Bathroom Renovation Ideas for Small Bathrooms

If you own a small bathroom, you might feel like your renovation aspirations are being inhibited by the lack of space. Don’t get frustrated, remember: the beauty of a painting isn’t determined by the size of the canvas, but how the artist uses the space they’re given. While you might not be installing a free-standing bathtub anytime soon, you can still create a beautiful, stylish, and relaxing space in your home.

Here are some ideas on what you can do to renovate your small bathroom.

Think Vertical!

Vertical lines—be they in art, fashion, or home design—naturally draw the eye up and make rooms feel taller and more expansive.

Try using vertical line patterns in wallpaper, orienting your tiles vertically along your walls, installing vertical mirrors above your vanity, or even adding sleek vertical electrical sconces for more illumination. 

Another idea is hanging towels high off the ground with stylish wall hooks. This is another way to achieve these vertical lines to expand your small bathroom.

The way you arrange wall elements in your bathroom is also important. Thin vertical cubbies are both practical storage and draw the eye upwards. Even arranging picture frames in a vertical line will help facilitate a sense of space. 

One more idea: use large tiles rather than small tiles. Besides being easier to clean—as there’s less grout for mould to get stuck in—it also makes the bathroom look much bigger.

Storage with Style

A big issue that people frequently have is too much clutter in their bathroom, an issue that is only exacerbated with small bathrooms. This is natural, as even the most spartan person has toiletries that will inevitably take up space on their vanities—or worse!—their floors. These issues can be sidestepped by getting creative with how you store your necessities. 

Mirror Cabinets

A classic is installing mirror cabinets about your vanity. It’s a tried-and tested bathroom fixture that serves its function as a mirror while also giving you extra storage for your small toiletries.

Shower Alcoves

For a sleek storage solution, consider renovating the shower wall to create a recessed alcove to hold your soap, hair products, and other toiletries in a way that’s easy to reach and neatly organised. You can also try a shower shelf, where half of the long side of the shower wall is pushed outward to create a wall-to-wall shelf to maximise the amount of space for your products. This feature will have the benefit of making your shower more spacious—not to mention less likely to knock into things.

Door storage

While a sliding door or a barn door is great for maximising space, if you have a regular swinging door, you can use it for hanging storage with wire shelves, or cloth/wicker baskets. It’s a very practical storage solution, and also another way to potentially decorate your space with bathroom-friendly plants.

Flush Cabinetry 

Having cabinets whose doors form part of the wall are also an extremely elegant solution that elevates the spaciousness of the room.

Floating Fixtures

The more floor you can see, the bigger the room looks. Installing floating vanities or shelves makes your bathroom more spacious, and gives it a sleek, modern look. They also mean less corners to clean when mopping the floor, or are a convenient way to store stools or steps underneath for younger members of your family.

Light

When a space is lit well, it makes the room feel bigger and more welcoming. This can be done in two main ways.

Natural Light

Large windows are great at bringing in natural light to your bathroom. Plus, there’s the added bonus of increasing the ventilation in your bathroom to lower the chance of mould forming. If you have the ability to, adding a skylight window will also do wonders to letting in natural light.

Artificial Light

Don’t worry! You can also use artificial lights for your bathroom. Be they bright ceiling lights, or a unique sconce, you can play with different light temperatures and shapes to enhance the vibe of your bathroom.

Recessed Light

If you want your bathroom to really make a statement, using recessed light on the backs of mirrors or beneath floating cabinets is also very effective for an ethereal or modern look. They can be used to supplement the pre-existing lights in your bathroom, or can be the main source of light if you want to create a moodier, intimate atmosphere. 

Colour choice is also an asset for helping light up your room. All white is the most popular, as it’s the most effective for completely brightening a room. However, if you want a bit more colour, pastels are your friend for creating a soothing atmosphere and reflecting light. This doesn’t mean you can't also use accent colours at all to give your room more personality, just as long as they’re harmonious with the palette of the rest of the room, as too many colours or patterns can make a room feel smaller.

Focal Points

There’s more ways to make small bathrooms make a big impact. Consider some of these ideas:

Corner Fixtures

Using your room’s corners is an effective way to maximise the space in your bathroom. A corner vanity or corner shower can be an arresting statement piece while also making the bathroom feel bigger.

Mirrors

Mirrors aren’t just useful for assessing who’s the fairest of them all, but also for making a statement. Be it a wall-to-wall mirror which makes your bathroom look bigger through optical illusion, a framed mirror to give your bathroom a vintage style, or a circular organic mirror to give your bathroom a modern look, this simple fixture can make an impact on your bathroom, and also help reflect light and make your bath brighter.

Wall Decor

Try this renovation idea: hanging pieces of art or different sized mirrors on the wall. This can create a sense of depth in your bathroom, and are extremely stylish to boot. Think about the colour palette of your bathroom and how the wall decor creates a cohesive look. Maybe a nautical theme with naval ship prints, or floral paintings if you want a more refined look. The possibilities are endless.

Window Decoration

Don’t forget that your windows can also be a source of creativity. If you can’t replace your windows entirely, you can still enhance them by using artful curtains, or installing frosted covers. The latter has the benefit of giving you extra privacy if you don’t have space for curtains, while also adding more eye-catching patterns in your bathroom.

Conclusion

We hope these ideas have been helpful in drumming up some ideas for your bathroom renovation.

If you have a small bathroom whose potential you need help bringing out, we at Hasl provide a variety of ideas and services to make a beautiful, modern bathroom space for you to feel relaxed and refreshed in. Contact us to learn more.