of your favorite stores can alert you to the latest discounts that might not be available to the wider public. 

3. Mix budget with bouji

Navigating the yellow-tag sales to find gems that will achieve the quiet luxurious trend and elegant look we’re all after can be extremely tricky. My advice is to splash out on one or two items you absolutely love - try to make them ones that you will use or touch every day, such as the faucet or shower. Compromises in terms of a shower tray or a towel rail will usually fade away when more tactile elements take center stage. 

'Not every item in a bathroom needs to be expensive to create a luxury aesthetic,' explains Louise Ashdown, Head of Design at West One Bathrooms. 'Investing in certain pieces can completely transform the room and lift more cost-effective pieces. One such item is brassware. Investing in brassware means you can choose much cheaper sanitaryware and ceramics without compromising on the luxury feel. It is also worth noting that as one of the main products in your bathroom that has moving parts, investing in a higher quality product means it will last longer, along with looking the part.'

'It can feel overwhelming as to where to start with your bathroom design in order to create a real showstopper,' adds Barrie Cutchie, Design Director at BC Designs. 'However, we always recommend that there are three areas to invest in when it comes to your bathroom, either picking one, two or all three. These are a bath, brassware or tiles. Each one can lift a room and make other cheaper products feel much more expensive and lavish.'

4. Keep plumbing where it is

Working with an existing bathroom layout can save thousands in plumber and builders’ costs. If you’re transforming a bedroom or office into a half bath or full bath, then try to ensure it is located near existing plumbing, such as a kitchen or the old bathroom. 

Louise Ashdown advises: 'Protruding and visible pipes can really spoil the finished design of your bathroom so careful planning of pipework including the soil pipe, is essential. Depending on the layout of the property and where the existing soil pipes are, this can be an easy or challenging job. Fortunately, modern flexible pipes and macerators provide plumbers with more options so there is nearly always a solution. However, if you can get away with not moving pipework, this will save you money during the bathroom renovation process.'

5. Copy-cat big-ticket items

While you might have your heart set on this Victoria + Albert tub or this nkuku mirror (our copy-cats are from Victorian Plumbing and Ikea, respectively), there is always a knock-off waiting to be found… or made! I was determined to install a solid wood-fronted 30in vanity unit with a marble top in our bathroom - until I found out the price. Luckily my partner is more than a little handy at carpentry, so I took him my designs and ideas for the base and he got to work. I sourced a cheaper quartz off-cut from a wholesaler who edged and cut the basin holes for a fraction of the price, plus a little extra for a backsplash upstand. The end result still cost us a good amount of money, but about 70% less than the original I had seen. 

If you don’t have a handy person to make the base, there are thousands of Ikea hacks to try out as well as easy follow-along guides to upcycle old furniture that will achieve a similar result.