Uncramp Your Small Bathroom
Tired of banging your elbows and knocking over toiletries? Here's how to coax out space in a smaller bathroom
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When you think about your bathroom, do phrases like "itsy-bitsy," "minuscule" and "claustrophobic" pop into your head? Or perhaps you're going to add a new bathroom with limited square footage. Not sure how to fit everything you need into the space? Not to worry. This ideabook will show you how to get the most out of whatever room you do have.
by Jenny Carter
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1. Claim as much space as possible. Creating niches is a great way to utilize space you might not even know you have. Inside your walls are studs, and they are usually 16 inches apart, while the depth of the stud plus the drywall on the front of it gives you a little over 4 inches in depth. If this is an interior wall that does not have insulation or plumbing running through it, that is space you can use.
This long niche next to the vanity pictured here has glass shelves and lighting at the top. It provides a handy place for a towel or toiletries, and it looks beautiful at the same time.
Tip: When using open storage like this, transfer toiletries out of their ho-hum, mishmash plastic bottles and into decorative containers. It will instantly make the room feel less cluttered and more stylish.
This long niche next to the vanity pictured here has glass shelves and lighting at the top. It provides a handy place for a towel or toiletries, and it looks beautiful at the same time.
Tip: When using open storage like this, transfer toiletries out of their ho-hum, mishmash plastic bottles and into decorative containers. It will instantly make the room feel less cluttered and more stylish.
Okay, I know this is a huge bathroom, but big bathrooms often offer ideas that work in smaller spaces too. The towel niche next to the shower here would work very well in a tiny bathroom, since towel bars normally protrude 4 inches from the wall and can prevent doors from opening all the way. This type of niche gives you extra storage without taking up space, and it frames the towels so they look neat and tidy, even when hanging on a hook.
Reflected in this mirror here is another towel niche. This one had to be framed out because it is wider than the space between the studs. But it gives room to store four full sets of towels and washcloths. If you look closely, you'll see that the bathroom door opens onto that wall. There would have been no room to even hang a towel bar without it interfering with fully opening the door.
Tip: Using white towels in this all-white bathroom provides a minimalist, soothing look. You don't have to go completely monochromatic, but a minimalist color scheme will help to keep a small bathroom from looking busy.
Tip: Using white towels in this all-white bathroom provides a minimalist, soothing look. You don't have to go completely monochromatic, but a minimalist color scheme will help to keep a small bathroom from looking busy.
A low privacy wall is another spot where a niche can be installed. In this case it happens to provide a spot for soap next to a pedestal sink. Another niche below that one on the other side could hold extra toilet paper.
If you are serious about gaining some space, then consider taking your shower niche to the extreme in size. The black band to the left is a niche that runs the entire length of the wall. This is a very custom way to go and involves framing out that space, so it increases the cost of creating this shower. But wow! You would have room to place everything you need in the shower or bath.
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| If you put shelves in your niche, then you can go the extreme vertically instead of horizontally. This is a little more affordable option when it comes to the work of constructing the wall. |
2. Reclaim door space. This bathroom has a pocket door that takes up zero space in the room. And what I particularly love about this pocket door is that it is beautiful and has a handle that is easy to get hold of. Most pocket doors have a tiny, circular depression to hold so that it can slide all the way inside the wall. If you can make your pocket door opening a little wider, then you can spare a few inches for a skinny, vertical handle like this.
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| Notice that in this bathroom, if the door had been a swinging type, it would bang into the tub. The pocket door was the perfect solution here. |
Pocket doors slide within the wall, while barn door hardware lets you slide a door along the outside of a wall. Sometimes you have wall space where you can slide a door, but there are pipes or electrical within the wall that would be hard to reroute. A barn door– style slider might then be a good option for you.
Using a translucent material is a great way to allow extra light into the room and still provide privacy. It also is a great style statement in this home.
