When it comes to bathrooms, small is in the eye of the beholder. Keep that in mind when flipping through this roundup, which features 30 bathrooms from around the world that fall somewhere between teeny tiny and conventional-size but compact. Each offers ideas for using space efficiently and stylishly without sacrificing function — a good goal for any bathroom. Soak them in, tell us your favorite, then add your best space-saving tips in the Comments.
Leonardo Di Chiara
1. Customize and Maximize
Pro: Leonardo Di Chiara
Location: Italy
It’s said often but it bears repeating: If your budget permits, hire a bathroom designer or bathroom remodeler to see how you can maximize every inch of your small bathroom while still meeting local building codes.
Custom cabinetry can be pricey, but consider the bathroom in this Italian tiny house. If this sliver of space can fit a shower, a sink concealed in the back wall and a composting toilet in the bench, imagine what the right design can do for your (likely larger) room.
(Click on the images to see additional photos of each project.)
2. Lose the Vanity
Pro:
Location: London
Bulky vanities are space hogs. For a tight bathroom, consider a small wall-mounted sink instead. To keep it from looking institutional, splurge on a pretty P-trap that matches your other hardware.
Bonus tip: A recessed mirrored medicine cabinet (or two) makes up for lost vanity storage.
12 Designer Tips to Make a Small Bathroom Better
hecticrAt architects
3. Clear the Ground
Pro: hecticrAT architects
Location: Sydney
If you prefer a vanity, make it wall-mounted too. While you’re at it, opt for a wall-hung toilet and wall-hung accessories. Keeping the ground clear will not only make your bathroom look larger, it will also make the floor easier to clean.
Bonus tip: Wall-mounting your faucet allows you to save inches at the back of the sink. If you live in a cold climate and you’re mounting the sink on an exterior wall, just make sure your pipes are well-insulated.
Shop for bathroom sinks
4. Try a Trough Sink
Pro:
Location: Winter Park, Florida
If you’re dead-set on a double sink but don’t have space for side-by-side basins, consider a trough sink with two faucets and a single drain.
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Pettet Architects
5. Go Nuts With Niches
Pro: Pettet Architects
Location: Sydney
Recessed storage is the way to go in small spaces because it adds elbow room and reduces the chances of knocking stuff off of — and knocking your head on — open shelves. The previous photo illustrated how to make up for missing counter space with well-placed niches; here, a lighted niche that extends the entirety of a wall enhances the look and offers tons of storage to boot. Don’t stop there: You can create a niche for your toilet paper, your towels, you name it.
Benchmark Lofts Ltd
6. Tuck in the Toilet Tank
Pro: Benchmark Lofts
Location: London
Recessing your toilet tank into the space between the studs gives you several more inches of clearance in front of the toilet, whether it’s floating, as it is here, or freestanding. Installation and repairs can be more complicated than with a standard toilet, but you’ll get more leg room, and the increased clearance can mean the difference between meeting code and not.
Key Measurements to Make the Most of Your Bathroom
NEVA Architecture Intérieure - Interior Design
7. Seek Out Small Appliances
Pro: NEVA
Location: Paris
A sink on top of a washing machine? A tiny curved corner shower? We’ve also seen a sink on top of a toilet tank and fold-away shower doors. The space savings offered by these and other products designed specifically for small bathrooms is worth the extra legwork to find them.
Archifacturing
8. Opt for a Glass Door
Pro: Archifacturing
Location: Rome
Most of the previous photos feature baths and showers with frameless glass enclosures, and for good reason: They visually open up a space and don’t block light. This one is hinged, which, in a tight space, makes it easier to bathe kids, get in and out and access the controls.
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Red Door Living
9. Clear Your Curtain
Pro: Red Door Living
Location: Hollywood Hills, California
Clear plastic shower curtains confer many of the same benefits of glass, plus they have two clear advantages: They’re inexpensive, and they can be pushed all the way to one side to really open up a space. You can also install a bowed shower curtain rod to give you more elbow room in the shower.
