Small Bathroom Ideas
If your bathroom is small, like mine, it can probably use some great small bathroom ideas – ideas to save space, make the best use of the space you do have, and make the space look larger even if it really isn’t. Read on for a collection of ideas for small bathroom designs, from the basic to the slightly over-the-top, to help you make the most of your small bathroom.
Use a shower instead of a tub. If you have a tub somewhere else in the house, maybe you don’t need one in this particular bathroom. Nowadays, most people take showers instead anyway. The space used by a standard tub, 60″ x 30″, will give you a luxurious two-person shower, or you can install a smaller shower and use the extra space for storage or a second vanity basin.
The toilet-lid sink is a sink which installs in place of the lid of your toilet tank, and drains into the tank, thus reusing your washing water as flush water and saving water. I can’t see many people installing this instead of a regular vanity or sink, but if you’re in a really small bathroom it might be just the ticket.
Good lighting can make your small bathroom seem larger, and even if it doesn’t, it will make it brighter, more cheerful to be in, and safer and easier to use. Think about windows (including interior transom windows over doors), skylights, solar tubes, fan/light combo units, heat/light combo units, vanity lights, over-shower/tub lights. Also consider bulb types: compact fluorescent (CFL) and even LED light bulbs are now as good and as available as the old incandescent bulbs, and save a lot of energy in comparison. They also run much cooler, saving on AC if you have hot summers.
Do you need only minimal storage in the bathroom? If this is a guest bath, or if you have storage right outside the bathroom door, you may be able to get away with only enough storage for a few toilet rolls and spare toiletries. That frees up space for actual spaciousness: consider the difference in look between a pedestal sink and a vanity cabinet. Alternatively, use a half-depth vanity cabinet, with the sink extending forward over the front: these take up less floor space while providing some storage space.
Frequently used or not? If not, you can use wild or fragile decor which might get damaged or tiresome in a heavily used room.
Instead of trying to make a small room look less small, why not play on the smallness and make it into a cocoon or cave.
Use opposite-wall mirrors or reflective wallpaper to make the room extend into infinity.
Borrow space. Can you set a shower or tub back into unused closet space in another room? Set storage cabinets between the studs? Expand a ceiling up into attic space? use a greenhouse window in place of a standard one? Even bump out one wall a couple of feet?
A light colored floor which is as clear as possible makes a space look larger. Use a pedestal sink or small vanity cabinet, a vanity cabinet on legs, a claw-footed tub, or wall-hung toilet to give you the maximum visible floor area.
Bath/shower combos often feel very cramped in use, but much of that perception is at torso and shoulder level rather than round your feet. A curved shower rod which projects into the room gives a surprising feeling of spaciousness to showering in the tub, and doesn’t impose much on the room visually.
A cathedral ceiling can make a space feel more airy and open but don’t go too wild: a too-high ceiling in a small room sometimes just feels like you’re in the bottom of an elevator shaft!
Glass shower stall walls and doors allow the eye to move freely through the space instead of being stopped by structures – and that means feeling as if there’s more available space.
Related Blogs
- Related Blogs on bathroom decor
- Bathroom Decor For Kids | Project Nursery
- Elegant Bathroom Decor « Home Interior Designs
- 8 Hot Trends in Bath Design 2009 | The Decorating Diva
- Bathroom tiles | My blog about houses – Best house plans
- dwellings and décor » Blog Archive » The Murphy’s New Bathroom
Bathroom Design: Pictures and Photos
One fun way to get more bathroom ideas for your new bathroom designs is to look at pictures of what other people have done with their bathrooms. Here are pictures of some nicely remodeled bathrooms, from the basic to the luxurious, and of several sizes.
Of course, you don’t have to copy all the ideas from one bathroom picture – you can mix and match compatible ideas to come up with your own unique bathroom decor style. The textured metal in the first picture, for example, gives a very sparkly look which could be paired with blue granite counters and deep colored walls instead of the natural wood and pale walls shown. The more of your own imagination you can include in your bathroom designs, the better!
