What should I do with my REALLY tiny bathroom? (pictures)?

Question

Our house is definitely a "starter" house and a fixer upper, and it isn't bad... except for the tiny sized ONLY bathroom. The layout is horrible, the decorating is horrible, and the storage is..ew. That is all I can say. Here is our lovely little piece of you know what.
http://img101.imageshack.us/my.php?image=20070607house0023ih9.jpg
http://img72.imageshack.us/my.php?image=20070607house0024yo7.jpg
Color ideas? Storage ideas? Any ideas to make this space useable? lol, oh and the shower curtain is staying :P I was planning on red for the room, but I heard dark colors make the space look smaller. We like the whole "mod" red, black, white look..

What I really need most is ideas for storage, and what not.

Where do I get the square box shelves?

shower curtain staying, staying, STAYING! lol.

oh and those ugly shelves are DEFINITELY gone, no matter what lol

Answer 1

Okay, here's my thoughts;
I had a similar bathroom at one time and this really worked to give it a unique look. White walls, back trim, black and white tiled floor and any hardware in the room, chrome. I made a curtain of white lace that I hung on a spring loaded rod in front of the toilet amd puled to one side. I painted the shelving black and hot glued to the edge of each shelf whote lace trim. For art work, I bought 4 cheap 5 X 10 picture frames, painted them black and used those greeting cards of children dressed as adults (black and white with a burst of color in flowers or clothing) and hund them lined on one wall. The room reminded me of being on a train. I loved it and so did everyone who used the room.

Answer 2

I am living in Taiwan, and that wouldn't be considered very small here. EVERYTHING is so cramped that I sometimes feel claustrophobic.
Here are a few suggestions. I hope they may help.

I believe that everything that I am going to suggest should be available at Home Depot, or another DIY place similar to that.

You could put a sliding door on your storage shelves. You could also put a linen closet outside the bathroom if you have the space.

Try soft white (not yellow) lighting to make the space more comfortable and soft. The best would be spiral fluorescent bulbs. They save lots of energy/money.

The best thing to do about space would be to get rid of the dividing wall and install a shower or a mini tub (they are smaller and deeper) with a shower.

I don't know your budget, but you could have a friend who knows something about construction take a look and see how much it would cost to restructure the room. You could expand the room by a little and create a great bathroom.

Check out some magazine on bathrooms. Also do some searches on Japanese/Taiwanese bathroom ideas. The bathrooms here would make yours seem spacious. One American I know has to sit sideways on the toilet because there isn't enough room for his legs. (I am not joking, honest.)

Good luck on your house. DIY on a house can be easy and not too expensive if you keep looking around at other people's ideas and then do some shopping at DIY stores for what you need. Remember, you can find out how to do almost anything on the internet.

Answer 3

Red is cool, but that space is too small. You can use red to accent, but not as the color on the walls. I'd paint the walls a very light silver/gray (after getting rid of that wallpaper!). Do you need the shelving in there? If not, pull it out! It will open up space. If so, pull the green paper and use some paper thats close to the gray wall color (making it monochromatic will open the space). The paper is called contact paper, you find a decent selection at home improvement stores as well as Meijer, WalMart, etc.

Does the bathroom window need to be covered? If noone can actually see in there, then get rid of those blinds (the natural light will help open the space, too), buy 1 set of curtain tiebacks in brushed nickel (this is in place of a curtain rod - you don't need one if you're just using a scarf. Mount them on the two top corners of the window, whether you would normally put the curtain rod brackets), and drape a curtain scarf over them. WalMart sells them in both black and white - you could buy one of each and twist them together.

Also, instead of just stacking stuff on those shelves, go to Michaels or another craft store and buy some storage baskets or boxes. They have all kinds of colors/patters - you can find some that go with the black/white/red that you're doing. Just keep it simple. The curtain is design enough for that small room. I'd go with solid patterns for everything else.

What do you think?

Answer 4

If you want the room to look bigger, you should do the walls
and the shower curtain in the same pattern. Either paint the walls to match the shower curtain, or buy a curtain to match the walls.
Make a skirt for the sink in a matching pattern, and velcro it to the sink [ adds storage ].
Re-do the shelves [ ick ] and put storage baskets on the top to separate the toiletries from the medicines.
Get milk crates fir the bottom for large items or cleaning supplies.
Put a space saver set of shelves over the toilet ' cubby '.
Suggestion - white with skinny black stripes, or skinny red stripes; and a rug and towels to match the stripe - black or red.

Answer 5

Well, since the shower curtain has to stay, I would look in the the "Earth Elements" paint collection at Lowe's. Pick a light grey and then add the metallic shimmer over it. it is subtle and looks really cool.

I would get rid of the green shelves, tear them out. Put those square box shelves (black & white) on that wall to go with the geometric pattern on the shower curtain. Paint the cabinet over the toilet black. Replace the towel and tissue holders with chrome ones.

You might even get some very thin trim and trim out the edge of the mirror, paint the trim black. You can adhere it with construction adhesive.

Bring in some red accents in towels, rugs and accessories.

That's what I would do. I am so jealous. I just finished my bathroom and bedroom and need a new project.

Answer 6

Strip off the wallpaper border. Take the shower curtain down and the blue rug up. Take the green and white polka dot shelf paper away. Take the toilet paper and waste basket away. Paint it all white. Get 2 red/or white/ or black/ or a combination of these colors shower curtains. Hang one over the storage shelves and one on the shower. Get a small black wastebasket for near the toilet. Use red, white and black towels and accessories..Put the toilet paper on the storage shelves behind the curtain..The less out, the less clutter, the larger it will look..You are decorated.

Answer 7

Paint the walls white, lighter colors make the room look larger. Get a new red shower curtain with red and black accessories. Put the black and white floor tiles in, use vinyl stick on if price is a problem or use the ceramic tile in black and white if you can afford, should not cost to much for a small bath. Use floor to ceiling glass shelves where your now existing shelves are. Good luck, what fun to decorate.

Answer 8

I love your red,white and black idea....go with it!

Also for storage you could try maybe some black or white ro even silver storage crates (I see the silver in the shower curtain) to line on the shelves.

Answer 9

Tiny? Tiny? Tiny?? My friend lived in THIS.

Answer 10

anything that you what!

good luck!