Using a translucent material is a great way to allow extra light into the room and still provide privacy. It also is a great style statement in this home.
Bifold doors are an option you don't see very often. When people think about those, they usually picture those louvered ones hiding laundry facilities. But these beautiful wood and frosted-glass bifold doors are a great way to minimize the space taken up by a door that swings its full width into a room. These take up half the space when folded.
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by Kerrie L. Kelly
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| If your bathroom door swings inward and a pocket door isn't an option, consider flipping it around so that it opens out away from the room. Yes, it will require some work on the framing around the door, but it can be worth it to not have to try to scoot around the door when it is open and taking up space in your room. You also might need to open your door with a little more caution to avoid whacking someone coming down the hall — but this may be an acceptable trade-off when you are desperate for a little extra room. Tip: Let your door do double duty as a message center or a full-length mirror. If family members get ready at different times of the morning, this is a perfect spot for everyone to post messages. If you need a full-length mirror and don't have wall space for one, then putting a mirror on the door also would be a great idea. |
by CWB Architects
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3. Think "wall mounted" to make great use of space. The tank of a wall-mounted toilet is inside the wall behind it, so it uses the depth of the wall to reduce how far it protrudes into the room. For the carrier system inside the wall, you can get one that either fits into a wall with 2-by-6-inch studs or one that recesses into a wall with standard 2-by-4 studs.
I'm not a contractor, but in general, exterior walls have 6-inch studs and interior walls have 4-inch studs. Once in awhile you may have things already inside the wall that would be problematic to reroute, so installing your wall-hung toilet recessed into the wall may not be right for you. But consider building out a section of wall specifically to house the carrier system. Although it won't reduce how far the toilet protrudes into the room, you can create storage above it for a seamless look that is highly functional.
Capturing all of that storage space above the carrier system definitely costs a lot more than installing a cabinet on stilts that straddles your toilet tank, but it looks so much nicer.
I'm not a contractor, but in general, exterior walls have 6-inch studs and interior walls have 4-inch studs. Once in awhile you may have things already inside the wall that would be problematic to reroute, so installing your wall-hung toilet recessed into the wall may not be right for you. But consider building out a section of wall specifically to house the carrier system. Although it won't reduce how far the toilet protrudes into the room, you can create storage above it for a seamless look that is highly functional.
Capturing all of that storage space above the carrier system definitely costs a lot more than installing a cabinet on stilts that straddles your toilet tank, but it looks so much nicer.
This is one more bathroom with the same idea of using that space that would normally not be fully used above a toilet tank. It's a very clean-lined and uncluttered look.
A wall-mounted vanity will give you some undersink storage while visually opening up your bathroom space, since you can see the floor all the way back. If storage isn't such a huge issue, but the feeling of being crowded is what's bothering you in your small bathroom, this solution is still better than a pedestal sink because of the storage space. And it isn't any harder than hanging wall cabinets in the kitchen.
These little wall-mounted sinks also have the benefit of using corner space. Corners are often wasted space in a small bathroom, and these are a great way to use that space.
by Birdseye Design
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A custom wall-mounted organizer next to the toilet keeps items handy and off the floor. I like this better than baskets and magazine holders on the floor around a toilet.
4. Take a page out of kitchen-cabinet efficiency. The cabinets on either side of this shower are roll-out cabinets. We often see this kind of thing in kitchen pantry cabinets, where a roll-out organizer lets you reach things stored in the back of a deep cabinet. Without the roll-out function, the full depth on either side of this shower wouldn't be easy to access.
by Nicole Hollis
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Toe-kick drawers eke out a little more space in this bathroom.
Cabinets under the sink are often totally wasted space because they are just an empty box; once things go in, you can't see anything at the back. Installing drawers under the sink maximizes every cubic inch of space. These drawers are U-shaped to slide around the pipes under the sink.
