Small Bathroom Designs – Questions to Ask and Answer
Those of us who live in the real world, instead of the world of glossy shelter magazines, often have bathrooms which are much smaller than those in the pretty pictures. Many, if not most, existing homes have bathrooms built when bathrooms were just that, not luxury spas or excercise rooms, and we have to deal with the realities of 5′ x 7′, 6′x 6′, or perhaps even smaller.
Typical small bathroom designs include a toilet, wash basin or vanity, and a bathtub which usually does double duty as a shower. Some small bathrooms are large enough to include a separate shower, or double vanity sinks. There are all kinds of tricks to making the small space work as well as possible.
Tubs and Showers
One big question to answer right away is: do you really need a bathtub? Many people nowadays take showers all the time and never lie in the tub, so if that describes you, consider the possibility or doing away with the tub altogether. Most people want to have one tub in the house somewhere, but if you have more than one bathroom you may not need a tub in every one of them. If you feel you must include a tub, does it need to be full size? Tubs come in different lengths as well as the standard 5ft, and you also have the option of using a Japanese-style sitting/soaking tub.
Whirlpool tubs can be incredible space hogs but you can also get models which fit into the same footprint as a standard tub.
A curved shower curtain rod over the bathtub gives you a much more spacious feeling in the shower but takes up no extra space when the curtain is pulled back. It does take up more visual space when the curtain drawn across, but you’re standing in the tub then so probably no-one is looking at the curtain from the outside!
Sinks and Vanities
Pedestal sinks take up less floor space than vanities and make the room seem bigger because you can see more floor, but they remove the potential storage space of the vanity cabinets. A pedestal sink with a skirt round is the worst of all worlds – the fabric skirt gets dirty and needs washing frequently, gets wet and attracts mildew, doesn’t create a dust-free, clean storage area, and takes up space.
A halfway-point between a pedestal sink and a vanity is a half-depth vanity with a sink that projects over the front of it, sometimes called a “belly sink” because of its shape. This gives you a full size sink, often with some landing space at either side, and enclosed storage space, but the cabinet takes up less floor space than a regular depth vanity.
Double vanities don’t take up a whole lot more space than a single and can really make a difference if you have a “morning rush hour” in the bathroom. Back-to back sinks may be an alternative to side by side.
Toilets
Wall hung toilets, like pedestal sinks, make more floor space visible and make the room seem bigger.
Storage
Storage high on the walls can provide space for towels etc without using space where your body needs to go. Storage outside the bathroom for major piles of spare towels can free up space.
Small bathroom designs often use the tiniest sliver of space to provide more storage. Does your tub reach all the way to both sides of the bathroom? If not, there may be space for shelves at the non-plumbing end. How about a space between the vanity and the tub – could it be used for cubbies to hold towels? It’s common to find bathroom medicine cabinets intended to fit between the wall studs, but you can expand on this idea and make full height cupboards which do the same and can hold huge amounts of toiletries, cosmetics and medicines, all of which normally come in small containers which fit nicely in the small shelves.
For some folks, book storage in the bathroom is important. Make sure it can be reached by a person sitting on the throne!
Hooks and Towel Rails
Use every possible spot to provide hanging space for towels and facecloths. While pictures often show towels neatly hung on a rail in stacks – bath sheet, hand towel, and facecloth – in practice this doesn’t last longer than about 5 minutes because people need to USE the towels, and let them dry after use.
You’ll also need hooks for clothing: nightclothes, robes, the clothes you take off before getting into the shower, and the clothes you plan to put on after you get out. If there aren’t enough places to hang clothes and towels, expect to find them on the floor instead!
Small bathroom designs are like playing the computer video game Tetris: you have these items of various shapes to fit together into a neat pattern without wasting any space.
Small Bathroom Designs
It’s lovely to look at the pretty pictures in the glossy magazines, and we can often get some great renovation ideas from them, but for most existing bathrooms in the real world that need remodeling, they are not very useful.
If your bathroom is a standard 5′ x 7′ shoebox surrounded by stairs, kitchens, and other non-grabbable areas so you can’t make it any bigger, your problems are of a different kind than those of the person designing the 10′ x 16′ master bath.
Small bathroom designs come with a limited number of possible layouts, depending on the size of the room, location of doors and windows, location of exterior walls and existing plumbing, and what you want to squeeze into the room.
Let’s look at a few small bathroom floor plans and discuss pros and cons of each.
