How to maximise space and make your bathroom useable
Whether you’re trying to add a new en suite or upgrade an existing bathroom, many of the UK’s homes contain bathrooms that can be very tight for space. Maximising that space to ensure you have all the essentials in place whilst making it functional is a real challenge, yet with some ingenuity, it is possible to make a small bathroom beautiful and functional. So if you re faced with this challenge, here’s our tips to making your small bathroom a success:
Pocket Doors Create Huge Opportunities for Additional Space. Image credit: Home Design Ideas
1. Change Your Door Mounting
Before you even begin to consider your bathroom furniture, hardware, tiles and colours; stop and see if there’s any opportunity to create more space simply by changing the bathroom door fitting. Sliding or pocket doors create additional floor space that would normally be taken up by the opening of a traditional door on hinges. If pocket doors are not possible, how about making the door swing outwards instead of into the room? This may seem like a strange concept but if space it as a premium, this might be a slightly quirky but ultimately, invaluable idea. Without having to worry about the space the doors swings into, this alone will create so many more opportunities to exploit and make your bathroom feel instantly bigger.
A Corner Sink is a Great Space Saver. Image credit: Bathroom Ideas
2. Try a Corner Sink
If your bathroom is extremely tight for space, small corner vanity sinks are a great way to free up a little more room for perhaps a bigger bathtub or shower unit. They may be compact but some corner sinks come in a great range of stylish options that may surprise you.
A Floating Vanity Looks Great & Frees Up Floor Spaces. Image credit: ICA Furniture
3. Install a Floating Vanity
Floating vanities allow for more floor space to be used for other smaller items but will also help to make the room feel a little bigger. A large floor standing vanity will dominate the space and make it feel cramped whilst a floating vanity unit will reduce the visual scale and overall impact. Fortunately, the market is full of some beautiful floating vanities that look great so there’s plenty to choose from!
Recessed Wall Shelves Add Useable Display Storage Without Taking Up Space. Image credit: Delonho
4. Try Recessed Wall Shelves
If storage is a massive headache in your small bathroom, try and find ways to make inset shelves into the existing walls. Not only do they look amazing, they create space from places that you never thought had any. Inset shelves can be tiled or finished to match the rest of the bathroom and are great for displaying your favourite ornaments, bathing products or soaps.
A Modern Compact Bathroom can Still Look Spacious. Image credit: DesignBox
5. Place Fixtures Along a Single Wall
A common mistake many homeowners make is to try to place the bathroom fixtures on opposing walls which just creates a “maze effect” and means your bathroom becomes hard to move around as you have to avoid the toilet or vanity units where they protrude into the floor space. By placing them all on the same wall, you create floor zones meaning the areas where you stand and dress feel bigger whilst the areas the fixtures occupy feel more compact.
The Market is Full of Amazing Looking Integrated WC Vanity Units. Image credit: Search Furniture
6. Use an Integrated WC & Vanity Unit
There’s a whole bunch of fully integrated toilet and vanity units on the marketplace that comes in a variety of sizes, even for smaller bathrooms. Not only do they save on space, they are much easier and quicker to install and with many modern styles to choose from, will make any compact bathroom look great and feel spacious.
A Bathroom Door Towel Rail is a Simple Yet Effective Space Saver. Image credit: Lakeland
7. Hang Hooks & Rails on the Door
Towels rails and hooks can take up a surprising amount of space so the simple solution is to hang them of the back of the door. Obvious but a quick space saving solution.
A Large Bathroom Mirror Instantly Makes the Room Feel Bigger. Image credit: Design In You
8. Install Large Mirrors
It’s common knowledge that large wall mirrors in small rooms instantly create the illusion of space and it’s no different in the bathroom. By having a large mirror above the vanity unit, it will reflect the light around the room and make the entire space feel less cramped and compact.
Use Large Blocks of Colour to Create the Illusion of Space. Image credit: Foxwood Ceramics
9. Use Large Patterns on Walls
When it comes to decorating your bathroom, a large scale pattern or bands of colour will create the illusions of space and trick the eye into thinking the room is much larger. Keep the colour palette simple but use pops of colour on the bands which will do the hard work of making your bathroom look and feel so much bigger.
Keep Colour Schemes Light to Avoid Shrinking the Room. Image credit: Pinterest
