Tips for making a small bathroom feel bigger

If you are looking for ways to make your small bathroom feel larger, you have come to the right place!

The lack of square metres, limited natural light, and the number of elements to squeeze into a bathroom can make designing the room a challenge. But when done right, the room can feel spacious, bright, enjoyable and be highly functional.

Here are some tips to consider for your small bathroom renovation:

Wall Hung Vanity

In a small bathroom you would think that a floor standing vanity would provide more storage, and yes it would, marginally. However, if your bathroom is a small space, and you would like to make it feel larger, a wall hung vanity is your best option. Compared to a floor standing vanity, a wall hung vanity visually allows you to see more of the floor, therefore the room appears larger.

In our renovations, we place an LED strip light that is paired to a sensor in the ceiling under the vanities to provide extra light, and a lovely ambient light at night if you have to go into the bathroom. This also helps to make the room feel larger, and a little more luxurious. (and you also won’t wake up the house by turning on the main light)

Large Mirror with Storage

A large mirror will reflect the light in your bathroom making it appear brighter and larger. Doubling the function of the mirror with storage, such as in a large mirror shaving cabinet, will keep items off the vanity top, reducing clutter, and making the space feel more clean and open. We also install power points inside the mirror cabinets so you can charge toothbrushes and similar items out of sight.

Niche or Ledge

A niche or a ledge – whichever you choose – is a great option in a small bathroom to provide simple storage for your shampoo and soap items in the shower. Keeping clutter off the floor avoids your eyes being distracted which helps to create an overall cleaner and simple look. A niche or a ledge is a must have for functionality in a shower or for a bath.

Tile to the ceiling

Tiling from the floor to ceiling creates a simple, clean, seamless look. When you have no dividing horizontal line on the walls, the space feels more open, and the ceiling appears higher.

When you use many different materials, you create differentiated spaces which appear busier, and each area smaller. 

Extra tip: Using the same tile on the floor and the walls can make the room appear overall larger as the wall tile and floor tile seamlessly blend into one another. We also always tile our floors first, and then we match the wall grout lines with the floor grout lines as best as possible. This creates a very smart, sophisticated look and feel overall, even to the untrained eye.

Large Scale Tiles

Choosing a large size tile, such as a 600mm x 600mm tile or 300mm x 600mm tile, creates a seamless look with less grout lines giving a perception of more space, and it is much easier to keep clean.

Spatial Planning

The planning and layout of a small bathroom can make or break the spacious feeling of the room, this also applies to it being spatially functional, which is probably the most important thing of all. 

Things like door position, window position, plumbing, and electrical, are all elements that when initially planning a bathroom renovation need to be thought about extensively. Changing plumbing, doors and windows can be expensive, but can also dramatically change the look and feel, and most importantly improve the functionality of a bathroom, which is so important to your end goal.

At Bayview Renovations we always aim to work with the bones of the house first. However, we also present the ideas that may enhance the functionality of a bathroom. Although more costly, this usually improves the value of a home with a better use of space. 

To talk about renovating your bathroom – big or small, click here to request a quote. We would love to hear from you!