Small bathrooms “too small to work with” or “too small to look nice” are common among the visitors who pop into The Bathroom Place’s Norfolk showrooms every week. While we agree that having a small bathroom in your home can be challenging, it doesn’t mean that it has to be a space you can’t enjoy. As experts in small bathroom fitting, our team have put together this handy guide packed with all you need to know about small bathroom fitting. 

In this guide, we will cover every important aspect of fitting new small bathrooms, such as the design of a small bathroom, various ideas that you can apply to your own spaces, the costs involved, the timeframe, and more. So, if you have a small bathroom in your home and would like to rip out the old one and replace it with an entirely new suite, reading through this guide will give you a great place to start. 

Small Bathroom Design: Make the Most Out of the Space You Have

Every great bathroom fitting project starts with an unbeatable design, and that applies to bathrooms of all shapes and sizes. But remember, in this blog, we’re only concerned with small bathrooms. When the size of your bathroom is the biggest obstacle, the design becomes so much more important.

New white, modern bathroom with walk-in shower and essential fixtures.

The design of your small bathroom is indeed supposed to make the space visually appealing, but practicality and functionality are the most important design factors. As a room which is limited in space, it becomes vital to create a design that makes sense with the space available. Here are some things to keep in mind when creating a great small bathroom design:

  • Space is an essential, not a luxury: The design for a small bathroom must prioritise and maximise space. To achieve this, think of clever space-saving solutions and keep in mind that you may not be able to fill the bathroom with too many features.
  • Use colours/styles that make the room look and feel bigger: Different lighting options and certain colours, such as neutral tones, can create the illusion of a room looking and feeling bigger than it actually is. 
  • Use a professional bathroom designer: Not only will a professional small bathroom designer have the best technology in bathroom design, but they will also likely have experience in similar bathroom projects to your own, so coming up with a great small bathroom design will be easy for them. 
Bathroom with small tiling all-over to create the effect of a larger room.

We recommend you go to a professional bathroom designer before fitting a new small bathroom, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do some of your own research. Get some measurements of your bathroom and take to the internet to search for small bathroom design ideas for bathrooms of a similar size to your own. This will allow you to have a good idea of what you can expect before heading to your design appointment. 

Here at The Bathroom Place, we use advanced CAD, 3D and virtual reality technology to come up with your bespoke bathroom design. Plus, when you choose us to fit your new small bathroom, your bathroom design is free of charge!

Get a FREE bathroom design when you book a consultation with The Bathroom Place

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The Layout of Your Small Bathroom

The ideal small bathroom layout will be different for each home, but usually where small bathrooms are concerned, there are a few common boxes that must be ticked for a small space to look great and function properly. The best layout for a small bathroom is one that prioritises space because this is the biggest downside to bathrooms that are on the smaller side.

Sun shining through the window of a bright and light bathroom.

If you’re currently dealing with a tight bathroom layout, just know that there are solutions around this issue, and it’s best to speak to a professional team like ours to tell you what your bathroom layout needs. Identify which type of bathroom you have – a bathroom, wetroom, cloakroom, washroom, en suite – and familiarise yourself with the layout.

When you arrange a consultation, tell your bathroom designer about your small layout and how you want to save as much space as possible. Informed of how your current bathroom is laid out, a designer can draft up a like-for-like replacement design, which will help keep costs down – a popular tactic for bathroom renovations on a budget. 

5 Small Bathroom Ideas

At the start of this guide, we told you that having a small bathroom doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy that space. To prove that point, we have five small bathroom ideas for you to sink your teeth into. Use these ideas as inspiration for your own space!

1. Small Shower Room

Small shower room with shower enclosure sitting at the back wall of the room, next to other fixtures.

Shower rooms are becoming increasingly popular among homeowners, and not just for small bathrooms, but bathrooms of all sizes. For small bathrooms, turning this into a shower room by having just a shower installed and no bath creates a lovely, cosy space that enriches shower time. 

2. Alcove Fixtures and Features

Small bathroom with alcove shelf and bath for extra storage and space.

Make use of every last bit of space and awkward nooks and crannies by including alcove fixtures and features in your small bathroom design. You can go small with this idea and fit some useful alcove shelves for extra storage. Alternatively, you can go big and alcove one of the main features of the room, such as the bath, which was also a feature in our blog on practical and stylish bathtub ideas for small spaces

3. Multi-Use Bathroom Products 

Little bathroom in a green and beige colour scheme with wall mounted basin vanity unit and toilet and radiator.

