51 small bathroom ideas from the House & Garden archive

A small bathroom is a challenge that many of us face, especially for flat-living urban dwellers and those blessed with old, draughty cottages (and all of their old-school spaces and awkward corners). Getting the most out of your bathroom’s square footage, however, is easier than it seems. A guiding principle here at House & Garden is that small spaces are the perfect an opportunity to get creative (and sometimes the best things really do come in small packages…).

How to design a small bathroom

Walk-in shower, or a shower-bath?

Shower-bath or walk-in shower? It’s the big conundrum in a small bathroom: do you have room for a bath? It’s a personal choice, of course, and we’ve seen some cleverly-designed shower-baths that can make a real style statement. If you opt for the latter, make sure you choose some really beautiful bathroom tiles as they’ll be taking up so much visual space in the room.

The loo’s the thing

Wall-hung loo or freestanding? A wall-hung toilet, or one where the cistern is boxed in, can be great for a more contemporary feel. For a more traditional feel, we love the old-fashioned Victorian-style contraptions with cisterns placed high above the seat.

Choice in vanity makes the bathroom

Choose your vanity carefully: a wall-hung vanity is the most space-saving option of course, but you may want to put your basin on a vanity that incorporates storage, if you have nowhere else to store things. Pedestals don’t really perform much of a function, but vanities on a metal frame can be quite handy for storing towels.

We love how Daniel Slowik has used mirrored cabinets in the small bathroom of this Chelsea flat, which greatly increases the feeling of space and the sense of being enveloped in luxurious marble.

Boz Gagovski

Storage, storage, storage

Get in storage wherever you can: you’re going to need somewhere to keep all your lotions, potions and beautifying products, so you might as well make sure it’s contributing aesthetically. If you use panelling, build a small shelf on top of the panelling where you can put your toothbrush and cosmetics; install hooks everywhere you might want to hang a towel or dressing gown. For loos where the cistern is boxed in, make sure there is enough room on top of the boxing to put things. Antique or bobbin shelves, too, pair perfectly with a small bathroom. Follow the adage that if everything has a place, you won’t feel the small size of the bathroom too much.

What’s on the walls counts

No matter its size, a room will have four walls, each a perfect canvas to show off one’s penchants in decoration. Tongue-and-groove panelling in a small bathroom, for example, is a great way to demarcate spaces (you might use it, for example, to create a special zone for the bath), and lends a traditional look while avoiding the pitfalls of wallpaper in a badly ventilated room. If you do have ventilation in the bathroom, on the other hand, we love a bathroom wallpaper – nothing adds character in quite the same way. Tiles and backsplashes, too, offer ample opportunity for inventiveness: a small bathroom is a perfect place to try out some beautiful tiles as a backsplash for the sink (you won’t need too many) or experiment with a bespoke panels behind the bath or shower.