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20 bright ideas for making your bathroom seem bigger

Posted on 08. Jun, 2011 by Charlotte Laing in Design Tips

When it comes to bathrooms, small can definitely still be beautiful, but a few bright ideas can help.

My own bathroom is really small, so I’ve had to employ a few of these tricks myself, and I’ve been trawling the web for other good ideas. I hope this helps you to make the most of the space you have.

1. Keep tiling simple. A continuous run of tiles in a light colour helps to create a spacious feel. If you can then use a similar shade of tile on the walls and floor, and even around a built-in bath unit.

2. If you’re refitting your bathroom, make a floor plan first so you can work out how to use wasted space. If you have awkward angles, small areas cut off behind the door or a particularly narrow room then working out the exact dimensions before searching for baths, showers, sinks and toilets that will fit may help.

3. Shower curtains can look untidy and block your eye-line. If you have to have one because you want to position a shower over a curved bath, then go for a transparent one. Otherwise, opt for a clear glass shower screen.

4. White bathroom suites are best. I know it’s old advice, and it’s not really questioned these days after people had to live through the avocado era, but if you want a quirky bathroom, create it with wall coverings and accessories, not the suite.

5. Pay attention to the little details. In large bathrooms it’s possible to over look chipped paintwork, mildew or cracked tiles. In a small bathroom, the flaws will be obvious.

6. If wall space is tight, consider positioning the sink or the toilet at the end of the bath, in a built-in unit.

7. And if floor space is your problem, but wall space is plentiful, then buy wall-mounted toilets, sinks and heated towel rails.

8. Talking of towels, while spacious bathrooms might look very nice with bundles of fresh towels stored on shelves, in small bathrooms this can close the room in. Store spare towels elsewhere in your home.

9. When choosing storage, it’s best to go for designs that have doors. If you have shelves then invest in a few baskets so everything can be hidden away.

10. I’ve already mentioned that having a white bathroom suite is best, but often a totally white scheme can have the effect of making the room look smaller, as there’s no definition or points of interest. So don’t be afraid to use colour, but do it cleverly. If there’s a particularly nice aspect of the room, then draw attention to it with a splash of coloured paint, and make sure there are accent colours here and there, perhaps in prints on the walls, or plant pots.

11. Make sure there’s a ‘place for everything’ so clutter doesn’t accumulate. Put hooks behind the door for clothes, for example.

12. Keep your laundry elsewhere. There’s no rule to say that laundry baskets have to be in the bathroom, so put yours on your landing or in your bedroom instead and free up space.

13. Ask yourself whether you definitely need a bath. Sometimes, in flats or ensuites, it’s best to stick to the basics of toilet, sink and shower enclosure and keep some floor space to make the room seem larger.

14. Conversely, if you bathroom is small, but you can manage to fit a bath in, it can be best to go for the most opulent-looking bath you can squeeze in. A roll top bath will not only give the impression that the bathroom is large and impressive – it’ll also allow people to see the flooring underneath, which makes the room look bigger.

15. A bathroom window makes an enormous difference to how spacious the room will feel, so you should always make the most of this feature if you have one. Blinds which can be rolled down for privacy when needed but then rolled up to reveal the view the rest of the time are best.

16. If you do have a great window and a view, then position a mirror to reflect it and it’ll create the illusion of having two windows.

17. As suggested in this article on a bathroom makeover featured on Channel 4′s 4homes site, introducing metallics, either on the tiles or on wallpaper that’s suitable for bathrooms, will mean the room reflects light, and also looks precious.

18. If you have run out of wall space altogether then BathEmpire has a corner sink and a corner toilet available so you can still fit everything in.

19. Have a focal piece that’s a real statement and then keep the rest of the room relatively plain. This could be a fabulous gilt-edged mirror or an attractive rain shower head.

20. Finally, let the light in. Nothing makes a bathroom feel small and dingy as much as lack of lighting – whether it’s natural, or from some carefully positioned spotlights.

 

Tags: bathroom design ideas, bathroom too small, corner sink, corner toilet, ideas for making bathroom seem bigger, interiors advice, rain shower, small bathroom tips, suite for small bathroom, wall mounted towel rail, white bathroom suite