Small Bathroom Designs example 1
In this 5′ 6′ x 7′ 6″ room, the bathtub/shower combo occupies one complete end of the room, and the toilet and vanity occupy the rest of the long wall.
Pros:
- no plumbing in exterior wall (good in cold climates)
- all plumbing in the same wall – makes vents and drains easy, supply lines short.
- tub in its own niche – easy to waterproof all 3 walls and install shower curtain rail
- space for a towel hook between the tub and the door
Cons:
- toilet in full view through door
- shower and bath faucets are harder to reach past the vanity/sink
- door may bang against tub
- window right by toilet (OK if it’s high, otherwise may need curtain or obscured glass)
- required floorspace for all 3 fixtures overlaps, hard to have multiple people using the space unless they are VERY close friends
- Little storage space: mainly wall cabinets over the toilet and sink, sink vanity cabinet. Could add a high shelf over the window.
Small bathroom designs: example 2
This room is square rather than rectangular, and a tub would make the whole room very cramped. This design uses a corner shower instead of a tub.
Pros:
- toilet protected by door, instead the vanity is the view through the door
- no plumbing in exterior wall
- corner shower is attractive and easy to install
Cons:
- door may bang against toilet, or even a person using the toilet
- required floorspace for all 3 fixtures overlaps, hard to have multiple people using the space
- Little storage space: mainly wall cabinets over the toilet and sink, sink vanity cabinet. Could add a high shelf over the window.
- nowhere convenient to hang a towel ready for when you’re done in the shower
Small bathroom designs: example 3
This alternative layout for a 7.5 x 5.5 foot room shows the toilet and sink on the wall at the far end of the room from the tub. This assumes a door which is no wider than normal, and a pedestal sink that doesn’t stick out too far.
Pros:
- required floorspace for all 3 fixtures overlaps, but the area feels a little more spacious than in the other layouts.
- tub in its own niche – easy to waterproof all 3 walls and install shower curtain rail
Cons:
- toilet in partial view through door
- door may bang against tub
- Little storage space: mainly wall cabinets over the toilet and sink. Pedestal sink doesn’t provide storage underneath. High shelf is possible on the sink/toilet wall, or the long wall from toilet to bathtub.
Some of the factors to take into account when you’re designing your small bathroom are:
- Existing plumbing locations, if any: while it’s cheaper to keep locations as they are (and perhaps means you don’t need to get a plumbing permit), if the bathroom is small anyway the cost of moving the tub or sink may not be very much. Moving the toilet is a much more expensive and complex proposition.
- External wall location: in a cold climate it’s better to keep water supply lines, at least, away from cold exterior walls.
- Door location: in a rectangular room a door is better in the middle of a long wall, giving you more options for fixture locations. Worst is right in a corner, which blocks off the wall next to it completely. In a small square room the corner location may be better.
- Type of door: while a pocket door saves space inside the room, my experience is that the water vapor from the bathroom gets into the wall pocket, condenses there, and then you get mold. In a very tight space an outward-opening door may be the only solution.
- View into the room: if you can work it so that the view through the open door is of the vanity area or a pretty shower curtain, do so. If your only option is a view of the toilet, maybe you’ll just need to get into the habit of leaving the door closed.
- Required floor space for fixtures: there are minimum standards for the amount of floor space next to each fixture to make it possible and comfortable to use. In a small bathroom design these will almost always overlap to some extent. If you know that more than one person will use the bath at a time, try to make the free floorspace long and narrow rather than square, making it easier for 2 people to be in the room at once.
- Storage space: while a pedestal sink leaves more floor in view and can make the room feel larger, a vanity cabinet gives you storage. In a small bath your best bet is usually wall storage as there’s no floor space for freestanding cabinets. Storage set into the wall studs (not just medicine cabinets but full height storage) is a good option where a door opens against a wall so you can’t project into the room much, and storage above head height, such as a wall to wall shelf for towels, can take a surprising amount of stuff.
- Fixture choices: do you have to have a tub? Replacing a tub with a shower can give you a better shower experience and more space in the room, maybe even enough for a double vanity.
As you can see, there’s a lot to think about and many options for improving the layout, comfort and function of your small bathroom.
Bathroom Flooring Materials
One of the best bathroom remodel ideas, and one which will make a surprising amount of difference in how your bathroom looks, feels and works, is new flooring.
