Make a Small Bathroom Feel Larger

You can make your small bathroom feel larger by focusing on clever storage solutions and go bold with color and accents. Here are a few tips:

Step 1: Deal with storage

First, make sure you’ve pared down extra toiletries and items that you don’t need to store in your already-cramped restroom. Next, you’ll need to find the right containers and storage space for them.

Anything you’ve had more than a year, toss. Items you use less than once a week, you can put into a closet or other storage area.

Under-sink storage

Expandable, under-the-sink organizers help double your storage space where it counts.

Storage furniture won’t fit in a small bathroom, so it’s smart to maximize your wall space to help keep things off the sink and floor.

Put a single towel rack behind the door or a nice metal train rack mounted on the wall above the toilet so you have a place to hang fresh towels and used ones.

One word of caution on those towel racks and hooks: Don’t overdo it, and limit the amount of towels to the absolute bare minimum. For a powder room, just a hand towel will do. For a full bathroom, two to three towels, max.

Step 2: Go bold with color

Just because your bathroom is a small doesn’t mean it can’t pack a stylish punch. This can be accomplished with wallpaper or accent paint.

Decorative wallpaperDecorative wallpaper

Susie Kurkowski

If you plan to paint the ceiling, choose a shade that’s slightly lighter than the wall color by mixing the primary color with white paint. The reason? Ceilings tend to catch the shadows in a room, so a lighter color tricks the eye into thinking the space is a little bigger.

There’s one rule: Go for light and bright colors in the bath. Lighter shades make it easier to see while you’re shaving or putting on makeup. Also, some of those wild colors you love might cast an odd pallor on your face in subpar lighting.

Step 3: Light it up

Stay far away from fluorescent lightbulbs in the bathroom. Halogen or xenon bulbs are the best options near the vanity, ideally on either side of the mirror over the sink. Otherwise, ceiling pendants or recessed lighting are your best friends. Try a plug-in pendant in front of a sliding mirror vanity or just to the side of a mirror cabinet that opens for an easy DIY design.

Step 4: Play with accents

Feel free to be creative in small guest bathrooms. Hang a brightly framed or fun-shaped mirror over the vanity. If you don’t have the dough to spend on a high-end mirror, you’ll find plenty of great options at your local home improvement store.

Resist the urge to decorate with potpourri bowls or fake floral arrangements that attract dust and add clutter to your sink space. Sleek-looking canisters for your cotton balls and swabs, along with one piece of eye-catching artwork, are all you need in a small bathroom.

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