Bonus tip: You can use the outer rod of a double curtain rod for drying towels and sweaters.
Docklands Bathrooms
10. Run a Track
Pro: Docklands
Location: London
Another shower curtain hack is to install it on a hospital track in the ceiling so there’s no bulky metal or plastic rod in your line of sight when the curtain is retracted.
Bonus tip: Running the curtain all the way to the ceiling makes the ceiling look higher.
User
11. Shorten the Tub
Pro: Eighty2
Location: Bristol, England
Don’t despair if you love a soak but don’t have space for a standard tub. In addition to the shortened drop-in style shown here, mini clawfoot tubs as well as round Japanese ofuro-style soaking tubs measuring under 40 inches long are available. Another alternative is an ADA-compliant walk-in tub — some are as short as 38 inches.
Bonus tip: Deep tubs can be dicey to get in and out of, even for people without mobility issues. Whatever the design, it’s smart to install a grab bar nearby.
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Kitty Lee Architecture
12. Break the Shower Barrier
Pro: Kitty Lee Architecture
Location: Sydney
Curbless or barrier-free showers allow a seamless run of floor tile in the bathroom. When paired with a frameless glass shower door or partial glass enclosure, they create the illusion of more space and can improve accessibility. (The tile slopes gently toward the drain in the shower area, but with a partial glass screen, a central drain can help keep the floor dry too.)
Bonus tip: Ideally, you can place the controls so they’re accessible without having to get inside the shower. Can’t move the plumbing? Near the controls, have a hole cut in the glass panel just big enough for you to reach in.
DSOD
13. Consider a Wet Room
Pro: DSOD
Location: Singapore
The open-concept bathroom (aka wet room) doesn’t appeal to everyone, and this combined toilet and shower area is sure to be polarizing. But as you can see here, it’s certainly efficient.
Maxime Teruel - Architecte d'intérieur
14. Get Totally Wet
Pro: Maxime Teruel, Architect
Location: Nancy, France
To maximize a truly tiny footprint, take a cue from this wet room created in a former boiler room. It combines all of the bathroom elements in one space, with one central floor drain. Notice in this and the previous photo that the toilet paper has a cover so it stays dry.
Interiors By Patrick
15. Manage Moisture
Pro: Interiors by Patrick
Location: Los Angeles
It’s hard to keep water in its place in any small bathroom, so choose waterproof surfaces and damp- or wet-rated lighting for any vulnerable areas. Wooden vanities tucked tightly against showers are frequent victims. If you’re stuck with that layout, try marine paint on the vanity, choose a ceramic pedestal or wall-hung sink or install a gorgeous waterfall counter like this one.
Bonus tip: Don’t skimp on ventilation, especially if your bathroom lacks a window, since a steamy small bathroom spells mildew.
NEVA Architecture Intérieure - Interior Design
16. Pocket the Door
Pro: NEVA Architecture Interieure
Location: Paris
Unlike a swinging door, a pocket door doesn’t require clearance inside the bathroom. Just be aware that it isn’t as soundproof or easy to use as a standard door, and when mounting anything on that wall, you’ll need to ensure your screws don’t protrude into the door’s path.
TKS Design Group
17. Seek Shallow and Tall Cabinets
Pro: The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn
Location: Chicago
Shallow cabinetry and countertops suffice for most items in a bathroom, and they open up floor space. Try to extend your storage to the ceiling and the shelf the full width of the room, as was done here — just make sure you can still get into the tank.
Urban Chalet Inc.
18. Swap Bars for Hooks
Pro: Urban Chalet
Location: New York City
In a small, narrow bathroom, a protruding towel rack is always in the way and requires a lot of wall space. Mount high and-or folding-style hooks, which fit just about anywhere and work for robes too.
Bonus tip: A great alternative to hooks and standard towel racks is a swivel towel holder that has several arms you can collapse flush against the wall when not in use.
Gathered
19. Move the Mirror
Pro: Gathered
Location: North Carolina
When you don’t have space for a wall-hung mirror or medicine cabinet above the sink, mount a flexible- or extending-arm mirror nearby. Even better, mount it so you can pull it in front of the window for natural lighting while in use.
