Blueprint size doesn’t have to correlate with care. If anything, the smaller the bathroom, the more effort you exude to make it right. After all, what did the tiny powder room tucked under the stairs ever do to you? In this easy breezy guide, I’ll share the spatial design hacks that have served me throughout the years, beautifully, because storage for a very small bathroom doesn’t have to be ugly or even cookie cutter.
Now, let’s normalise the little bathroom love.
Contents:
The Tiny Bathroom Problem
You used up a hefty slice of your savings installing/renovating the bones of your bathroom. So, when spatial issues crop up, the strongest urge is to scream. I know what you’re thinking. “God, why must these small spaces be the most expensive rooms to build and the most finickity to fix?”
Before you spiral, do know that you’re not alone. Most UK bathrooms take up a footprint between 3.5m² and 5m², but especially if you live in a new build, it might only just sit on the right side of tiny. A floorplan more along the lines of 2-4m2.
This ostensibly poses a major problem. With your fixtures taking up the spotlight (as they so often deserve), where does all the storage live? The cleaning supplies, towels, bathmats, cosmetics, hair accessories, and toothbrushes need to go somewhere.
And besides shoving them into an ill-fitting cabinet, there don’t seem to be many options. Or, at the very least, very few that don’t require ripping out everything wholesale and rethinking your dimensions afresh.
The short answer? It takes a lot of careful planning and opening your mind to unconventional solutions that save you space and the stress.
Getting Over the First Hurdle (Yes, It’s All in the Mindset)
Beyond the structural things, like planning the layout and clearance of your bathroom fixtures, it pays to retrain your brain. Instead of thinking, “how can I squish in as many cabinets and cubbies as possible?”, think, “how can I make the flow and fixture configuration work with my storage options?”
Most times it’s a matter of realising what needs to be removed from the space, identifying where you’re being too liberal with the accessories and when you’re mimicking someone else’s bathroom rather than adapting the concepts to the real-world quirks of your own space.
This is much a mindset shift as it is a reorganisation. So, reframe your thinking around what is possible and where storage can be. For instance, who said that your toiletries ought to live in a cupboard over the sink. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. And dead corners? They = opportunities.
The bonus of this approach is that small bathroom ideas that meld into the architecture often look more intentional for it, and your overall scheme oozes authenticity.
11 Very Small Bathroom Storage that Will Change Your Life
It’s not hyperbole, I promise. I’ve used many of these tiny bathroom storage hacks in my own en suites and family bathrooms over the years, and I cannot even begin to tell you how the regained inches uplifted the vibe and my mood on early mornings.
1. Nail the Layout First
You don’t need me to tell you that before you get to furnishing your bathroom you’ve got to make the most of every single inch. A prerequisite then is a convenient, liveable layout.
That means opting for just a shower if a bath won’t cram in, keeping your essentials ergonomically placed (think: your towel rail directly opposite the tub), and switching up your hardware to regain the inches.
In the example above, the homeowner has installed a corner toilet and chosen bi-folding doors for the shower – the same could work for the main bathroom entrance or you could try a screen door.
2. Ditch Bulky Fixtures for Fluid, Slimline Features
Your bathroom fixtures, storage included, doesn’t have to be bulky. In smaller spaces, they have a tendency of ‘weighing down’ the décor and drawing attention to the undesirable dimensions. Your solution is to pick fluid, slimline pieces with curved edges; here, you can enjoy an organic, expensive feel and win back a few extra centimetres.
3. Remove Items that Don’t Serve Your Daily Routine
If there’s anything in your bathroom that you don’t regularly use, take that as your sign to delete it. Chairs when your clothes always end up on the floor; your toilet roll holder when you tend to keep the boxes of it in a storage room. Radiators, even, are sometimes more hassle and handy, especially when towel rails and underfloor heating serve the same purpose.
4. Deprioritise the Bath
We all love the image of the spa retreat, a freestanding, claw-foot tub basking in the centre of the bathroom. But, usually, that’s not reality. Even if you’re clinging to the bath idea because you’re worried it might put future buyer’s off, don’t worry, it doesn’t carry that much weight. Besides, there are plenty of other ways to add value to your home.
5, Make Everything Multi-Purpose
You might already have bathroom features that can double up as storage space: a recess above the toilet or a windowsill. But what about the sink? Nowadays the number of sink cabinets is unreal, truly!
If you’re really in a pickle, though, there’s the option of integrating both key fixtures, toilet and sink, so you wash your hands above the cistern. It’s not the most conventional choice; however, with the help of a little bit of wood panelling it’ll blend right in.
6. Look Up! Floor-to-Ceiling Bathroom Cupboards
I’ve always loved floor-to-ceiling cabinetry because it hides away all the unsightly stuff, but here this homeowner has turned the clutter into curated objets d’art. You don’t need to go so extreme with it, but integrated joinery always looks uncluttered, and uncluttered is king in these tiny spaces.
7. Tailor-Made Cabinetry to Hug Those Awkward Angles
A follow-on from my previous point, integrated and bespoke makes for an incredibly satisfying design. Case in point: this clever custom towel cabinet, which fits just about as snug as you can get!
