Small bathroom help please!

R&C

We are buying a house that currently has a downstairs bathroom. We will be dividing the 2nd bedroom so that a new bathroom can be created upstairs.

We don't want a ridiculously small bathroom but at the same time feel that the bedroom size is more important. Our current plan is to build a stud wall 1.4 meters into the room so it would become 1.4x2.9 meters, so quite long but rather thin!

I would like to try to give the 'illusion' that the bathroom is wider than it is by putting a 1400 bath in along the back wall, rather than a larger 1700 bath running along one of the side walls. It will mean that there will be 2.2 meters walking space between the door and the bath.

My questions are...

am I deluded? will the bathroom look far too thin despite my plans?

Is a 1400 bath too small? We're not really too bothered as neither me or the OH ever have baths but our little one does and since she's small I figured it wouldn't matter. Thinking about resale in a few years time though really I guess!

When it comes to tiling the bathroom, would larger tiles look better in a small room or do smaller mosaic tiles give the illusion that it's a bigger space?

We're planning a large mirror to sit flush within the tiles and to occupy pretty much the whole length of one wall, plus some nice lighting to hopefully make the room look bigger also.

Any thoughts appreciated, thanks!

andyhop

Plenty of choice for 1400 baths, Try bette baths if you want quality over price

Large tiles will look best, Longest side up will open the room up

Set the mirror into the wall and get some demister pads on the back to prevent it steaming up

The last bathroom we did was 1700x1200.....Now that was tight!

R&C

Thanks Andy

Would you say Bette are better than Kaldewei? They both do a 1400 bath at a good price.

TomsMom

A few months ago we were trying out baths "for size" for the house we've just renovated.

Try and find a bath showroom that has a 1400 bath on display and then sit in it. Or measure a corner bath's seating area and try that. I know you say you and OH have showers and you're thinking it would be OK for your LO, but you do have to think about any future purchasers of your house if you're not intending to stay for a good long time. A small bath could make or break the sale, just as a bathroom with a shower only could put people off.

With a 1400 bath an adult would not be able to sit with legs anywhere near outstretched, they would have to have knees bent.

Or keep the original bathroom downstairs (presumably it has a bath) and make a shower room upstairs.

cattie

As somebody who moved into a house with an extremely small bathroom 18 months ago, I would avoid mosaic as it can look too busy & give a claustrophic feel in a small space. Also avoid large tiles as these again can make a small bathroom look even smaller.

Probably the best size to go for is 9 or 10 cms square, but the metro, public toilet style tiles are also suitable for a small bathroom.

The large mirror you are going to use will definitely open up the space, as will choosing white/light coloured tiles & ones with a shiny finish.

R&C

Thanks TomsMom, I have seen a 1500 bath but have yet to find a 1400 bath on display! Keeping the bathroom downstairs isn't an optioin for us as the current bathroom is part of what will be a kitchen extension.

Thanks for the advice cattie!

Andrew, unfortunately our budget for house buying didn't quite stretch enough to get the preftect house, maybe next time! Thankfully though the property has 3 double bedrooms so by the time we're finished with the bathroom, the bedroom that we have eaten into will be a large single or a tightly squeezed double so condsidering there's another 2 doubles apart from this then we think it's ok.

Thanks for the advice on tiles and functionality, will have a think!

CandleFan

Hi R&C

I used to have a bathroom in a previous house where the bath was along the back wall and I loved it. (sink next to it on left hand side, then washbasin on left as well) and it felt much bigger and prefer it to my current bathroom of similar size but with larger shower bath on left wall.

When I was selling this house buyers kept commenting on how much they liked the bathroom, size, layout etc. (it was also all creamy beige neutrals which probably helped) and it was the first thing the estate agent said - 'buyers will love the bathroom."

So i think you should go for it - It's a great layout, then just keep decor, tiles etc. a light colour - we actually used pretty big tiles on the wall, which can sometimes help, i think, with the illusion of space. (Sorry for amateur interior design!)

Hope you get on okay with it all.

Alan_M_2

If the downstairs bathroom has a bath in it, I'd not be wasting time putting a 1400 bath upstairs, I'd put a huge walk in shower in there instead and I'd probably making use of some of that 2900mm as storage space instead of making a lot of dead space in a second bathroom.

Trust me, a 1400 mm bath is no good for anything other than washing your feet or children.