When you’re short on space, you can never have enough of reorganizing. This is true for every room in the house but especially for the bathroom. It would seem that architects and contractors have something against the water room as they keep designing and building it ever smaller and smaller.
This leaves homeowners struggling to make the most of the little free space they have available in the bathroom. Luckily, you can always better organize a small bathroom, and here are the most common tricks to do so
.
The effect mirrors have
In terms of interior design, you want to use as much natural light as possible. Bathrooms often have small windows that don’t let a lot of daylight inside so you should increase the number of mirrors inside the bathroom.
Apart from the vanity unit mirror, you should have a couple of extra mirrors, no matter how small they might be. Moreover, these mirrors don’t have to sit on the wall as they can be attached to sides of cabinets, doors, or tall vanity units.
Install a holder for the hairdryer
Perhaps the biggest problem in terms of organizing are bulky items, such as the hairdryer. Due to its shape, the dryer often cannot fit inside cabinets and it is way too dangerous to store it on a shelf exposed to water.
That’s why a metal holder for the hairdryer mounted inside the door of the vanity unit is ideal for cramped bathrooms. The dryer will be safe inside the cupboard and you will effectively use space that would otherwise be wasted.
Baskets on walls
A woven basket is definitely an item we associate with bathroom luxury but baskets are cumbersome, aren’t they? Generally yes; but it doesn’t have to be so, as you can order custom-made baskets can be mounted on walls. They themselves are light as a feather but they can bear heavy loads such as a bunch of full shampoo bottles.
Since you get to choose their shape and design, the wall-mounted baskets will fit every nook and cranny inside the bathroom. Apart from being cheap, you get to choose the material the baskets will be made from (we recommend wicker baskets), as well as their colour.
Storage benefits of underfloor heating
You might not think of underfloor heating in the bathroom as an amenities connected to extra storage space. However, installing underfloor heating, which is a great DIY project, actually saves space because you no longer need a radiator that takes up space on the wall. In older structures, these radiators can be quite bulky, taking up an entire square meter of space cumulatively.
Use the window sill
One of the biggest problems with modern cramped bathrooms is the lack of windows. Although all water rooms have excellent air ventilation, the fact remains that natural light during the day is scarce. For this reason, many homeowners decide to engage in a bit of masonry and create an opening in the outer wall of the building or a house where was none before.
In general, this move is good for more than one reason. Apart from gaining access to daylight, a window made through a thick wall means that you’re going to be left with a wide window sill. Basically, this is a free storage room where most people store shampoo bottles, sponges, hair regenerators, etc.
Stick to the basics in a tiny bathroom
Storage space is essential in a small bathroom but there are many water rooms that are minuscule in size. Luckily, you can successfully organize these miniature bathrooms as well. The key to furnishing a tiny bathroom is to stick to the basics, meaning that only bare necessities should be installed.
Furthermore, you should look to fit in multipurpose fixtures. For example, a dirty laundry basket can double as a chair if the material it is made from is sturdy enough. Moreover, a towel rack can extend to hold the shower curtain.
Vanities as extra storage space
You might think of the vanity unit as of a bulky piece of furniture inside the bathroom but only vanities from the past century are cumbersome. Nowadays, vanity units are custom made so they come in all shapes and sizes, staying true to the shape of the sink on top.
In a small bathroom, it would be a shame not to use the vanity as extra storage space, regardless of how small it is. If we take a look at vanities made by Acqua Bathrooms and other bathroom fixtures manufacturers, we realize that there is no reason not to extend the storage space all the way to the bathroom floor.
Wire shelving
Shelving in the bathroom is not among the most expensive updates but it can take up a lot of room especially if you use hardwood. Wire shelving is a cheap alternative that saves a lot of space. Namely, a mesh-wire shelf might not prevent moisture from getting to items sitting on it but it is easier to shape and takes less room than a shelf made from wood.
What is more, the wire shelving allows water to drain instantly, avoiding long-term damage typical to wooden shelving. The metal the shelves are made out of is sturdy enough to carry heavy loads and it is stainless so water won’t corrode it over time.
Vertical storage space over the toilet bowl
In order to maximize the use of space, you should look to use the space directly above the toilet bowl. This section of the bathroom might appear unusable but there is more than one thing you can fit here. For one, the wall behind the toilet bowl is ideal for shelving. Secondly, you can hang a towel rack directly over the toilet tank. Alternatively, this vertical space can house a towel warmer.
Custom-made fixtures
Although small bathroom all experience spatial constrictions, no two bathrooms are the same. You have water rooms that are a simple square, while others have pointy corners or a sloped roof. You might think of these oddities as hindrances to organizing a small bathroom but they actually turn out to be the very opposite thing.
Namely, no bathroom is “unfurnishable” if you order custom-made fixtures. Carpenters will measure the length and height of all the walls and design cabinets, the vanity unit, and cupboards that will fit your bathroom space to an inch’s precision!
Mason jars hanging from walls?
Unlike awkwardly shaped bathroom fixtures, there are many small items inside a typical bathroom, from a toothbrush to a nail clipper. These are items you cannot store just anywhere because they need to be near at hand and sanitized for the most part.
Nailing a board with pegs and then hanging Mason jars from them is the ideal storage solution for small objects inside the bathroom. However, you need to make sure that the jars are made from thick tempered glass, that they have no cracks, and that they are fastened tightly to the wallboard.
The back of the bathroom door
If you have a cramped bathroom, then it might seem that the 4 walls aren’t enough to store everything you want. However, you are forgetting that the bathroom door can also be used for storage and decoration.
If there is a line going in the middle of the wall, make sure that the back of the door is painted too. Furthermore, hang racks and pegs from the bathroom door to gain extra storage space. Even the lower part of the door can have a small rack for slippers.
A glass shower cabin
We’ve mentioned before that the bathroom should feature all sorts of mirrors, both big and small. You have the possibility to enhance the effect of glass in the bathroom by installing a glass shower cabin. If the cabin is opaque, then the whole room will appear smaller.
On the other hand, a fully transparent glass shower cabin will add at least a meter of depth to the bathroom. If you are worried about safety with all that glass inches away from your naked body, don’t be, as modern glass shower cabins are completely safe.
Use bright colours
You are probably well-aware that light colours, such as white make objects appear bigger and vice versa; dark colours shrink them in the observer’s view. When you are dealing with tight spaces like small bathrooms, you want to minimize the use of darker shades such as black, dark green, grey, etc.
The ideal colour palette for a cramped bathroom ought to include light colours like white, light blue, light green, beige, etc. Of course, don’t go too far so as to paint the bathroom walls bright yellow of orange, as these colours are too tacky. The bathroom shades are all about relaxing tones helping you unwind during a soapy bath.
A small bathroom might need constant updating in terms of décor and functionality but look at this as an interior décor challenge. We have hopefully listed enough interior design ideas above to get you started.
While updating your smart bathroom to get extra storage space, don’t let it slip your mind that the bathroom is a space intended for relaxing so its spatial organization should reflect this, even in the smallest of bathrooms.