Small bathrooms can be your worst enemy or an opportunity to get creative with a small space. City living has its perks, but space is not always one of them. Getting creative with functionality and storage is important when you are decorating or designing a small bathroom.
Bathrooms are also often shared by families, which can pose many issues in a busy household. The key is to create a space that works for you and your family. We discover ways to create the best bathroom in an unforgiving space.
Storage and Space
Find a purpose for every centimeter in your bathroom and where you can spare a 10 – 15cm space, let’s put it to good use. A fun way to utilize small narrow spaces, is to install thin towers in those spaces. Installing a cupboard that looks almost like a spice-rack, can make space for many small face cream pots, deodorants, extra soaps and razors. Install these cleverly on the sides of your mirror or next to your basin(s) for easy access.
Shower shelves are also your best friend here. With today’s open-feel showers you can easily build a shower shelf inside the shower wall leaving you with enough space for shampoo bottles and a plant or two.
Ventilation
A small bathroom requires good ventilation. After a warm and steamy shower, your ceiling will need some fresh air ventilating through the room to get rid of all the steam. Make sure to consider easy access to a window or if this is not an option, install a manual ventilator.
Steam is the biggest culprit for mouldy ceilings over time. You can also use a mould-preventative paint for your ceiling.
Lighting
Your bath area and shower all require different lighting but the bathroom’s overall design still needs to feel stylish and cohesive. If you are spending a lot of money on revamping a bathroom, a portion of that budget should be allocated to your lighting.
Bathroom lighting should allow for three sources of light. Ambient, task and accent lighting. Your first source of lighting is your decorative lighting. Timeless chandeliers, pendants and interesting wall-mounted fixtures with lampshades give your bathroom that special edge. Your second should be lighting required for grooming and makeup. Your third source is accent lighting which is primarily used to accentuate the design of your bathroom.
Natural lighting is a great solution for getting light into a small, dark bathroom. A skylight will open the space immediately making it feel much bigger. If this is not possible you can easily install LED lights behind your floating shelves for additional light.
Style
Whatever your style is, a bathroom needs to be uncluttered, inviting and clean. Best practice is to find a little spot for every dot. Mirrors are always a good idea in a small space. A wall-to-wall mirror is a guaranteed way to create the illusion of spaciousness.
Tiles are also your best friend in a small bathroom. In some cases, you will need to ensure that everything is waterproof. It is a good idea to install a central drain if your bathroom is designed in such a way that everything could get wet.
