SMALL BUT SPACIOUS By: I am Abhinav Kumar. I am working in Bhardwaj Build

With scaled down fixtures and a mixture of wall colour, ventilator position and mirrors, small bathroom can be made to look more spacious, cozy and sophisticated, says Anjali Tiwari

If a small bathroom is designed carefully keeping each and every aspect of utility in mind, it can prove more efficient than any unplanned big bathroom. There are just a few vital things that one needs to follow to make a small bathroom safe as well as functional. A lot of study and research has gone into the making of a small bathroom, which would fulfil all needs, space constraints notwithstanding.

There should be at least 28x46 inches or 30x48 inches of clear floor space in front of the lavatory, out of which 17-19 inches (out of 46-48 inches) can extend under the seat for knee space. There must be at least 24 inches of clear floor space in front of the toilet or bidet.

To give higher look to your bathroom’s ceiling, you can put tiles extending to the ceiling. You can add height to your bath space by painting its wall in vertical designs like vertical stripes etc, or by putting wallpaper with similar patterns.

By correctly using lights and mirrors you can add width, length and depth to a small bathroom, but an overdose of mirrors can spoil the effect. Use one mirror, which reflects the light throughout the room. Construct windows and ventilators carefully to make the best possible use of natural light. Place windows, preferably near the ceiling, as by doing this you can avoid constructing ventilators.

Instead of using opaque shower screens use clear or frameless shower screen as it adds space in a small bathroom. To make small bathroom look larger install shelves high on the walls and close to the ceiling, and place lights underneath.

Be careful in deciding upon a colour scheme for your small bathroom; as too much use of colours makes the bathroom look small as well as cluttered. So, instead of using bright and dark shades use whites, neutrals, light shades for bathroom walls, floors, and decors to make it look larger. Use white colour on ceilings as it makes a small bathroom look higher. But if you do not want to restrict yourself to white colour, paint the ceiling white and the rest of the bathroom with any pastel colour.

Choose the bathroom accessories (preferably in the light shade) in coordination with the bathroom colour. Sleek and angular accessories look beautiful in smaller bathrooms.

A vanity unity should never be used in a small bathroom as it takes a lot of precious floor space. Instead of vanity unity you can choose exposed shelves, floating cabinets and a wall-mounted basins. To fulfil your storage requirement you can choose basins with a bench. By choosing this type of storage you can avoid clutter in your limited bath space.

In a small bathroom, place the toilet in an alcove. Use the wall space above the toilet to install shelves. Thick glass shelves go well with any other kind of colour scheme and quite economic too. To add more space, use sliding doors instead of normal doors. The negative aspect of a normal hinged door is that it takes space while closing and opening. But if you do not want to replace it, use its back as a towel holder to keep neat towels, which you can use just after the bath.

In a small bathroom, scaled down fixtures can be a blessing. You can use a tub (slightly smaller than the average size), sink or WC. This idea proves good in the rented apartment where a person cannot make additions and also cannot break a wall to free more space for the bath.
There are lots of showrooms in the market, which have small fixtures designed especially for a small bathroom. They are available in several colours, shapes and patterns. Various designs of sinks can be had from the market - like small bathroom sink, pedestal sink, wall-hung sink, corner sinks, and so on. But before choosing the sinks, the location and size of the faucet is very important. Positioning the faucet in the corner is the best way to utilize space for a small sink.

Make sure that the sink that you are going to choose should be big enough to allow you to wash your hand comfortably in it. A corner sink can well accommodate a countertop faucet. Another good choice is a wall-hung sink that is again great for small bathrooms.

The bathtub should be at least 60 inches long and 30 inches wide. Small and deep bathtubs can be used for a small bathroom. The next crucial point is the design of the toilet’s tank. Instead of choosing a two-piece low toilet tank, one can choose a one-piece low toilet tank with approximately 12 inches rounded front seat. This combination takes less space while the elongated front seat takes little much space.So, by employing the above ideas a small bathroom can be made to look larger. These small bathroom decor are definitely not going to increase the bathroom area, but they certainly lend a cozy, sophisticated and spacious feeling.

Courtesy:- TOI dt:- 18-07-09

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