Making the most of a small world

The bathroom is usually the most limited room in the house. Kya deLongchamps offers 10 tips for a small bathroom.

THE less room you have to work with, the harder every available centimetre has to perform, but with some forward planning, less really can be more. A small bathroom can stir the senses and succeed as well as a sprawling spa set over metres of marble. Hotels know how it’s done. Next time you’re away, take in that tightly managed environment. A wall-hung toilet, a gorgeous sink set in a slender counter with a shelved recess containing a massive mirror, lovely unifying tile, flattering lighting and perfect ventilation. Invariably the bath doubles as a shower. Invest in the best quality you can afford with any small space as you’re covering less square metres for the final finish. It’s the installation that’s really going to cost.

1. WHICH WARE WHERE?

Wall-hung toilet pans not only free up the footprint, but allow a pale floor to do its work, bouncing light around the room. They also eliminate the delightful job of cleaning around the back of a pedestal, your nose pressed against the bowl. There will be significant extra expense to completely disguise a tank in a false wall. If you’re cutting into the available floor space by framing out, there’s still potential for a chic, recessed area of wall above the tanked area, incorporating shelving from waist height. Add a wall-to-wall mirror inside the recess with energy-saving LED lighting above to give an attractive reflection and multiple natural light. Corner cisterns can hug a tiny area with a triangular tank.

2. BATHING BEAUTY.

Contrary to popular belief, corner baths, with the exception of off-set corner models in the right room, are space monsters, ballooning out across a small floor area. A shorter, deeper Japanese scale bath (1200X700mm) offers luxury and that all important illusion of more space. If you shower most of the time, choose a compact shower/bath of 1500mm or less and consider a ‘P’ shape with a dedicated semi-circular screen on the bath’s edge. These designs can be set for the ‘P’ end to wrap around the sink position. Shower curtains look a mess in small bathrooms. Swap it out for a folding or fixed screen in clear glass. For a fixed screen explore frameless designs in rectangles or a sweeping ‘sails’ design in seductive curves. Flair Namara and Wetroom screens now feature ClearShield glass that keeps itself clean. www.flairshowers.com.

3. SHOWERING SOLO

The ultimate bravery is to lose the bath altogether in favour or a shower or ‘wet’ room. In tiny shower rooms, a curved quadrant shower enclosure with a curved third edge instead of a sharp corner are ideal. Look for an inward opening door where space is really tight. An authentic wetroom without a tray and enclosure must be perfectly tanked and tiled to succeed, but can be as impressive as a full bathroom when well detailed.

4. SLENDER SPACE BENDERS

Tall units take up a fraction of floor space and a vertical form will visually push up the ceiling. They can be flush to the floor or legged for easy cleaning. On a budget, Argos’s wide-weave, 4-drawer unit at just €26.99 comes in zinging shades that can be tied to a medicine cabinets in the Colour Match series in Funky Fuscia, Green Apple, Purple Fizz and Lagoon. €27.99. Ensure taller cabinets are completely stable if you have young children. If you have timber frame walls, it’s possible to build MDF boxes inside the frame to act as slim built-in cupboards without compromising on room.

5. SLIM SINKS

Your sink doesn’t have to look mean in a smaller space, but think about reducing the projection of the sink by choosing a model that’s longer than it is deep. Get the scale right and two sinks can take the pressure off one bathroom and a larger family scrambling for escape on weekday mornings.

6. UP THE WALLS

The next logical place with all that free wall space is to take blind cabinets and hang them up. You can go further than the obligatory medicine cabinet. Larger pieces such as our featured Godmorgon cabinets from IKEA are well worth consideration as they float in the space but swallow up bulky items that would otherwise clutter the room. Keep large cabinets shallow and confined to just one wall and put some attractive baskets or bench storage below the dead space or you’ll end up with the misplaced charm of a locker room. Ensure you have enough leeway to open the doors comfortably.

7. COUNTER MEASURES

Placing the sink in a long counter to create a vanity area is ideal for long narrow bathrooms and offers potential for open and closed storage areas in doors, drawers and shelving below. For awkward areas with curves or a tricky corner, a clever carpenter can customise the carcasses and counters and add off the peg doors (look at the kitchen ranges). Wood is seeing a comeback in panelling and door fronts and anything you can do in wood, granite, marble or laminate worktops will work as a bathroom counter, too.

8. BLIND FAITH

The bathroom window can admit plenty of light with blinds or shutters. Choose products that are resistant to splashes and wipe them down regularly. If you want to go completely without a dressing, and the glass is not an obscuring variety, window film introduces privacy while mildly diffusing a light that’s ideal for making up and shaving. Suppliers include Purlfrost and Window Wallpaper. www.windowwallpaper.co.uk.

9. REFLECTED GLORY.

A mirror placed opposite the window doubles its benefits, but don’t go mad. Multiple reflections can be confronting at best and downright eerie at worst. Woodies offer a Noa chrome and glass mirror with integrated lighting offering stay-over glamour for €80.98. Taking a standard large mirror around a corner into an ‘L’ shape can have a dramatic impact on light and spaciousness.

10. TILE TIPS

Large tiles are generally not recommended for small spaces, but tiny tiles up the number of distracting grout lines. Medium scale varieties with a long profile can lengthen stuffy walls. Dramatic colours and over excited patterning are dubious choices that can draw the walls in, but texture can add another dimension to a more discreet pale choice. More pricey metallic and glass tiles offer mesmeric reflections and a stunning play of light. If you find floor-to-ceiling too institutional or expensive, stop the tiling at dado height, lifting it to the ceiling or shoulder height in the showering area. You can also run tiling through the floor, walls and right around the bath as a unifying feature that will expand the apparent space. Painted walls in the remaining areas can carry the colour missing elsewhere offering a chance for change in the future.