THINK DESIGN TIPS

By Steve Miller

Do you have a small bathroom? Here are some helpful hints on how to make a bathroom look bigger and brighter without increasing the square footage.

1. Mount furniture on walls. I can’t begin to tell you how much this will help. For example if you have a pedestal sink and a chest of drawers placed on the floor, find a wall mounted sink and vanity that will allow you to keep the floor area clean. This will immediately open up the space and make it look a lot less cluttered and dense. You will be able to utilize the area beneath the wall mounting for things that were taking up precious room.

2. Make bath tub a seating place. Yes, you read that right. Place a 1 inch board over the bathtub opening. Place a sheet over it, so you can’t see the wood. Then buy a thin cushion and place it on top. You might have to customize a cushion, but it shouldn’t be too costly. Then buy colorful pillows that compliment the color of your bathroom and place them on the cushion and against the wall. Voila, you have a seating area that you didn’t have in the past and you didn’t take up any more room

3. Paint light colors, trade out old dark tiles for lighter more translucent ones and if you have dark wood floors or linoleum, either tear it out and replace it with lighter colors or place a throw rug over it that is light and bright. You will be amazed what lighter colors do for a small room. Darker colors are more enveloping and will make a large room seem smaller and more confined, while making a smaller room seem very small.

4. Use mirrors whenever possible to reflect the natural light. The room will shimmer in the sun and make it more cheerful. If you have a shower curtain and can install a clear glass divider instead, it will open up the room simply because you don’t have an opaque “wall” blocking out the rest of the bathroom. Your eye will be able to see from wall to wall giving more of sense of space.