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CloseTo get the most out of your bathroom -- no matter what the dimensions -- follow these tips.
Style and elegance needn't be restricted to places of grandeur; even the tiniest space should include the latest amenities. But before you select the perfect soap dish, carefully plan out your design. From storage to fixtures, pin down a design strategy to make your dimensionally challenged bath a delight to behold.
We've gathered a panel of experts to help, including New York City interior designer Susan Aiello; design guru Dylan Landis, author of Designing for Small Homes (PBC International); Christine Clarke, the design supervisor for the NY Expo Design Center store in New Rochelle, New York; Jamie Lafer, owner of Life by Jamie, a professional organizing service in Santa Monica, California; and Sarah Ireland, the co-owner of White Glove Elite, a domestic referral service based in New York City. Their tips will help you discover the best space-saving strategies for your home.
Plan for Storage
Putting your toiletries and towels away will free up counter space and give your bath a cleaner, larger look. Here's how to get the room you need (without that much space).
1. If your walls are made of dry-wall (not plaster), utilize the space between the studs. It's easy, even for a do-it-yourselfer, to cut out a niche and finish it nicely with shelving, instantly adding more storage space. "Just be careful what you put in there. Treat the space like a vignette so it doesn't get cluttered," says Landis.
2. Take the niche idea a step further. Aiello used a between-stud space to create a full-height hamper and coordinating medicine cabinet. The bottom functions as a place for dirty clothes - letting you take away a bulky floor hamper - and the top works as an extra cabinet for toiletries and essentials.
3. See if you can steal any space from an adjoining room or closet, Clarke recommends. This can be easily transformed into a linen closet, extra cabinets, or a clothes hamper.
4. Extra shelves installed high around the bathroom perimeter are a perfect place for storing towels, toilet paper, and more, Lafer notes.
5. Wire shelving in various lengths and widths can be easily installed right into shower tile, recommends Aiello. These shelves are perfect for shampoo and soap, and they also can be stacked, letting you put up as many as you need. Plus, since the shelves are made of open wire, they keep soap from making a mess.
6. It's been said before, but it bears repeating: Clean out that medicine cabinet. If you're looking for more space, you just might find it once you've tossed expired medications and old makeup into the trash. To better utilize cabinet storage and maximize space, store same-sized items together.
Select the Right Fixtures
7. Before making any purchase, take measurements for all the elements in your bath. If your new claw foot tub takes up most of the floor space, your bathroom will appear much smaller. And if you plan to use the bathroom along with your spouse or kids, you want there to be enough room to get by one another.
8. If you are faced with a tight space, consider a stall shower instead of a tub, especially if you've got another bathtub in the house. A stall shower can be installed easily into a corner, freeing part of a wall for counter space or for a toilet.
9. Replace pedestal sinks with units that have cabinets or shelves beneath the vanity. Pedestal sinks look nice, but they don't afford any storage space - and in a small bath, you need to take advantage of every inch.
10. If you don't want the expense of installing a new sink, consider surrounding your pedestal sink with a fabric skirt to hide miscellaneous bathroom supplies, such as a hair dryer, curling irons, and extra shampoo.
11. Updating your vanity? Look for one that comes pre-installed with organized storage space and hidden storage in the toe-kick.
Get Organized
In a small space, you need to keep everything looking neat; each object should have its place. Here are some ideas to help you straighten up.
12. Organize that cluttered under-sink area. If yours has an open-space cabinet underneath, it will usually end up looking like the inside of your child's toy-chest: "Everything gets thrown in there without any thought to organizing," says Landis. Install narrow shelving or add a lazy Susan to access hard-to-reach items.
13. Include baskets, trays, and boxes on shelves and in cabinets. You'll find a wide variety of choices at bath retailers and home centers. Organizing units come in almost every material, from plastic boxes to wire shelving.
14. Group items together according to category so they're easy to find and remove. For example, a plastic shoebox-style container with a secure lid can hold all of your manicure and pedicure supplies, ready to be toted out in one place without disturbing everything in its path.
Color Cues
Do you believe that wearing dark colors is more slenderizing? Similar theories explain how certain colors can enlarge spaces in decorating. The hues you choose for a bathroom can change its appearance.
15. In most cases, lighter colors will make a room look bigger. Pale yellow or off-white walls will give a small space an open and airy quality - but remember, white is not necessarily the answer. There are plenty of pale tones that provide a delightful effect without looking stark. And as you will see below, there are some tricks when it comes to using bright tones in small spaces.
16. A room can seem much bigger is you pick one color theme and use it on everything. Doing this, Landis says, will "eliminate the point of contact that makes a room feel cluttered." It doesn't matter what color you choose, either; the trick is to use it with absolute conviction. Landis suggests keeping the same color theme throughout - with towels, curtains, rugs - and make sure this color doesn't clash with the tile color.
17. Keep it simple: if you're retiling, use large tiles in a solid color without accents. The more consistent the expanse of tile and color is, the more visual space it will create.
18. Use deep colors and gilded mirrors to create drama. If people walk into your bathroom and think, "Wow," then they won't be thinking, "What a little bathroom." After all, it's one small room in your house, so go wild.
Decorator Tricks
Find out what the professionals do to keep clutter at bay. You'll be surprised at how they turn a small space into a spectacular one.
