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.

Chrome wall mounted towel radiator, BathEmpire

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.

Rain shower head, BathEmpire

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.

Corner toilet from BathEmpire

Many bathrooms are awkward shapes, or are squeezed into former box bedrooms, which means sinks and toilets will need to be as petite as possible to fit.

The same is true if you’ve decided to have a downstairs toilet fitted, or an ensuite made inside an existing bedroom that’s not that spacious.

BathEmpire stocks an attractive sink and toilet that will fit into a corner – thus making use of space that would otherwise just be wasted.

These plain white pieces are simple and will look good in most homes.

Corner sink from BathEmpire

They could make the difference between you deciding that you simply cannot fit a toilet and sink into a particular space and you deciding that you can – they could even help you to add value to your home!

These small sinks and toilets may not take up much space, but they are still spacious enough to be practical for using every day, making them ideal for use in an extension, or a granny flat at your home.

Another space-saving tip is to have a wall-mounted towel rail rather than a traditional radiator – a towel rail can mean you have more low wall space in your bathroom on which to put a bath, toilet or sink.

To find the bathroom that’s right for you, take a look at the BathEmpire website.

The aim is to make it feel luxurious despite the small size, for it to functions well as a proper bathroom, and to add value to your home.

Victoria claw-foot roll top bath from BathEmpire

It’s vitally important to consider the dimensions of any items of bathroom furniture, and where you are going to position them to make best use of space.

If the room isn’t to feel cramped then you definitely don’t want doors bumping into sinks, or baths getting in the way of sinks if at all possible.

Be totally realistic about the space you have to work with, and select fittings which are appropriate – it may be that you have to opt for a smaller sink or for a corner toilet in order to fit everything into the room.

It might be better to fit a generously sized shower, rather than trying to squeeze in an undersized bath – although for resale purposes some potential buyers will want a bath.

Under sink storage is a good use of space

Leaving room for some worktop space is essential if you’re not going to be constantly wondering where to put your toiletries.

It’s also important to think of little tricks to make the room look bigger.

One good idea is to have a bath with claw feet, as the view of the floor under the bath will make the room seem less cramped. Wall mounted toilets and sinks have a similar visual effect.

Make sure the room is well lit, and opt for lighter-coloured wall and floor tiles (this should not only make the room look bigger but also make it more saleable in future as buyers will feel it’s a ‘blank canvas’).

Everybody knows that mirrors can make a room look bigger as they reflect the available space, but in an en-suite bathroom a large mirror is stylish and useful too.

A final consideration when it comes to planning your en-suite is to think about how it will sit alongside the bedroom it leads off.

The ideal en-suite should feel like it belongs decoratively to the adjoining bedroom – so if you have a pattern on a fabric in the bedroom, consider using some of the tones from it in the towels and even the tiles in the en-suite.

Glass blocks like these from Wickes can be uses to separate the ensuite from the bedroom

If you really want the en-suite to feel like part of the bedroom, and don’t have privacy issues then you could have a glass block wall between the two rooms.

This would certainly help to open up the space and let light in, and would be particularly practical if you’re just having an en-suite housing a bath or shower and a dressing area.

Good luck with your en-suite project, if you need any more advice, BathEmpire would be happy to help.