Are you tired of having a bathroom that hardly gives you
room for you to turn around? It's a problem shared by most city dwellers. Size
and light can be a real problem when it comes to decorating a small bathroom,
not to mention the number of fixtures you want to include! If you get it right,
though, you're rewarded with a transformed space you'll want to spend more time
in.
As local plumbers and bathroom fitters we're adept at applying our creativity to compact bathroom
spaces offering only limited possibilities. If you're looking for a manageable
home improvement project that will add some zing to your living space, take a
look at our 10 small bathroom ideas, all designed to create bathrooms that are
stylish, practical, and beautifully proportioned.
1. Open Up Your Space With a Glass Shower Door
Who ever wanted a shower curtain anyway? They may seem
insubstantial but in a small space a curtain can make your bathroom seem
cramped. By contrast, a frameless glass shower door opens up the space and
allows it to breathe. As an added advantage, glass is a reflective surface
which increases the light in a room, so it will make the most of the light you
have.
2. Get Creative With Storage
When you have a small bathroom, clutter just won't work. We
always recommend a shower niche, or niches. These are built into the shower
wall and can be duplicated for individual niche options. You get rid of bottles
cluttering up the bathroom shelves or shower base, and your bathroom
immediately looks like it has more room to breathe.
Looking for other storage ideas?
- Get storage off the floor and onto the wall.
- Choose slimline shelves and cabinets.
- Install a wall-hung sink with storage beneath.
- Extend storage upwards with a tall tallboy.
3. Hide Your Plumbing
Proud as we are of our plumbing skills, we don't think they
need to be on display in your bathroom! Hiding pipes is a simple and effective
way to increase the amount of space you feel you have in your bathroom. One way
to do this is by losing the sink pedestal and installing a floating sink
instead, with wall mounted taps. You will need a stud wall for this, and this
does lose you a little bit of space, but the overall effect is of space gained.
4. Let in the Light
It's difficult to imagine the difference light makes to a
space, until you have it, and then everything looks different. Adding a
skylight to your small bathroom can transform both the light quality you
experience, and the space that you seem to have. By drawing the eye upwards, a
new dimension is gained, and your bathroom will appear to increase in size.
5. Panelling Accentuates the Vertical
Just because it's small, there's no reason why your bathroom
shouldn't be elegant, airy, and stylish. Panelling is a great way to achieve
this as it draws the eyes upwards creating the illusion of height and space.
Even panelling that extends only halfway up the wall will achieve this illusion
for you. And if you don't like the idea of panelling, you could select a
wallpaper with vertical stripes.
6. Think Wet Room, Rather Than Bathroom
The bath is likely to be the largest fixture in your
bathroom, and it will take up most of the limited floorspace. The idea of hot,
scented baths is lovely, but are you willing to sacrifice half your available
bathroom space to it?
Hot showers can be good, too. Luxury showers: spa showers
that offer a massage and save on your water usage whilst doing so. A wet room design, rather than a bathroom, makes the most of a small room because
the visuals are uninterrupted by the bath. A seamless floor looks stylish and
enhances the sense of space. Add in a glass show screen and what was a pokey
bathroom becomes a luxury wet room.
7. Add Mirrors
If you're happy with more than minimal mirrors in your
bathroom, think about mirroring an entire wall. The reflection itself adds
enough space distortion to forget the actual size of the room you're in, and a
mirror opposite a window will also double the amount of natural light
available. If a wall of mirrors is too much, you might try dispersing mirrors
as panels across one wall.
8. Select a Small Toilet
When you're planning a bathroom, the recommended guidelines for bathroom layouts suggest that
there needs to be a minimum of 760mm clearance at the front and the sides of
your toilet. If you're wondering why this is necessary, just remember what it
feels like to go to a toilet on a plane!
There's now a range of small toilets for installation in
small bathrooms. You may want to hide the cistern behind your bathroom wall,
which will gain you some space. Or you could look at combination toilet and
sink vanity units that also include storage space.
9. Small Tiles Suggest Big Wall Spaces
Many people like the idea of tiles in their bathroom, and
immediately assume that they should be large. We've seen some stunning examples
of small tiled bathrooms, using tiny plain tiles on every wall. The effect is
clean, elegant, and roomy. The regular repetition of small tiles suggests to
the eye a far bigger wall than the on that is actually there.
10. Choose Curves
Angles steal space; they nudge you as you try to move around
and create obstacles that are unnecessary in a bathroom. Curved edges are more
sympathetic in a small space; they don't intrude. Quite apart from gaining a
vital few millimetres here and there, curves are gentle on the eye and offer a
soothing environment to spend time in.
Conclusion
Creating space in a small bathroom doesn't need you to spend
a fortune or start knocking down walls. Instead, space emerges out of attentive
and creative design that combines the use of space-saving fixtures, reflective
surfaces, clever storage and skilled plumbing.
Short Bio
Amanda Price - Digital Content Executive and Researcher
for Imagefix | Amanda joined the Imagefix team in 2019, she brought
to the business an expertise in social media, SEO, copywriting, and blogging.
