Many people’s bathrooms are small, square, purely practical rooms with little thought spared for design and aesthetics, but considering the amount of time we spend in our bathrooms every day, it’s worth making the extra effort to beautify your bathroom. Here are some tips on designing or renovating a small bathroom.
Showers and Bath Tubs
Firstly, you can save a lot of space in a small bathroom by opting for a shower rather than a bath tub. Tubs take up a lot of space and usually aren’t even used that often. If it’s luxury you’re looking for, there are plenty of luxurious showers available that take up less space and still make you feel like you’re staying in a five star hotel. Glass shower doors and walls look sophisticated and, being transparent, don’t block off any precious space. If you simply must have a bath, choose a bath with feet rather than a built-in bath as the floor space beneath a footed bath will make your room look more spacious.
Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall…
You can create space in a room by using mirrors cleverly. Mirrors give the illusion of more space in a room and add more light to a room, so use them to your advantage. Another way of making your bathroom seem more spacious is by using hooks on which you can hang clothes, bathrobes, towels etc. Using hooks and other wall fixtures in this way rather than drawers and baskets will save you space on the floor of your bathroom.
Stylish Sinks and Storage
All bathrooms need a sink and you can give yours a distinctive, elegant sink that also saves space by mounting a stylish sink basin on a specially adapted piece of furniture, ideally a storage unit with drawers. This way you can make your bathroom visually appealing as well as creating convenient storage space.
Colour Schemes
Bold colours and loud patterns are a big no-no when designing a small bathroom as they can give the room a claustrophobic feel. You’re better off sticking with whites and creams for small bathrooms as these will make the room look bigger and brighter.
Good Lighting
Our bathrooms are places where we wash our faces, shave, apply make-up, do our hair and so on, so good lighting is essential. Many bathrooms rely on a single lighting fixture hanging from the ceiling, but small bathrooms, especially small windowless bathrooms, will benefit from as much good lighting as possible, so consider installing lighting above and/or around your bathroom mirror as this is where people will be looking at themselves and the mirror will reflect the light around the room.
By taking these design considerations on board, you can make your small bathroom look and feel bigger, as well as endowing it with all the luxury you would expect from a top notch hotel ensuite.
This article was written by interior designer Gavin Eames, who specialises in bathroom design and has experience designing bath tubs and shower doors.