Interior
Bathrooms
These small lavatories are short on space, but they make the most of their size with clever architectural details, surprising storage nooks, and brilliant color schemes.
By Cody Calamaio
Updated on Dec 11, 2023 4:14 PM EST
8 minute read
Photo: istockphoto.com
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Not all bathrooms are built equal in terms of size, and cramped quarters can make everything from decorating to just getting ready in the morning a challenge. These tiny bathroom ideas, however, rise to the occasion with smart space usage and style to spare.
1. Tile Accents
Light-pink cement tile transforms this small walk-in shower from simple to stunning bathroom design. Running along the floor and up the shower wall, these tiles add texture and depth to the space. Gold fixtures and teal walls help to make the room pop, but these warm colors don’t drown out the statement being made by the salmon shower tiles.
2. Bright White
This tiny bathroom’s glossy tile walls and squared sink basin look clean and streamlined, thanks to the crisp glass accents and white color palette. Only the wood bathroom vanity strays from the light-hued design, serving as a sleek, dark focal point that makes everything else look even brighter by contrast.
3. Bathroom Blues
It’s easy to make a small bathroom feel cluttered when incorporating busy, floor-to-ceiling patterns. To add visual interest to a small space without overwhelming it, this bathroom is decorated with one key color: navy blue. The rich hue ties together the plaid floor tiles, beadboard, and printed wallpaper without overwhelming occupants’ senses with too much colorful noise.
4. Monochrome Minimalism
With the right half-bath ideas, even the tiniest can look modern—and it’s easier (and cheaper) to do a minimalist small bathroom remodel than a full bathroom renovation would demand. In this grayscale example, dark-gray tiles travel along the floor and halfway up the wall on which the toilet’s mounted, giving way to a wide shelf and large white tiles that make the narrow room look deceptively larger. A matching slate sink basin and simple hanging mirror keep the walls relatively open while completing the black-and-white look.
5. Mirrored Medicine Cabinets
Adding mirrors to a room can make it feel larger than it is, and the same principle applies to this small bathroom. Here, the homeowners installed two mirrored medicine cabinets side by side for increased illumination and storage. Under-cabinet lighting, a frameless glass shower door, and matte black hexagonal floor tile complete the room.
RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: The Best Toilets
6. Pull-Down Shelving
When space is tight in a tiny bathroom, and standing or wall-mounted storage isn’t an option, shelving built into the bathroom vanity may not be enough on its own. Those are the conditions that inspired this creative pull-down shelf, which hides away bathroom essentials inside the ceiling until they’re needed. It works thanks to tracks built into the shelf, allowing attached sliding metal supports to extend and contract for easy operation.
7. Tucked-Away Shower
Dark-green shower wall tile serves as an eye-catching focal point in this small white bathroom’s design, which is otherwise gleaming thanks to its marble floor tiles and white ceiling. The walls outside the shower are covered in white subway tile with gray grout, and their muted tones really help the green shower tile to pop. Making the most of the narrow niche next to the shower are a thin cedar cabinet and crowning shelves, the latter of which holds simple decor matching the bathroom’s color scheme.
8. Living Wall
For a natural look in a tight space, bamboo is a great choice for the walls and floors, as long as you use the right wood finish to properly waterproof the flooring (or just opt for a wood-look tile). What we’re really swooning over in the half-bathroom by Aussie firm tsai Design, though, is the lush living moss wall behind the toilet and sink.
RELATED: 12 Plants You Can Successfully Grow in the Shower
9. Accent Wallpaper
Despite the tightness of this small bathroom layout, it was given a decidedly decorative lift with black, green, and gilt pineapple wallpaper and black hex floor tiles. While dark colors can sometimes make a room appear smaller, the black tones in this bathroom take the focus off of its size and onto far more interesting design elements, such as the floating marble-and-gray sink beside the shower, silver fixtures and accents interspersed throughout, and shiny golden pineapples on the wallpaper.
10. Bathroom Barn Door
Traditional bathroom doors on hinges take up precious real estate in a cramped bathroom, but they’re not the only options. For a more efficient bathroom door idea, consider installing a sliding barn door on your bathroom instead. Doing so in this bathroom left the homeowners ample space for a standing shelving for clean linens where a door would otherwise swing.
RELATED: Installing a Pocket Door
11. Accents and Metals
The bathroom isn’t where industrial style is often found, but this small washroom reno is proof that it can be done to great effect. Matte black metal pipe supports a squared white sink basin with a flat-black faucet to match, and a doorless walk-in shower is set off (and partially obscured with a panel of frosted glass) by panes of glass framed in black metal. Rather than lean into brick tones, however, white subway tile walls and a vibrant blue accent wall keep the relatively small space spacious and clean in appearance.
12. Stainless Fixtures
Just as mirrors and glass can open up a small lavatory (if only visually) so can classic stainless steel bathroom fixtures and accents. While the layout of this skinny bathroom narrows between the toilet, sink, and shower, the eye is led away from the lacking floor space and toward the gleaming metal pieces set along the walls, making the room seem wider than it actually is.