Multi-use bathroom products are popular among our bathroom supply-only customers and are mainly used in small bathrooms. These types of products save space by having multiple purposes in one unit, i.e., using up just one bit of space. Examples include mirror cabinets and vanity units with a built-in basin and storage. 

4. Go Big on Small Details

Golden tap ware of a small bathroom.

Functionality and practicality are important, but so is design. With limited space to work with, some can feel like there isn’t much that can be done to help the room look more appealing. However, a great way of doing this is to pay attention to the finer details and use these as opportunities to wow. Experiment by refreshing your cabinet handles, adding small live plants, and choosing fancy tapware. 

5. Tiling for Small Bathrooms

White small bathroom design featuring matching tiling for walls and bath, giving the illusion of a larger space.

Tiling can be used similarly to how light is used in a small bathroom – to create the illusion of more space. There are several ways you can use tiling to elevate your small bathroom. For example, try using large-format tiles – which are commonly seen in luxurious £15,000+ bathroom renovations – to reduce grout lines and visually expand the area. You can also use the same tiling for walls and the side of the bath to create a longer perception of boundaries. 

How Much to Fit a Small Bathroom?

The cost is a big factor for many when looking into small bathroom fittings. This leads many to wonder how much it costs to fit a small bathroom – is it cheaper because there is less space than a larger bathroom? The answer is that yes, it can be more affordable to fit a small bathroom instead of a larger one. However, that isn’t always the case. 

Luxurious small bathroom with black and grey materials and circular mirror.

How much a new bathroom would cost normally depends on what’s included in the fitting project rather than the size of the space. Don’t get us wrong, the size of the bathroom is important and definitely will be a factor in the final cost. At The Bathroom Place, most of our bathroom renovations fall into the £8,000-£10,000 price bracket, and these projects range from small bathroom fitting to bigger renovations, so this can be a good guide price range to keep in mind ahead of your new bathroom consultation. 

How Long Does a Small Bathroom Remodel Take?

How long your small bathroom takes to be installed mainly depends on the fitting company you choose to work with, and if you are deciding to fit the bathroom yourself, that depends entirely on your ability. As an example, at The Bathroom Place, it will typically take us 5-9 days to fit a new bathroom. Small bathroom fitting, however, could take as little as 2-3 days, but again, this depends. 

A small shower room with cosy walk-in shower and multi-functional vanity unit with basin.

Alongside the size of the bathroom, there are a lot of factors that affect the timeframe of a bathroom fitting project, such factors as: 

  • The complexity level of the project
  • If your bathroom has a peculiar shape to work with
  • Your location – different areas in the UK are more expensive
  • And more 

Small Bathroom Ideas for Storage

Storage is so important in a small bathroom that we thought we should include a dedicated section on it in this small bathroom fitting guide. To avoid a cramped and cluttered bathroom, be sure to explore the different bathroom storage ideas out there. Some of which we have covered already, but consider these ideas:

  • Wall-mounted storage to save on floor space 
  • Multi-functional furniture that serves another purpose as well as storage
  • Alcove or built-in niches to store things 
  • Draw dividers and organisers to keep clutter away

Use Appropriate Products for Small Bathroom Fitting

If you’re dealing with a small bathroom, there’s comfort in knowing that you’re not alone – others likely have the same issue as you. Because of this, some of the best bathroom brands have created collections specifically for small bathrooms. Such collections can be found in our brochure; collections like the Elgin and Minuto range have been designed for compact spaces, offering well-made, visually appealing features, like toilet units or basins, that work great in a small bathroom fitting project.

Small bathroom fixtures in a white colourway. Small sink basin and small toilet unit.

As well as searching for products that have been made specifically for small bathrooms, other products just make sense for a small bathroom that may have not been specifically made for small bathrooms. Some examples include bath shower screens that don’t swing out and shower enclosures that fold in on themselves, limiting the need for more open space.

Essentially, you want to seek out fixtures and features that look great, have been made with functionality and practicality in mind, and don’t take up too much space. These fixtures and features are important for your new bathroom as they will save that all-important space and also look stylish. This alleviates the common concern that compromising to save space means you have to compromise on style, which is not true.

Small Bathroom Fitting Closing Thoughts

If you’ve been putting off fitting a new bathroom in your home because you think the size of your bathroom is an issue, we hope this guide has convinced you that this is simply not the case. Our bathroom fitters in Norfolk have helped to transform so many small bathrooms from cramped and compact rooms to incredibly accommodating spaces that look just as amazing as they function. So if you have a small bathroom and it’s time for a change, reach out to our team today to see how we can help.