Shop for mirrors
ArchiNature Photography
20. Let in the Light
Pro: ArchiNature Photography
Location: Surrey, England
Insufficient lighting can make a small bathroom feel even more cramped. In addition to installing wall, overhead and undercabinet light fixtures, find a way to introduce natural light, which is more flattering and requires no energy. A good alternative (or addition) to a window is a skylight, which doesn’t take up functional wall space.
Bonus tip: Clerestory windows don’t use up much wall space either, plus they create ambient lighting instead of the harsh overhead lighting you might get from skylights.
5 Solutions to Small-Bathroom Problems
Adam Gibson Design
21. Try Tubular Skylights
Pro: Adam Gibson Design
Location: Indianapolis
This tiny bathroom had no room for a window, so the designer installed a tubular skylight to introduce natural light. Some models can reach all the way from the basem*nt to the roof.
Barbora Vokac Taylor Architect
22. Whiten and Brighten
Pro: Barbora Vokac Taylor Architect
Location: Toronto
Keeping the palette mostly white, or at least light-colored, makes a small room seem better-lit than it would if painted in muddy or dark colors, especially if natural light is scarce.
Bonus tip: A medicine cabinet with integrated lighting eliminates the need for sconces.
Noble Johnson Architects
23. Consider the Ceiling
Pro: Noble Johnson Architects
Location: Nashville, Tennessee
Extending the wall treatment to the ceiling draws the eye up, making a low ceiling feel higher.
Bonus tip: Running subway tiles vertically on walls has a similar effect.
Sea Island Builders LLC
24. Go Dark
Pro: Sea Island Builders
Location: Charleston, South Carolina
It might seem counterintuitive, but using a dark-colored accent wall strategically can also make a room feel larger. In this fairly long but narrow bathroom, the black wall recedes, giving the room an illusion of even more length.
Gia Mar Interiors
25. Tile All of the Walls
Pro: Gianna Marzella of Gia Mar Interiors
Location: Queens, New York
Tiling only part of the walls can make a tight bathroom feel disjointed. Tiling all of the walls up to the ceiling creates unity and looks more luxe.
Bonus tip: Limiting colors and materials lets the eye travel, which visually expands a space.
Bo Fentum Design
26. Go Big With Pattern
Pro: Bo Fentum Design
Location: London
The conventional wisdom is that large patterns typically make a small space look larger than small patterns do. Without a doubt, big pattern gives this room big personality. The key to the bold pattern not feeling overpowering in such a small space is keeping other elements of the room simple.
Bonus tip: Similarly, large-format tile can make a room look bigger than small tile can.
Anya Brakha
27. Glam It Up
Pro: Anya Brakha
Location: London
An upside of a tiny bathroom? A little bit of an expensive material goes a long way. A few touches of gold against marble make this London bathroom look ultra glamorous.
SWEET HOME PARIS
28. Reflect On Mirrors
Pro: Sweet Home Paris
Location: Paris
Mirrors visually double a space and bounce around light, both of which do wonders for a small bathroom. (The previous two photos benefit from this as well.) To maximize the effect in this Parisian apartment, open shelving and lighting are installed right on the mirror.
Lux Interiors
29. Go Round and Round
Pro: Lux Interiors
Location: Doubleview, Australia
This contemporary bathroom is a great example of using rounded corners to create flow — and to prevent bruised hips from sharp corners — in a compact space.
Bonus tip: Repetition of shape creates cohesiveness in a room and is pleasing to the eye.
Paradise Tiny Homes LLC
30. Capitalize on Corners
Pro: Paradise Tiny Homes
Location: Hawaii
The corner basin sink and shelves in this Hawaiian tiny house’s bathroom show just how much function can be packed into what’s often a little-used space. The compact corner shower is built out over the tongue of the trailer on which it sits, and it features a rounded glass bypass door.
Bonus tip: Click on this photo to see the whole tiny house, which is full of great tiny-space ideas.
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