This project in Newport Pagnell shows what a full bathroom remodel can achieve when every element is considered as part of a whole. The original room had the basics in place but lacked any real design intention - a standard bath with an over-bath shower, dated white ceramic tiles, and a layout that was not doing the space any favours. What replaced it is a calm, well-resolved shower room that feels significantly larger despite the footprint staying exactly the same. Here is how it came together.
Removing the Bath: Why a Shower Room Made Sense
The bath was the first thing to go. For apartments and flats in particular, this is a trade-off worth having the conversation about. If a bath is rarely used, the space it occupies can be put to far better use. Removing it here freed up enough room to fit a generous 1600 x 800mm walk-in shower with a fixed overhead head and a handset - a far more practical setup than the over-bath rail that was there before, and considerably more enjoyable to use on a Monday morning.
Why Waterproofing Comes Before Everything Else
Before a single tile went up, the walls and floor of the shower area were fully tanked using a Laticrete Hydro Ban system over cement board. This is the part of a bathroom refit that nobody ever sees once it is finished, but it is the part that determines whether the room still looks good in five years or starts causing headaches.
Tanking is a waterproof membrane system applied to the substrate before tiling, and it is a step that is sometimes cut from budget installations. We always specify it on wet area work, because it is considerably cheaper to do it right first time than to deal with damp ingress down the line.
One feature that benefits most from thorough preparation is the recessed niche built into the shower wall. Cutting a recess into a stud wall and tiling it into the scheme sounds straightforward, but if the substrate and waterproofing are not done carefully, a niche becomes one of the most reliable places for water to get in. Here, the niche was planned out and marked up on the wall at first fix stage, framed correctly, then tanked in full before tiling began - so the finished result is both functional and genuinely watertight. It sits neatly within the tile grid and provides a practical shelf for bottles and products without any surface-mounted fitting. Small detail, big difference to daily use.
ABK Poetry Stone Wall Tiles: Piase Smoke and Trani Ivory
Two colourways from ABK's Poetry Stone collection do all the heavy lifting on the walls and floor, both in a 60 x 120cm rectified format. Piase Smoke covers the shower enclosure - a deep grey with the kind of tonal variation you get from natural stone, with subtle veining and shifts across the face so no two tiles read quite identically. Trani Ivory takes the remaining walls and floor, a warm light stone-effect that keeps the space feeling open rather than closed in.
Using two tones from the same collection is one of the most reliable ways to create contrast without the room feeling busy. Sharing the same surface texture and format, the Smoke and the Ivory read as a deliberate choice rather than two tiles that happened to end up next to each other. Large format plays its part too - fewer grout lines means the eye travels further without interruption, and the room feels less chopped up as a result.
Rectified edges allowed a tight 2mm joint throughout. Charcoal grout in the shower enclosure complements the Piase Smoke; limestone grout elsewhere on the Trani Ivory. It would have worked fine to use a single grout colour throughout, but matching grout to tile is the kind of detail that quietly makes a difference. Both tile adhesives used on this project were from our Benferflex range - slow set white for the Trani Ivory areas and grey Rapido for the Piase Smoke shower walls, where a fast-set product suited the installation sequence.
Mira Flight Level Shower Tray
A Mira Flight Level Rectanglar Tray in 1600 x 800mm forms the shower floor - low profile, no upstands, letting the Trani Ivory floor tile run right to the edge without a raised rim to interrupt it. Floor and tray read as one continuous surface, which does a lot to make the room feel bigger than it is.
Made from resin stone rather than acrylic, it has a solid underfoot feel and holds up better over time. Mira's Rapid-Flo drainage handles high flow rates without backing up, which matters when both the fixed head and the handset are running at once.
JTP HIX Shower System in Brushed Black
Shower fittings are from JTP's HIX collection, in their brushed black finish. Despite the name, this reads more as a warm graphite or dark pewter in person - which is actually more versatile than a true black and works well alongside both the dark Piase Smoke tiles and the lighter Trani Ivory.
A concealed thermostatic valve controls both the fixed overhead head and the handset independently, with all pipework tucked away behind the wall. The only things visible in the shower are the valve plate and the fittings themselves, which is exactly how it should look. Thermostatic valves also maintain a consistent water temperature regardless of what else is going on in the building - a useful feature in any flat with shared plumbing.
Completing the enclosure is a 1000mm wide, 8mm toughened glass panel with a gunmetal wall profile and bracing bar. Gunmetal sits close enough to the JTP brushed black to feel intentional without being an exact match, which tends to look more considered than specifying everything in precisely the same finish.
Nebraska Oak Bathroom Furniture: Warmth in a Cool Scheme
Vanity unit and WC unit are both from Deuco in their Nebraska Oak finish - a warm, mid-toned wood-effect that brings texture and character into a scheme that could otherwise lean quite cool. Matching the two units keeps them reading as a suite rather than two unrelated pieces pushed into the same room.
