Struggling with how to make a small bathroom look bigger while also making the best use of your current space? We understand how tricky this can be, and we’ve also got plenty of solutions that can help you with this common problem.
Only some bathrooms can accommodate a double shower, freestanding soaker tub, or dual vanities. But every bathroom can maximize its current space, especially when you use strategic tricks to make a small bathroom look bigger – and feel bigger, too. Here’s where to start.
Small Bathroom Remodeling Tips to Make the Space Look Bigger
If space is at a premium, these small bathroom remodeling tips make for great updates that can make your bathroom appear bigger than it really is.
Use Light and Neutral Colors
Use neutral colors in light hues throughout the space to make your bathroom feel more open and airy. Better yet, use one color for the walls, floors, and ceiling, then a slightly contrasting shade in the same color family for flooring materials and all other surfaces to trick the eye into seeing a bigger space than what’s really there. Opting for cooler colors can further this illusion, making it seem like the walls are actually receding from the eye.
Highlight Key Areas
While we’re on the subject of light, accent lighting can (and should!) be used to guide the eye throughout the room and highlight features that make the space seem larger.
Place shelves in the room's corners and light them with track lighting or LED light strips. Casting light in corners and crevices brings attention to details that otherwise go unnoticed and helps create a vertical path of vision for people to follow. When you look up and down versus horizontally, rooms appear to be a lot more spacious than they actually are. Wall sconces, overhead lights, hanging pendants, and lamps installed higher in the room will also push vision upward and elongate vertical space.
Let There Be Light
Let in as much natural light as possible to open up the space and provide character. The best way to do this is to forego window coverings, but if you need them for privacy, then choose sheer window treatments or large slat blinds in the same color as the walls. You can further maximize light by installing an oversize mirror or set of mirrors to produce extra sparkle, or even an electric lighted mirror.
Other ways light can be used to help you succeed in making a small bathroom look bigger is by using clear glass enclosures in spaces like the shower to keep sunlight filtering throughout the room, as well as using recessed lighting in the ceilings to create a feeling of increased vertical space. You can also put your overhead lights on a dimmer switch to adjust lighting when the sun goes down to make the space seem cozy rather than just small.
Choose the Right Fixtures
Maximize the appearance and functionality of floor space with wall-mounted fixtures like toilets, vanities, and sinks. You should also consider using smaller fixtures in order to provide more space to move around, as well as pedestal sinks instead of a vanity, since pedestals generally take up half the space.
These and other design decisions (such as using large-format floor tiles with subtle patterns and extending cabinets to the ceiling) are all simple but effective tricks to make a small bathroom look bigger. Contact us today for additional design support, and learn how you can easily make the most of your current space.
