Although some people call the bathroom “the smallest room”, it doesn’t have to feel or look that way. Some of us are lucky enough to have a decent-sized bathroom so that it doubles as a relaxation area, whereas some of us need to tweak what we have to make it feel larger or to actually create more space.
If you have a smaller sort of smallest room, here’s some practical things that you can do to make the space work harder and, well, feel more spacious.
Minimise floor-based items and storage
You need your sink, bath, shower and toilet to be on the floor, obviously; you don’t need your laundry basket, toiletry holder and towel rail to make incursions into the floor space, though. Explore options for wall-based storage, especially over the bathroom door and hidden under the sink.
Use larger tiles on the floor
Larger tiles create the illusion of a wider space. This also applies to wall tiles.
Bring in a larger mirror
A larger mirror gives the feeling of more space and light, especially if you also have a set of lights around it.
Install smaller fittings
If you can find a slimline sink and vanity unit with a smaller footprint, you’ll have more floorspace. This also leaves more room for little shelves and cupboards around it, rather than clunky, big old shelves that jut into the floorspace because they’re competing with a clunky, big old sink.
Get rid of the shower curtain and use a glass enclosure instead
Opaque shower curtains are essentially room dividers and when they start to get grubby, they also look tatty and depressing. A glass shower screen or enclosure opens out the space and if you keep it sparkling clean and limescale-free, it can really add a feeling of openness to your bathroom.
Bring as much light in as possible
Ditch the curtains or blinds and fix obscuring films to windows instead so that you get as much natural light in as possible without giving the neighbours an eyeful. If you have a single light overhead, replace it with a few brighter LED lights in the ceiling, as well as wall lights so that there’s no dark dingy corners.
