How does one decorate a bathroom when its tiny?

[homemaker carol]

Can someone tell me?

I have such a small bathroom. It has a toilet, bathtub, a small sink and barely any room to move around in. And yet, I would like to decorate it but can't seem to find a way to make it look larger and more functional.

HELP!!

[pat]

Know exactly what you mean. I have a tiny bathroom as well. I use light colors and try to keep the counter clean (hide all the clutter). The hall bathroom is larger and I do have a nice print hanging in there and can usually put out some type of seasonal decoration.

[Dee]

I too have a tiny bathroom so I will be watching this thread for any help I can get! :D

Right now I have mine decorated with eggshell on the walls and very light colors in the accessories, but I am needing a change so I'll let you know what I do. :)

[dolphindream]

Our master bath is tiny as well. We haven't remodeled it yet, but there's really no way to change it around from how it currently is, we'll just be updating everything.

I do have a towel rack from Home Interiors very similar to this one - http://www.homeinteriors.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=10001&productId=10003981&langId=-1&categoryId=9999 Mine has 4 places for towels though and no glass accent balls. That will go on the wall behind the toilet.

The only place I can really put any sort of small picture in there is to the left side of the vanity mirror.


CJ, when you walk into your bathroom, what is straight ahead as you enter through the doorway? If you have wall area there, a mirror would reflect back into the room or hallway outside the door and add some false illusion of space.

[Sara]

I think you can deliver a lot of punch with bringing in color in the obvious places like the shower curtain, bath rugs, towels, and toothbrush holders, soap dishes, etc. You can do a lot with small details too like outlet covers, register covers, window treatments, waste baskets. Embellishing things like the mirror or vanity too. (example new knobs on any cabinets or floral decor around the mirror) I like to see bathrooms that have a crisp almost sterile appearance. I like to see glass jars used and displayed if possible on a shelf or counter if possible or a small basket of pamper items like loufahs, brushes, soaps, bubble baths, etc. I think the most important features in a small bathroom are the shower curtain and lighting. Pale colors work best too. The shelving units that fit above the toilet work nice in small spaces too.

It's hard to tell without seeing the space, but many small bathrooms may seem tiny to you, but are charming to anyone else.

Number one thing is removing clutter and any large objects. Large objects close in the room and your eyes will focus on them,

[homemaker carol]

I don't have any large objects Sara - no room. Lets see, I'm going to measure the bathroom. Its 4'5" x 7'5". We also don't have a shower curtain because of where the windows are, you can't have a shower.

Kim, as you walk in, you see the toilet!!!

[dolphindream]

In our hall bath (the one currently being remodeled), the toilet was straight down from the door as well! I hated it! Thankfully we had enough room that dh was able to move it to the side of the vanity so now we'll have a towel bar (maybe) on that wall.

[Emerald_Mommy]

Our one & only bathroom is tiny. We decorated in very light, off white colors. We put a cabinet with towel bar over the toilet (which is right in front of you as you open the door) we hung white shelves from Target over the counter. On the shelves we have one shell picture my dh painted and 3 tiny pictures of my oldest dd taken while she was a baby in the tub. We have clear shower curtains to make the room look lighter. Doesn't do much for privacy but it does make it so you can see the entire tiny room (5ft X 4 ft)

[debbiepittman]

I have heard or read that mirrors help widen a room....also light. You might fix the window treatment (if you have a window) to allow light in during the day.

Chose one wall and place mirrored tile on it instead of painting or wall paper. If you have room in a corner preferrably where it gets well reflected by the mirrored wall, place a boston fern or other greenery from the ceiling.

If you have a piece of space at one end of the tub, you might put a wall shelf and put some pretty tiny plants on it (again trying to make them reflect from the mirrored wall). Choosing plants that require a good bit of water or humidity will probably work best.

Debbie

[debbiepittman]

PS I also agree on the light walls...I'm going to do mine white. It is probably about 6' square.

I'm also using ocean fish and such for decor. I have no plants as yet. I do an outdoor vegie garden. Kids tear up the indoor plants as yet. Maybe someday.

Debbie

[Telephus44]

I find that the easiest thing that make our bathroom look bigger is bold colors. We had a GC to Crate and Barrel that was going to expire to we went in and got a small rug (2' x 3'), Shower curtain, and matching hand towels in BRIGHT RED. It really helps pull the bathroom together and not look so small. Before this, we had everything in a dark forest green color.

I agree with most everyone else about bringing the light in, but in every apartment we've ever had, we haven't had a window in the bathroom. Also, painting the walls was always out of the question.

[Englishlady]

OK, here is what I would do, White, light, clean & bright :D

White because it is inoffensive, doesn't "date" too many colours look "old" after just a few years ;)

Reflective surfaces too are good and bounce the light around.........don't try for "cosy" in a room this small it will just seem to make it even smaller and if you have seen the sizes of the rooms in MY house ( in a previous thread about how big is your house) you can see, that when we are talking small rooms I KNOW what I am talking about :D

If you have flat wall surfaces then I would suggest a huge Mirror, but not the fancy kind, rather one that you buy cut to size at a Glass & Glazing specialist.

It must be the "safety" kind and tell them it is for a bathroom, normal plate mirror will start to "shed" it's silver backing in a bathroom environment ;)

I personally wouldn't put a Mirror above a toilet :p no one wants to see them selves from "that angle" when they turn around to , er,complete the task in hand, lets say :o
I would put the Mirror along the biggest expanse of wall, making sure that the wall oposite the Mirror is as uncluttered and bright as possible.

Lighting is very important and recessed or "Eyeball" lights are best for a Bathroom.

Small rooms look even smaller if the main light is big and in the center of the room (also the brighter the light bigger the space available will seem).

I would pick something like Chrome for Taps and Towel rails as it is light reflective.
Shiny worktops whilst a pain to clean! DO reflect the light around better than a Matt finish surface.

If you want some colour in there then I would go for for an accent colour, like a particular colour for a bath Towel or bath mat ........these can be changed when you get bored with them or fed up of that one particular colour.

If you use a shower Curtain be aware that the colour you choose will be a huge WALL of colour in a very tiny room and if it is anything other than white or clear ( like the plastic bubble style ones) the Shower curtain will dominate the whole room and it is a dark colour it will "absorb" what ever light is available in the room and make it seem even smaller.

If you have the space to store Bathroom things close to but outside of the actual room this will help.
(In our house I have used a book case in the hallway, we stack towels in it and I made a cover for it, I decorated this curtain with Bathroom relevant words written in Gold Caligraphy~ hand painted on to the fabric :D

Hope some that helps?
Karen

[Darlene]

We have a very small bath and I have decorated it with warm sugar cookie yellow (mellow) for the walls and my shower curtain is pale Monet type pastels. My towels are either a pale blue or a light sage green. I wasn't looking to expand the space just make the small place feel good.:)