Meet Rowan: The Winner of Our £12,000 Bathroom Makeover!

Back in January, we kicked off the new year with one of our biggest giveaways to date: a life-changing £12,000 bathroom makeover. Thank you to the thousands of you who entered, dreaming of transforming your tired, dated spaces into a personal sanctuary.

When the time came to draw our lucky winner, we were thrilled to pull the name of Rowan Hanson! Rowan and his partner have been slowly renovating their home over the past year, but their cold, dated bathroom was at the very bottom of their to-do list.

Now, complete with a stunning custom archway, luxurious brushed gold fixtures, and a gorgeous wet room shower, their space has been completely transformed into the ultimate "granny-chic spa room."

We recently caught up with Rowan to find out what it was like to win, how he found the design process with our Swindon team, and how the new space has changed their daily routine. Here is what he had to say!

The Shock of a Lifetime

How did you react when you first found out you had won the £12,000 bathroom makeover back in January, and who was the very first person you told?

"I was in the kitchen cooking dinner, and my partner was sitting in the living room working. I looked at my phone, walked into the living room holding it, and just started going, 'What? What?! What?!' They actually thought something really bad had happened!

Easy Bathrooms had mentioned my name but didn't tag my exact handle, so we thought, SURELY there must be another Rowan Hanson out there? That has to be a mistake! We were both in complete shock. Once it sank in, we started screaming and jumping around the living room. We immediately told my dad (aka DIY Dad), who is a total DIY whizz and lives four hours away up in Yorkshire. As you can imagine, he was just as excited as we were! Then we told my partner’s best friend and our parents.

We honestly still didn't fully believe it until Lee, the Head of Marketing, rang us to officially congratulate us and get a meeting with the design team booked in! Because we had entered before Christmas, we hadn't thought about it for a little while, so it was a total surprise."

Waving Goodbye to the "Before"

What was your old bathroom like, and what were the main issues that inspired you to enter the competition to change it?

"Our old bathroom was very dated. The mirror was glued to the wall and was positioned so low down that we couldn't even see ourselves properly (we're 5'9" and 6ft tall!).

The tiles were grey, which we weren't keen on. We are trying to make our home look like a country cottage with lots of warmth, and our old bathroom just felt very cold. We hated the exposed pipework, too, and the bathroom light above the mirror had this little tug switch that would constantly get stuck!

We know bathrooms are pretty spenny to do, and having just renovated our kitchen last year with SO much still to do on the rest of the house, the bathroom was actually last on our list. Realistically, we probably wouldn't have gotten around to it for another few years because it was technically functional.

But my partner's best friend sent them the Instagram post and told them to enter. They immediately sent it to me, telling me to enter as well! Never in our wildest dreams did we think we'd actually win. Now that it's done, I'd absolutely say to anyone thinking of renovating to do the bathroom early on, as it has made such an incredible difference to how we feel at home!"

Bringing the Vision to Life

With such a fantastic budget, how did you go about choosing your new design and products, and how did our showroom team help bring that vision to life?

"It was a brilliant budget! Especially because we had quite a small space to work with, it meant we could go for the things we really wanted. We ended up going slightly over the £12k budget in the end because we decided we really wanted a wet room shower instead of a standard tray, but it was totally worth it!

We completely redesigned and maximised the space, adding an archway for the shower, along with a beautiful double brushed gold radiator and a waterfall shower. We went to our consultation with our Pinterest board at the ready, and the team—specifically Susie from the Swindon store - absolutely brought it to life. It was exactly how we envisioned it. She said it was the first archway she'd ever created for the 3D mockups, and she did such a fantastic job!

David from the installations team then suggested we add coloured tiles to the inside of the archway to really make it a feature. That brilliant suggestion then influenced our choice of paint colour for the panelling and the wallpaper. I'm SO glad David made that suggestion, as the archway really stands out now - it's the first thing people comment on when they see it!"

A Spa-Like Sanctuary

Now that the installation is complete, what is your favourite feature or product in your brand-new space?

"Oh, it's so hard to choose! Our favourite feature has to be the shower archway and the brushed gold hardware. It pairs beautifully with the rich burgundy paint colour we chose. The whole space feels exactly like the granny-chic spa room of our dreams!"

How has having this renovated bathroom changed your day-to-day routine at home?

"It's made us SO excited to get the rest of the house done! We've been living here for nearly three years, but we're only one year into the renovations, so we haven't actually touched the upstairs yet.

My partner absolutely LOVES doing their skincare routine in the bathroom in the evenings now. We added a couple of wall lights on either side of the mirror, which makes the room feel so cosy at night. Before this, washing hair or getting ready for bed felt like a mundane task, but now we actively look forward to it. It finally feels like a little luxurious self-care moment."

Has Rowan’s stunning bathroom makeover inspired you to tackle your own renovation? Whether you are looking for a complete redesign or just want to upgrade your fixtures, book a free 3D design appointment at your local Easy Bathrooms showroom today to bring your Pinterest boards to life!