Around the House: How to Make Your Bathroom Seem Larger Without Renovations
By Mark McNease
We’ve been talking about moving to a larger house for the past several years. Some of the common and obvious reasons have to do with getting older: our laundry machine is in the basement, down a narrow, creaky set of steps that should have been replaced thirty years ago. Another is the smallness of the house itself, with our bedroom on the first floor and a renovated, A-frame attic that serves as a guest room for our infrequent visitors.
And yet another is the bathroom. I’m not an overly large person, but this bathroom is not much bigger than a small walk-in closet. The bathtub almost touches your legs when you’re at the sink across from it. It’s just not meant to accommodate anyone larger than an elf, but we do our best to work with what we have.
It was brought to our attention a couple years ago that a wheelchair or walker simply will not fit into this bathroom, and that’s before the challenge of maneuvering between the sink and bathtub if any of your limbs is broken or not functioning properly. It’s a nightmare waiting to invade our golden years, and we sometimes think of ways to make it larger without the expense of a renovation that would only accomplish so much, given the width of the room. It would also be an expense we don’t need if we’re really going to move. Considering the house itself, a new bathroom would not increase the value by much.
So … let’s take a look at some ways to make your bathroom larger without the cost or inconvenience of renovations.
- Use Light Colors
Choose light, neutral tones like whites, creams, and pastels on walls and tiles. Light colors reflect more light, making the space feel larger and brighter. We met this one half-way: our shower tiles are white with inlaid pink flamingoes, the tub itself is white, and one of my rotating shower curtains is white. However, the walls are pink (to go with the flamingoes) and add a sense of fun, which can offset the despair of feeling like I’m in a broom closet.
- Maximize Natural Light
We’ve got this one down to a degree, as well: we have a skylight. It’s at the top of a shaft whose purpose we’ll never know (this is an old, small country house). We don’t have windows, which is one of the must-haves in a new home.
- Add Mirrors
Check: we have a very large mirror mounted on the wall opposite the door, along with the mirror over the sink.
- Declutter and Organize
This is a regular chore: organizing and de-cluttering, although I’ll say that with a bathroom this small, there’s only so much clutter you can accumulate. Most of it’s in the large bathroom closet, its only saving grace.
- Use Clear Shower Enclosures
This isn’t an option for us—we don’t have shower doors. Just a tub, shower, and curtain. However, if you have shower doors you can switch to clear instead of opaque or shower curtains. They make the space feel more open and less segmented.
- Choose Compact Fixtures
Choose smaller or streamlined fixtures, like a pedestal sink or wall-mounted toilet, to free up floor space visually. We’ve thought about getting a pedestal sink, but it goes under the “we’re moving anyway” category that may or may not be true.
- Incorporate Vertical Storage
Use wall-mounted shelves or hooks to utilize vertical space, keeping floors clear and making the room appear larger. This is true for us, since the only place we can really have shelving is on the walls.
- Keep It Simple
Avoid overly busy patterns and heavy window treatments (if you have windows!). Simple, clean lines enhance the sense of space.
Honestly, I think we’ve done all we can with our bathroom, but these are good ideas and I’d already done some of them as a matter of aesthetics and understanding a little about how to make a room look bigger. (When you’ve lived in a New York City studio apartment, you develop a sense for these things).
I think the real concern is aging: Is your bathroom user-friendly for the time when you may need assistance, or simply large enough to get into with a walker, wheelchair, or a cast on your leg? If not, it may be time to think seriously about your needs in an aging future.