8. Don’t Neglect the Space Above Your Bath
If the shower spray doesn’t get there, it’s usable space. So, don’t allow anyone to convince you that the wall above your bath is ‘dead space’. The same principle applies to corners; to me, they’re an apt spot for a potted plant or a corner shelf.
9. The Viral Hidden Bath Compartments
You might initially want to hang hooks and cubbies wherever you can get them, but in my experience, you end up hating them in the long-term. They inevitably bring visual noise, end up discoloured and always somehow become tilted, even when you readjust them.
My recommendation is to stash things away where guests will never think to look…starting with the bath!
10. Install an Elegant Wall Panelling Shelf
If you already have wall panelling going on, have you installed a shelf on top? It might take a few hours to DIY, but the project is perfectly beginner friendly. And the functionality you gain makes the frustration 100% worth it.
11. Make Space with Recessed Shelf Niches
If you’re yet to renovate – perhaps upgrading the cupboard under the stairs to a toilet or extending attic space into an extra bathroom – listen up. Recesses are your superpower. When the footprint is incredibly tight, these intentional nooks open up space in a way that feels considered and refined, plus you’re not adding any visual weight to the mix.
Bonus: Optical Tricks to ‘Expand’ the Room
Whilst these technically aren’t storage ideas, they work exceedingly well in tandem. As you’ll glean from the examples below, they make your very small bathroom look not quite as cramped as you remembered. So much so, you might actually look forward to brushing your teeth.
Pull Fixtures Up Above the Floor
One short cut that works similarly to swapping out an opaque table with a glass-topped alternative, is pulling your bathroom fixtures upwards so they don’t obscure quite so much of the floor. Both tactics bank on the fact that unblocked sightlines bring the illusion of space. See? It looks so much roomier!
Dodge the Bright White Tiling Fallacy
Counterintuitive, I know. Giving your surfaces the white, shiny treatment can achieve the opposite of your goals, drawing attention to the crampedness of the space. Opt for lighter shades, yes, but don’t shy away from deeper pigments. These will reflect the light as planned but also build dimension and personality.
Want to lean into the intimate, authentic feeling still? If your tiny bathroom is situated in, say, a Victorian or Edwardian home, you might have a lofty ceiling and want to bring it down a notch. In that case, give the ceiling a lick of paint in a colour just a shade darker than your walls. Bam! You have a cocooning feel and the room appears much more well-proportioned.
Anchor Otherwise Aimless Fixtures with a Datum Line
I picked up this trick from architect and YouTuber, Baixu, and it’s a really simple principle to grasp. To stop your fixtures looking scattered, floating aimlessly in space, draw them into visual groups with the aid of a datum line.
For the unacquainted, this is simply a way to divide up the room and make it look more organised without having to resort to physical barriers; all you need to do is add a horizontal line, typically some wainscoting with tiles below and a moisture-resistant paint above. Just make sure it sits at a logical height.
Colour Drench Your Cabinets
Talk about eye candy! This sophisticated bathroom has drenched every surface, including the in-built shelving unit, in one delicious shade of sage. This works to ‘enlarge’ the tiny room by making the walls meld into the background. No harsh contrasts to remind you of their physicality, just an ambience that feels like a hug.
More Not Less Texture
This goes along with the notion of avoiding bright whites. Cast your mind back to those picture-perfect hotel bathrooms you’ve visited; the ones that made you actually want to sit on the toilet doomscrolling. What did they all have in common? If, the answer was texture – ding ding – that’s right.
Texture connotates natural, premium materials, luxury, expense. By suffusing your tiling, furniture and finishes with it prevents your small bathroom from becoming flat and lifeless. The goal ought to be layered and lived-in, as it would be in any other room.
Light it Right
Lastly, we can’t skip over lighting. Because a poorly lit bathroom is both a mood-killer and a safety flaw, even if the space ticks all the other boxes.
Recessed, moisture-safe down lights are the order of the day in most UK en suites and downstairs toilets. A safe bet since task illumination is key, but don’t be afraid to experiment with accent lights and decorative touches. I’m thinking LED strips in the ceiling cove, wall lights on either side of your sink, or even a mirror with integrated lighting.
Keep it gentle, banish those shadows, and accumulate layers naturally, and you can’t go wrong.
Conclusion: Tiny Room, Mammoth Impact
So, what’s the moral of the story? Restrained yet strategic placement always wins over the “let’s squeeze in another cabinet” approach.
More powerful than tons of extra storage units is the understanding that ‘dead’ space can very much come alive. Likewise, streamlined, it-fits-like-a-glove furniture is your in-road to an editorial look.
So, when you start shopping for form-fitting storage, keep your tiny bathroom dimensions to hand and your mind open to creative, unconventional solutions. These micro touches although subtle on their own, collectively create a bathroom that, on a macro-level, looks ridiculously good.
After some new cabinetry or perhaps a pocketful of trinkets to style those surfaces? Go explore the Evelyn Lily range.
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