Modern bathroom with lots of sparkly textured stainless steel and natural wood.
Antique-style natural wood vanity with white solid-surfacing top, integral sink and gold-finish faucet
Traditional-style bathroom with wallpaper, beige fixtures, bathtub in alcove, light wood double vanity.
Wall-to-wall double bathroom vanity with white vessel sinks, tiled walls and granite counter
A romantic bathroom scene with candles, roses and wine carefully placed on the rim of the set-in tub.
Updated bathroom using old and new materials: natural stone window seat, elaborate but subtly-colored tile mosaic walls, and white vessel sink.
Glass tiles with wide grout lines in many shades of blue
Old but still attractive bathroom in shades of green with white pedestal sink
Romantic-style bathroom vanity with ornate wood mirror, boudoir lamp, granite counter and waterfall faucet
Modern toilet alcove, completely tiled, with built in hand-held shower plus a telephone
Inset tub with columns, swagged curtains, candle-holders; all ready for your romantic evening
Modern toilet alcove with hidden tank, completely tiled walls and floor, stainless steel accessories
Fancy white and gold bathtub faucet, dark blue marble walls, white tub
Grey and green marble and tile, plus natural wood finishes; unusual toilet shape.
Bathroom Decor Ideas
As you head for the bathroom first thing in the morning, what meets your gaze? Something you enjoy looking at, which helps you to start the day cheerful and optimistic, or something depressing? Same at the end of the day: as you go through your before-bed routine, does your bathroom help you wind down for peaceful sleep or does it send you to bed in a bad frame of mind?
Given the basics of a bathroom which is structurally and plumbing-wise functional and safe, there are many bathroom decor ideas which can help your cheer up even a small space and improve the start and end of your day.
Bathroom decor idea - pale yellow and white
First and foremost, color makes the biggest difference. There are many books and magazines to tell you which colors give a certain mood, or are trendy this year, but the most important point is – which color or colors make YOU feel good?
I like yellow, and my newly-painted (but not quite completely remodeled) bathroom is a pale sandy yellow which feels fresh, warm and cheerful without being overpowering in the small space. Plenty of white in the form of fixtures and cabinets help make it feel more spacious and open, and colorful towels add pizazz and can change the mood instantly if I feel the desire.
Try taking your own favorite color and playing with variations of it, from dark to light, jewel to pastel, cooler or warmer hues, subdued or bright. Combine different shades of the same color in one room to give a monochromatic color scheme which can be lively, using definite contrasts, or soothing, with colors that blend together.
Style can also make a big difference in bathroom decor. While your basic fixtures and their locations stay the same, you can completely change the style using paint and accessories. The big advantage of doing this in the bathroom is that the room itself is usually fairly small and there are no or few furniture pieces to buy, so you can do it easily, quickly and inexpensively.
A few examples…
- Arts and Crafts bathroom decor idea – use period colors like greens and olives on the walls, oak and ceramic accessories, and perhaps an art nouveau style border at the ceiling. Arts and Crafts bathrooms often featured amazing tilework – colorful and extensive – so this would be a rather more expensive style to pull off if you wanted to go the whole hog.
- Country bathroom decor ideas – pastel or muted colors, jolly fabric on the window and anywhere else possible, wood or ceramic accessories, cute decorative items
- Tuscan bathroom – roughened plaster finish on the walls (go easy on this, it can be hard to clean!), natural stone surfaces, wood furnishings, wrought iron accessories. Colors include golden yellow, terrcotta, brick, ochre, and greens.
- Japanese bathroom: natural wood and stone finishes, shoji screens, plants, trickling waterfall, metal and wood accessories.
Your bathroom is an important room, even if it’s small. Suitable bathroom decor ideas can help make you feel better at the start and end of the day, and are worth looking for and applying to your bathroom.