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by Filmore Clark
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| 5. Find great spots for shelving. Shelving isn't a new idea for wall mounted storage. But is there a spot that you haven't thought about for that shelving? How about the end wall of a tub? This might not work if you have a shower-bath combo, but it's great for a tub on its own. |
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by Rough Linen
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| Space above the door could be a bonus spot. You could also run open shelving above your vanity mirror or the full length of just about any wall as long as it is high enough so that you won't bang your head. Toilet paper or rolled-up towels can be stored attractively in this way. |
No matter where you mount those shelves, they should fill the space and relate to the style of the bathroom. Adding shelving that doesn't quite fill the wall or relate in style makes it look like an afterthought. Often, it takes having custom shelving to fully use the space and give the room that designer look that we love.
6. Go curbless. This tiny bathroom makes use of several techniques to maximize the space both functionally and visually. Creating a curbless shower area allows you to use the same flooring in an unbroken line, eliminating the chopped-up feeling created by a step up into the shower. Click on the photo to read the designer's full description of all the things done to create a functional bath out of two former closets.
7. Use a vessel sink. The counter space of this tiny cabinet would have been completely taken up by a standard type of sink. Using a bowl-shaped vessel sink frees up almost the entire top of this cabinet as usable counter space for toiletries. Using a wall-mounted faucet also keeps the counter space free.
Vessel sinks also free up space in the cabinet below that would normally have been taken up by the sink inside. Make use of that space below with cabinets or drawers.
Have a great small bath? We'd love to see it. Please share your best design tip and a photo in the Comments section below.
More:
Where to Store the Toilet Paper
9 Ways to Create a Not-So-Standard Bathroom
Have a great small bath? We'd love to see it. Please share your best design tip and a photo in the Comments section below.
More:
Where to Store the Toilet Paper
9 Ways to Create a Not-So-Standard Bathroom
Ideabook updated on May 6, 2012.
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Tricia Rose: Well, I always say it is better to copy genius than to create mediocrity! It's a great idea and one that I'm sure will be used by many.
Total cost (inc. paint, two lighting fixtures, all plumbing hookups) was just under $730 and about 6 days leisurely labor. [Cost includes approx $120 for a water-saving toilet; this was an extra that was not essential part of the renovation.] We ended up with a unique bathroom, that has a lot more light, more storage space, and has much higher quality components in it.
I have attached before and after photos to show the difference a NOT-substantial investment of time and money can make. We are very pleased with the results.
Second picture is my basement bathroom. Wanting to create a unique space involved using fossils, various rock tile and an open shower concept. I also added a sandstone sink and a small dresser which I distressed to look old. Though not deep, the top drawers were adapted to be functional and are just about the right size for toothbrushes and a few amenities.
We only have one small bathroom to service the entire first floor of our 3,360 sq. ft. home, so we had to plan it carefully. It's only 8.5' deep, by 7' wide. We got rid of the tub, opting for a custom-designed shower stall and shower panel with individually operated jets, rain shower head, and diverter. It's also completely enclosed and doubles as a sauna/steam shower. There is a sitting ledge, and large, built-in wall shelf to keep everything you need out of the way.
Vessel sinks maximize vanity space under the sink. Consider a custom countertop. We were able to have the left side of the vanity made 2" wider than the right. You couldn't tell to look at it, but that extra counter space is very helpful for setting hair styling tools and make-up on!
A traditional closet in an 8.5' x 7' bathroom didn't make sense. Our carpenter custom-built a furniture piece to match the vanity it sits across from. It goes floor to ceiling in height, but is only 19.5" wide and a mere 13" deep. The bottom is 2' tall to store things like plungers, while the rest of the shelving is approximately spaced every 13" and is more than enough room for our towels, toiletries and cleaning products.
This bathroom also services the pool area. We had a glass door installed, but had the glass glazed. Light is easily let in, but no one can see through the glaze. It keeps this small space feeling lighter, brighter, and larger.
Mona -- sometimes just tiny little thing make all the difference, don't they?