At 700mm wide with double doors, the basin unit is topped with a pure white worktop. Sitting on top rather than dropping in, the semi counter-top basin gives the vanity a more furniture-like quality that a standard inset basin simply would not. Behind a matching Nebraska Oak panel, the WC unit houses the cistern out of sight, finished with a gunmetal flush button that echoes the metalwork running through the rest of the room.
Why Choose a Rimless WC?
Bathrooms to Love's Cedarwood back-to-wall rimless comfort height WC handles the sanitaryware side of things. Rimless WCs have become increasingly popular and it is easy to understand why. A traditional pan has an inner rim that is genuinely difficult to clean properly - and provides exactly the kind of hidden surface that limescale and bacteria enjoy. Remove the rim and you have an open bowl with no awkward angles. More hygienic, easier to clean day to day, and once you have lived with one it is hard to go back. The comfort height dimension - slightly taller than a standard pan - is something most people appreciate once they are used to it.
Handling the basin is the Bedgebury mono basin mixer in gunmetal from The Tunbridge Wells Brassware Co - a single-lever design that picks up the gunmetal running through the flush button, the shower glass profile, and the bathroom accessories, pulling the room's metalwork together without any of it feeling laboured.
How to Mix Bathroom Finishes Without It Looking Wrong
JTP's Cleo towel rail at 1400 x 550mm in brushed black is a flat-panel ladder design wide enough to be genuinely useful rather than purely decorative. At 1400mm it draws the eye up the wall, which is always a good move in a compact room.
Smaller accessories - toilet roll holders, robe hook and guest towel rail - come from Miller Bathrooms' Miami range in gunmetal. Running two close but distinct finishes through the room (brushed black on the larger pieces, gunmetal on the smaller details) adds a layer of visual interest that a single all-matching scheme tends to lack.
Bathroom Lighting: The Case for Recessed Spotlights
Four recessed IP65-rated dimmable spotlights keep the ceiling clean and light the tiling properly without any shadows from surface-mounted fittings. A dimmer means the room works at full brightness when it needs to and at a much calmer level in the evening. An illuminated mirror cabinet handles both storage and task lighting at the basin, framed with edge lighting that sits neatly against the wall.
⬆ BEFORE | AFTER ⬇
TABO Design and Installation Service
This project was handled from start to finish by the TABO team, covering design, supply and installation. Our design service includes a free home visit and CAD drawings, which for a project like this are genuinely useful. Working out tile layouts, cut lines, and the positioning of features like the niche and the glass panel on paper - before anything is ordered - saves a significant amount of time and material on site.
We regularly work across Newport Pagnell, Wolverton, Stony Stratford, Olney, and the wider Milton Keynes area, as well as into Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, and Northamptonshire.
If you are thinking about a similar project, the easiest place to start is a chat. Call us on 01908 311104 or come and see tile ranges and sanitaryware on display at our showroom at Waterside Park, Old Wolverton Road, Milton Keynes MK12 5NL. You can also see what our customers say about us on Trustpilot.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a shower room conversion cost in Milton Keynes?
Every project is different and costs vary considerably depending on the products specified, the condition of the existing room, and the complexity of the layout. The best way to get an accurate figure is to get in touch and arrange a home visit so we can look at the space properly.
Is it worth removing a bath to create a walk-in shower?
For many homeowners - particularly where a bath is rarely used - the gain in space and the improvement to the daily shower experience make it well worth considering. It is a decision that deserves an honest conversation, and we will always talk through the implications before recommending it.
What is the benefit of large format tiles in a small bathroom?
Fewer grout lines means the eye travels further across the surface without interruption, which makes a room feel bigger than it is. A 60 x 120cm tile on the wall of a compact shower room makes a genuine difference compared to the same space tiled in a standard format.
What is tanking, and do I need it?
Tanking is a waterproof membrane system applied to walls and floors before tiling in wet areas. It sits behind the tile and adhesive as a separate layer of protection, and it is essential in any shower or wetroom. Skipping it is a false economy - we include it as standard on all our wet area work.
Do you offer bathroom design and installation across Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire?
Yes - we regularly travel out to projects across Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, and the wider Milton Keynes area. Call us on 01908 311104 to discuss your project and we can arrange a home visit.
Can two different tile colours work in a small shower room without looking busy?
Yes, provided they share the same format and surface quality. Using two colourways from the same collection - as in this project with ABK Poetry Stone Piase Smoke and Trani Ivory - keeps the scheme coherent while letting the shower enclosure read as its own distinct area.
Why are rimless toilets becoming so popular?
Hygiene, mainly. A traditional WC has an inner rim with hidden surfaces where limescale and bacteria build up in ways that are genuinely difficult to clean. A rimless pan removes all of that - open bowl, no hidden angles, much easier to keep properly clean. Once people have lived with one, very few go back.