Choosing a new bathroom floor has two main aspects: practicality and looks.
The floor will get splashed, at least, and perhaps soaked, so it needs to be able to resist water and not get slippery when it’s wet. It needs to be easy to clean, especially if it’s to be installed in a heavily-used family bathroom. It must be able to be installed on the floor substrate that you have available – for example, a ceramic tile surface needs a substrate that does not flex, otherwise it will crack.
Bathroom flooring materials fall into two main categories: hard or resilient/soft.
Hard Bathroom Flooring Materials
These include:
- marble tiles or slabs
- stone tiles or slabs (eg limestone, slate or granite)
- terra-cotta tiles
- ceramic or porcelain tiles
- wood (solid wood or engineered)
- laminates (wood, stone or ceramic-look)
It’s very important that whatever hard material you choose has a non-slip surface, for safety in the bathroom, as well as being water-resistant.
Wood and laminate materials have to be carefully sealed and engineered in order to be water resistant, and may not be suitable for bathrooms where the floor is likely to get soaked, rather than just dripped on.
Most stones must be sealed, and re-sealed at regular intervals in order to resist water and stains.
Tiles of any kind require grouting, and grout requires sealing to prevent grout stains which are especially likely on a floor. Consider using a grout color which won’t show dirt, as well as sealing and resealing whenever necessary.
Resilient/Soft Flooring Materials
These materials are either soft, like carpet, or have a little “give” to them and can feel warmer and easier on the feet than the hard materials. Some examples are:
- rubber in sheets or tiles
- vinyl in sheets or tiles, cushioned or not
- linoleum
- cork
- carpet
Carpets in bathrooms go in and out of fashion, and are currently “out” – for good reason. A bathroom carpet will always get wet eventually, and moisture+carpet=mold. Carpet around a toilet will get nasty, sooner or later, unless the bathroom sees very little use. It’s much healthier to have a hard or resilient floor with removable rugs on top that can be easily removed, washed and dried, than to permanently install carpet.
Heated Floors
What could be better for bare feet than a warm floor in the bathroom! Floor heating systems are a great addition to your bathroom and because the space is usually fairly small, are not prohibitively expensive. Homes with hydronic (hot water) heating systems can run hot water tubes under the flooring, and others can install electric resistance heating wires. There are systems which will work with wood floors as well as hard stone or tile floors.
Small Bathrooms
Flooring choices for small bathroom designs have some unique limitations.
In a small bathroom, the floor space may not lend itself to custom borders or medallion designs, simply because you won’t see enough of the floor to make the design properly visible! On the other hand, because you don’t have to buy many square feet of the material, you may be able to splurge on something more expensive than if you had a larger area to cover.
Diagonal-set tiles make the small room look larger
To expand the floor space visually, there are some tricks you can use:
- Get as much as possible up off the floor, so as much floor can be seen as possible. That suggests a wall-hung toilet, pedestal sink, wall hung cabinets or cabinets on legs, and perhaps even a clawfoot tub.
- Make design lines extend as far as possible. In most bathrooms that would be diagonal lines, so consider planks set on the diagonal of you’re doing a wood-look floor, or diagonal tiles in a tile or tile-look floor.
Bathroom Decorations
Bathroom decorations are a great way to update or revitalize a bathroom which is a bit out of date or boring, without having to completely redecorate or remodel. You might want to get new bathroom decorations as a one-time thing, or keep several sets of decorations and rotate them with the seasons or as you get tired of the current set.
So, what kind of bathroom decorations can you use to perk up the room?
Fabric items
There are the obvious fabric pieces like towels, shower curtains, window curtains and bathmat or rug, but you might also consider a curtain below a pedestal sink, lampshade covers, toilet seat and tank covers, a valance above a bath or shower alcove, waste basket cover or liner, or curtains in glass-door cabinets. Using all of these at once, especially in a small bathroom, would be overkill, so pick and choose what works best for you.
Sink, Shower and Tub Accessories
These include things like soap dispensers and soap dishes, tissue box holders, toothbrush holders, and waste baskets. You could change out all of these items at once for another matched set, or you could keep some of them in a plain solid color and just change out the others. Shower curtain rings come under this heading, too, and are an easy and cheap update.
Fixture Parts
Faucet handles can often be changed out, or can have decorative panels or parts which can be changed. Light fixtures might have standard size holders which will take different shades, or different colors of the same shape shade. Even changing bulbs can make a surprising amount of difference. Covers for shower curtain rods are an easy change which makes an older rod look much classier.
