5 space-saving ideas for small bathrooms

You may feel like you’re stuck for ideas when it comes to small bathrooms. But with the right space-saving designs, a small bathroom offers plenty of opportunities to create something special.

Plan and design your new bathroom with these tips in mind and you can minimise clutter, maximise your space and even add some character to your bathroom.

Here are five space-saving tips that will show you how to transform your small bathroom and create a spacious feel.

The starting point for any small bathroom revamp is the lighting. It’s all about how you feel in the space. Use bright colours to create an open and inviting environment.

All of the lights

A central light fitting can sometimes make a bathroom feel a little enclosed. If you do have one, try going for low wattage or mood light bulbs instead.

But the direction light is coming from makes a difference, too.

If you’re going for a mini-redesign, try placing lights in key areas of the bathroom, such as above the shower, bath and sink.

You want the kind of flooring that gives your snug-yet-roomy bathroom a stylish foundation.

But, as cosy as this space may become, there’s one defining characteristic that separates a bathroom floor from that of any other room — and that’s lots and lots of running water!

The practical element means certain flooring types are out of bounds. But you’ll be surprised at just how many styles and materials are at your disposal.

The three things your bathroom floor must be

1. Water resistant
   Water can get anywhere and everywhere. You need flooring that will give you the time to mop it up.
2. Durable
   Speaking of mops, it will have to take some cleaning and be able to handle the chemicals too.
3. Beautiful
   You can have both form and function with vinyl flooring.

Vinyl flooring

Vinyl flooring ticks all three boxes. For best results, use a white or cream tile effect vinyl for a minimalist design (this will go beautifully with both light and darker coloured walls).

If you finish the walls with tiles of the same design you’ll make the dimensions of the room less clear, opening up your space.

If you prefer something darker, vinyl flooring with a deeper colour can create a sophisticated look by contrasting with the colour of your walls – you can get the look of a dark wooden floor by harnessing the versatility of vinyl.

Why not use our Visualiser to experiment? Click below, upload a picture of your bathroom and have a play around until you find the flooring you want.

Vinyl certainly is the ‘go to’ option, but there are more bathroom flooring types than you might think – including carpet (yes, bathroom carpet).

Hanging your wall units high up will save precious floor space and make use of unused vertical space at the same time, making things feel less cluttered.

Placing a shelf above your doorway is a great use of the space hidden above your door. Take a look at a massive variety of other small bathroom storage solutions on Pinterest.

Ideas like this one from Pinterest are a great starting point for your own plans.

Instead of having both a towel rail and a heater, why not save on space and combine the two?

Heated towel rails can be mounted at eye level and give your bathroom a chic, modern feel. They also take up far less space than a conventional radiator.

A slim, space-efficient way to heat your snug bathroom space.

The shower bath

Rather than have a shower or a bath, or try to squeeze both in, merge the two ideas and get a shower-bath.

This frees up physical space, leaving you with more room to move. It will also give you freedom of choice, instead of restricting you to one option.

Corner baths, showers and toilets

If you install every convenience on its own wall, you’ll run out of space (and walls) pretty quickly. You also create a lot of wasted space in the corners of your bathroom. Put in some shelves and you’ve got one cluttered bathroom.

But you can now get all the conveniences you need specially designed to be fit in the corners of a room. This space efficient solution frees up the middle of the room, giving it a more spacious feel.