Bathrooms are, first and foremost, functional spaces. But, that doesn't mean that they can't be decorative too. The first thing to nail down, before thinking about paint colours and fabrics, is the layout. Often the case with terraced houses, the space traditionally used for the bathroom is on a landing, and can be a narrow and difficult-to-navigate space. How do you make space for a loo, sink, bath and/or shower as well as vital storage? We've delved into the House & Garden archives to find three different approaches which can easily be recreated at home.
The one-wall bath
One common solution to the small bathroom is to devote an entire wall, often wall facing the door, to the bath. This is often the shorter wall in a rectangular bathroom, but filling the entire space with the bath is quite satisfying, and leaves the longer wall to be filled with the sink, loo and any storage you can fit in.
The Patrick O'Donnell-designed bathroom above follows this rule, sandwiching the bath, with its smart wallpaper surround (‘Orleans Stripe’ from Farrow & Ball), into the shorter wall. The earthy brown of the joinery blends into the dark wallpaper pleasingly. There is not an inch of floor or wall space that hasn't been used wisely – from the plates hung on the walls to the clever storage nooks.
If you have a spare inch or two of space either side of the bath, you can make use of it by extending the bath surround to make a handy shelf, as interior designer Phoebe Hollond has done in a Sussex house below, where tongue and groove panelling in a vibrant yellow makes for a vibrant, joyful scheme.
Keep it open
Where space is limited and awkward, it can be helpful to forget about trying to divide up the space too strictly. Instead of having a boxed-in shower and having to figure out where the doors will go, what will they open on to and how will you fit everything else in so that the doors can open, why not have a walk-in shower with no doors? This way, you only need to dedicate a corner, or the very end of the room to it.
The attic bathroom in Caroline O'Donnell's London flat is a great example. The room is open and acts as a small loo-cum-wet room. The electric blue Bisazza tiles wrap around the entire room, including the sink, and a clever wall-nook provides a spot to keep shampoo and conditioner. Just to the left of the door, but out of sight from the outside is a clever and discrete spot for a loo.
Similarly, Georgina Cave of Cave Interiors kept the shower relatively open in the bathroom in her London house, though a very subtle glass screen acts as a splash protector, but doesn't interrupt the direct view through the room. She chose these reclaimed patterned tiles to cover the floor and back wall, creating a sense of continuity. A small recess in the wall has been used cleverly: joinery provides storage along the rest of the side wall, and is extended to encompass the vanity under the sink. The result is neat and joyful.
The mirror wall
One of the best-known tips for small spaces is that a well-placed mirror can give the illusion of more space and light than there actually is. We love the bathroom of this architect's house in Shoreditch, which is tiled in Domus ’Seta’ mosaic tiles with ‘illustrations’ created from colour samples. The wall of the bath is clad in a mirror, creating the illusion that the floor is endless.
A mirror has also been used to visually extend the space in a smart London pied-à-terre by Henri Fitzwilliam-Lay, but this time it forms the basis for a much richer look, with deep blue ‘Architectonics’ tiles and brass fittings, all from Waterworks, and stained walnut panelling.