Semi-Permanent Bathroom Decorations
Some decorations are a little more work to install or remove, but are not as permanent as repainting. For example, wallpaper borders come in removable types, and can be used at the ceiling, picture rail or chair rail height, or to frame a tub alcove. Self-stick tile stickers or transfers can be added to your plain tiles for a whole new look, and removed when you tire of them. Painting tiles with ceramic paints, but not firing them in the oven, also results in a semi-permanent finish which can be scrubbed off with some effort.
Ornaments, Pictures and Knick-Knacks
Finally there is a huge range of decorative items which culd be used anywhere in the house, but which can be used in the bathroom as long as they won’t be damaged by moisture. Posters and postcards, framed or not; china or glass ornaments; wicker and rattan (which do better anyway in an atmosphere which is not too dry); even a collection of rubber duckies, all look great and make a complete change in the atmosphere and feel of a room.
Have fun with your bathroom decorations!
Bathroom Shower Designs
Many small bathroom designs only include a bathtub, rather than a tub and a separate shower. Most of these tubs normally double as showers. Even though it’s often a good thing to have one bathroom fixture that can do two jobs, you may be looking for a shower that’s larger, or more convenient, or more comfortable. If you’re planning a bathroom remodeling project, consider separating the tub and the shower, or even completely replacing the tub with a large shower. That means you’ll need a shower stall, either ready made or built-to-fit. Bathroom shower designs cover a wide range of options, from all-in-one acrylic or fiberglass panel models, through moulded pans to which you add your own wall covering, such as ceramic tile, all the way to custom built mortar pans as a base for tile or stone.
The most important factor when searching for a new shower stall is the amount of space that you have for it to fit into. If you are changing from a combo bathtub/shower to a bathtub and a standalone shower, you may not have a lot of space to work with. If that’s so, your options may be somewhat limited. On the other hand, if you are completely gutting and remodeling the whole room, you may be able to adjust the space available to fit the shower stall you’ve set your heart on.
Once you’ve made the decision that you need to buy a new shower stall, as well as deciding on the appropriate size, you’ll need to start shopping for your shower. You might expect to find all the parts you need all in the same place, but that may be more difficult than you expect. Although there are plenty of retailers, especially large home improvement centers, that sell standalone shower kits, many do not, and you may not be looking for an all-in-one kit. The required parts may include, but aren’t necessarily limited to:
- materials for building niche for shower
- shower pan or floor
- drain fittings
- shower wall materials (panels, tiles, mortar etc)
- shower door or curtain and rod
- shower controls and head
Each of these items has many choices available and you’ll need to make decisions about each one, first the type of item needed, then the specific item you want to use.
Once extremely important practical point, especially where you’re replacing an existing shower stall, is the location of the drain piping in relation to the drain hole in the new shower pan. It’s essential that these match up!
Once the buying process starts, many homeowners go searching for the nicest looking standalone shower but may be disappointed that it doesn’t fall within their budget. Perhaps you may be looking for the best, but you might be remodeling your bathroom on a tight budget. If so, you’ll be happy to learn that standalone showers and otehr shower components come in many different sizes, shapes, colors and styles. Whether you’re considering an expensive trendy looking shower, a traditionally styled one, something with dozens of nozzles for water, steam and who knows what else, or simply the most affordable one that does what you need, there’s a strong chance that you can find exactly what you are looking for.
Most home improvement stores, online and offline, carry a selection of shower components and supplies, including some that are grouped into kits and which can be cheaper than buying all the parts separately.On the other hand, if you have the time and patience to watch for bargains, you can get great deals on separate components and match them together yourself.
Offline “real world” stores have the advantage that you can see the actual shower stall you’re planning to buy, step into it, and try it out for size and comfort. Large stores sometimes have quite extensive displays of stalls and pans, and even more plumbing fixtures so you can see all the choices of faucets, valves, controls and shower heads. Modern bathroom shower designs have changed a lot since our parents “two separate faucets on the wall, and a shower head”.
Many kit showers, or pans and wall panels made from acrylic or fiberglass, are simple for a moderately experienced DIY-er to install him or herself. The most important thing to remember is “measure twice, cut once”: especially for cutting holes for plumbing pipes, consider making a full-size template of the layout and transferring it to your wall panels.