Small Bathroom Remodeling: Finding Hidden Beauty in Your Small Space
Do you have small bathrooms in your home in Washington, DC, Maryland, or Northern Virginia? We understand it can feel like the cramped conditions are something you just have to live with, but this isn’t necessarily the case! Fortunately, with a good design team that is sensitive to the issues involved in small bathroom remodeling, existing space can be maximized and general livability can be improved. Even if the overall square footage remains relatively small, a properly designed small bathroom can become an enjoyable feature of your home.
Before beginning your small bathroom remodeling project, the Wentworth design-build team will help you navigate a few of the important design considerations. And if we think a bathroom addition is a good idea, we’ll let you know.
Spacing Out: Maximizing Space
With the right design-build team, a small bathroom can be beautiful and functional
Maximizing space is imperative in a small bathroom. If there are existing linen closets or poorly planned adjacent closets that can be sacrificed to enlarge the room, we may suggest incorporating that space into a new bathroom design. Accordingly, a well-designed and efficient linen cabinet is a better solution than a clunky old-fashioned closet.
Oversized swing doors (doors wider than 28 inches) are wasteful in a small bathroom, and simply reducing the size of a door width to 28 inches can help improve overall functionality! A pocket door can also be an efficient way to gain floor space in a small bathroom.
Small details, like a glass door rather than a shower curtain, are a great way to visually expand a small space. When using wall tile for your small bathroom remodel, tiling all the way up to the ceiling enhances the vertical sense of space. Tile can be installed in the shower stall all the way up to the ceiling, and all the way up the wall behind the pedestal sink, thus providing a sense of additional height.
Glass enclosures instead
of shower curtains
visually enhance space
in a small bathroom
If you have an attic above your small bathroom, it may be possible to borrow from the attic space to create a light shaft for a skylight or a vaulted tray ceiling. Either choice will give the room additional vertical dimension.
Fitting In: Fixtures, Products & Fittings
Neutral marble and fixtures coupled with an eye-catching paint color is the perfect way to spruce up an outdated small bathroom
When planning for a small bathroom remodel, it is critical to select fixtures, products, and fittings that are appropriately sized for the room, and Wentworth’s award-winning designers can help you in the process. It is not uncommon for an inexperienced designer to select pedestal sinks, toilets, or tubs that are too large for the space. A pedestal sink that is too wide or too deep for a small bathroom can have a negative impact! A smart way to save space in a small bathroom is to specify a round-front toilet instead of an elongated toilet because it saves 2 to 3 inches of space.
Pedestal sinks are great space-savers and are, therefore, ideal in small bathroom remodeling. However, if a vanity with storage is necessary, a vanity cabinet that either hangs on the wall or has feet that lift off the floor is a good possibility. In fact, many of today’s pedestal sinks and vanity products accommodate small spaces. Where many vanity units used to require 21 to 24 inches in depth, the new products are designed to fit a vanity 18 inches in depth, and most of them have storage and drawers built into the cabinets. With proper small bathroom remodeling planning, it is possible to have handy 6-inch-deep medicine cabinets with integrated lighting.
Tile installed all the way
to the top of the ceiling
in the shower provides the added illusion of height
Design Tips for Your Small Bathroom Renovation
Because busy patterns and complex tile arrangements usually can make a small bathroom seem even smaller, neutral colors and simple materials are ideal—use the “less is more” philosophy for your remodel. Another advantage of light, neutral colors is that they are “timeless” and will be appealing not only to you but to future buyers as well. A small bathroom renovation is the perfect opportunity to choose one or two of your favorite design features and make the most a small space!
Browse our portfolio to see pictures of bathroom remodels we have completed in the past, and call Wentworth for your small bathroom renovation in Maryland, Washington, DC, or Virginia!