19. "I think that the best bathroom storage isn't in the bathroom," Landis says. She suggests pulling what you can from the bathroom and storing it in a reorganized linen closet, an antique cabinet, or a wardrobe that fits in the hallway outside the bathroom. "What you use doesn't have to bluntly say it's serving the needs of the bathroom," Landis emphasizes.
20. If you're using open shelving, make sure what you put there is visually appealing. Landis recommends rolling towels the way a stylist would, storing makeup essentials (brushes, pencils, and swabs) in pretty antique cups and canisters, displaying beautifully packaged toiletries, and decanting your liquid soap into a pretty glass pump bottle. Landis even went so far as to buy her husband a handsome razor and shaving brush, then mounted a shaving stand. Perfect little touches to make the space pretty disguise its lack of size.
21. Think outside the box when it comes to what you're using for storage containers. Remember, the nicer the bathroom is decorated, the larger it will feel. Use vintage wooden trays for accessories and makeup, wicker baskets for toilet paper and towels, or even weathered flowerpots for housing bath and grooming needs.
22. Unify and visually expand the space by running the shower curtain all the way across the wall, or by adding a large expanse of mirrors - though the latter is not always appropriate or appealing in some spaces.
Just Plain Clever
Have you ever walked into a friend's home and been astounded by all the great ideas he or she has? Well, you can be that person. Read on to find out how to make your small bath bigger with these clever ideas.
23. If you have another place for stacking and hanging towels and lots of people are regularly using one bathroom, hang an over-the-door shoe bag: each family member can have a certain number of pockets, perfect for storing shampoos, conditioners, and other toiletries.
24. "Medicine cabinets have come a long way" says Clarke. Look for one with plenty of options to save space elsewhere in the bathroom: inside-mounted magnifying mirrors, lockboxes for safely stowing prescription medications, and electrical outlets for razors, hair clippers, and hair dryers.
25. Landis says that cabinets are so affordable these days, if you're remodeling, there's no excuse not to change yours. Check out large home retailers for great prices - some are even under $50. And the bigger a mirror you get, the larger the space will seem.
26. Drawer dividers help keep more items on hand and keep the contents tidy; if your drawers are odd-sized, check out the selection in the kitchen department. Even better, you can get custom-sized dividers to fit specifically in your bathroom's drawers so storage is maximized.
27. Speaking of kitchens, borrow the storage and organizing tips from your kitchen, Aiello says. For example, the sliding two-tiered wire baskets that organize cleaners and sponges can do the same in the bathroom. A plastic dishpan can hold all the supplies for handwashing, then be used as a wash basin itself.
Simple Solutions
Don't overlook the obvious in your quest to make the most of a small space.
28. Don't forget hooks. They're perfect for towels, robes, nightgowns, and more, and can be placed next to tubs and showers, or on the backs of doors. Shaker-style peg-racks work, too; they're great for nightgowns and bathrobes.
29. A wall-mounted blow dryer caddie will free up space on your vanity, says Lafer, and it can swing out of the way when not in use.
30. Freestanding carts on wheels are perfect for use around the sink area, especially if the room has narrow spaces, says Lafer. Plus, carts are available in many sizes and widths that are perfect for tiny spaces. Since they have wheels, they are easy to move during cleaning.
31. Use that space behind the toilet. Glass or wire shelving can be mounted in rows above the back of the tank. Or, hire a carpenter to install a premade cabinet perfect for lots of convenient storage.
32. Don't forget those multi-sized suction-cupped bins - they're movable in an instant and are perfect for stowing grooming products by the sink, feminine supplies near the toilet, or shampoos and kids' bath toys in the shower.
33. An across-the-tub caddie, extendible to fit the width you need, is perfect for soap, washcloths, and more - and it's a great item to have around if you're a fan of long baths. Use it to hold your book while you soak.
34. Lafer suggests a wall-mounted shampoo, conditioner and liquid soap dispenser to free up more space around the rim of the tub while keeping everything tidy.
35. Towel racks that swivel (larger versions of the kind of rack you use to dry dishtowels) tuck perfectly behind a bathroom door, offering added space for storing and drying.
36. In addition to an over-the-door caddie to keep toiletries out of the way, a shower curtain with mesh pockets is perfect to store a while family's worth of shampoo. And don't forget the obvious: an over-the-showerhead wire organizer can help store waterproof bottles of shampoo and soaps.
37. Use the tight spots. You can purchase slim organizers to fit wherever empty space is wasted - like between the toilet and the sink or vanity.
Keep it Clean
A spotless room will help enhance its size. What's more, you won't be caught off guard if an unexpected guest shows up at your door.
38. "Keep all of your fixtures shined" says Ireland, co-owner of a domestic referral service. Anything you can make sparkle - faucets, light fixtures, and knobs - will make the room seem cleaner and bigger. A personal tip to help keep on top of this chore: before tossing any washcloth or hand towel in the hamper, Ireland always uses it to wipe around the sink and shine anything glass or chrome.
39. "Wash and shine any windows in the room," Ireland says, since this will instantly make a small bathroom look cleaner, brighter, and ultimately, bigger.
40. Keep the space spotless by setting aside an area where you will store bathroom cleaning supplies. The easier it is for you to access these items, the more inclined you will be to use them on an ongoing basis.
Helpful Resources