RELATED: 30 Master Bathroom Ideas You’ll Want to Copy in Your Own Space
13. Tiny Farmhouse Bathroom
Converted from a closet into a bathroom with a decently spacious walk-in shower, this small bathroom was built with a humble-yet-chic modern farmhouse motif in mind. Clean white walls and subway tile contrast with large, dark-gray tile flooring for a minimalist cleanliness, and oil-rubbed bronze shower fixtures and reclaimed wood shelves fully tie the homestead style together.
14. Water Closet
Another closet conversion, this water closet just has the essentials for an extra half-bath or powder room for guests. The miniscule space is able to punch above its weight thanks to its baseboards and recessed paneling, inspired bathroom wall ideas that provide extra visual depth. Similarly, vintage decor and a lighted circular vanity hung high over the toilet tank and sink emphasize the room’s height over its square footage.
15. Tiny Shelves
Tiny bathrooms need an extra dose of creative planning, and dead wall space should not go to waste. Consider adding recessed shelving between wall studs or behind the bathtub surround to maximize your storage options.
RELATED: How to DIY a Wall Alcove in Any Room of the House
16. Black and Gold
Although light colors are more commonly used for a bright, sterile look, this tiny bathroom’s black walls and shower wall tile break with convention—without sacrificing on brilliance. That’s achieved with all-gold fixtures and accents on the sink, mirror, and vanity lights, which create a focal column along the wall. Meanwhile, white floor tile and a light-gray ceiling further “stretch” the room vertically to enhance the illusion of roominess.
17. Overhead Storage
Storage is a valid concern for those with small bathrooms. This cute, natural-looking half-bath takes advantage of empty wall space by hanging a second mirrored cabinet above the toilet tank. This is an especially good storage method if you don’t want a large medicine cabinet hanging over a small sink—doubly so if you’re looking to keep a bathroom full of houseplants bright with reflected sunlight.
RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: The Best Paint for Bathrooms
18. Room for a Tub
Who says homeowners can’t squeeze a small bathtub into a shallow bathroom? Although this tub touches the toilet, the space doesn’t look overly cluttered thanks to the room’s minimal tricolor scheme of white, black, and brown. A small recessed shelf in the showeris also a must when the tub doesn’t leave much space for toiletries.
19. Built-in Shelf
At first glance, this bright bathroom seems to sacrifice storage space in exchange for a clean, tall-looking space. That’s only because it’s easy to miss the built-in shelf that reaches from the shower surround all the way to the end of the wall behind the toilet. While uncommon in bathrooms, built-in shelves can be a great way to break up tile and painted drywall with a wall paneling-like effect, and they provide space for decor and functional items alike.
20. Curved Ceiling
Like some others above, this elegant bathroom uses high-contrast light paint and dark tile to add dimension to the space that would otherwise be lacking, but it goes a step further (or perhaps above) than the rest. That’s because of its curved tray ceiling, which physically expands the headroom available to occupants rather than creating the mere illusion of vertical space. To top it off, this inverted ceiling feature illuminates the shower from overhead with recessed lights.
21. Small Wet Room
Even though they’re often large, this bathroom proves that wet rooms can be on the smaller side, too. It’s minimally adorned, apart from one striking design element: wall-to-wall slate tile floors. They add interesting texture to the room while creating a streamlined, modern look.
22. Corner Shelving
Short on storage space in your bathroom? Take a cue from this tiny loo, which has floating corner shelves conveniently placed adjacent to the toilet. The wooden ledges are just right for stashing toilet paper, extra hand towels, cotton balls, and decor. The shelves grow wider the higher up the wall they go, which allows for ample room for maneuvering around the toilet.
RELATED: Buyer’s Guide: The Best Over-the-Toilet Storage
23. Clawfoot Tub
Stately clawfoot bathtubs perhaps most often appear in spacious wet rooms, and that’s a shame since these attractive tubs come in multiple sizes. With the right placement of fixtures and just enough room for its full length, the clawfoot tub in this small bathroom makes a strong case for keeping your bathtime options open even when working with limited floor space.
24. Rustic Storage
No room for storing toilet paper in your tiny bathroom? No problem! Shelving built into the shared wall between the toilet and shower in this white bathroom with stained wood accents is capable of holding far more TP than a typical spare toilet paper holder, with room for other essentials or decor to spare.
RELATED: The 12 Best Storage Products and Organizers to Declutter Your Bathroom
25. Corner Sink
A corner sink opens up this tiny bathroom, giving the rest of the off-camera space room to breathe. A mirrored medicine cabinet mounted above the sink, conveniently sharing its cornered shape, serves as a catchall for toiletries, while a hanging decorative light illuminates decor pieces placed on top.
RELATED: How Much Does a Small Bathroom Remodel Cost?
26. Sauna Style
For those who don’t hail from Finland, a home sauna is something commonly associated with large budgets and even bigger houses. Not so with this El Dorado, California tiny home, which has a bathroom that turns into a sauna, complete with a wood cover that converts the bathtub into a sauna bench.
