If the apartment you just moved into has a bathroom the size of your old wardrobe back in your parents’ house, and you don’t know how to fit all your stuff in it, don’t despair. There are ways of optimizing the available space, so everything will finally fit. We’ve done the research and selected the best ways to save space in small bathrooms.

Storage Space

Most people think of buying cabinets when they decide to equip their bathroom. This might be a good idea in a large bathroom, but in a small one, even the smallest, more compact cabinets will seem bulky and large. It would be a better idea to use open shelving. Pick a shelf that’s just large enough to fit a packed large towel. You don’t need to buy a larger one. Put all your towels in the first two or three shelves from the bottom. Use the rest of them to deposit your soaps, shampoos and perfumes. You can add floating shelves to make more storage room in a fashionable way. You can even use a storage ladder instead of a classical shelve. If you want to be more creative, you can use wooden crates for storage. You can stack them, or you can drill them in place for easier access. Keep in mind to buy only treated wood, so it won’t suffer any harm from the humidity. An extra storage space could be a sink skirt. You can use one to deposit your cleaning products (brushes, detergent, etc), your toilet paper, and other products you use more rarely.

Functionality

A bathroom, no matter its size, should be functional. A small space is more likely to seem cluttered than a larger one, so it’s important to deposit all the things you use rarely and keep only the things you use daily or several times a day on the counter.

If your bathroom is really small and you want to keep it functional and save up a lot of space, you can use a pullout bathroom faucet. Some of the models available on the market have an attachable shower head function, so they will act exactly as a shower sink. Just install some rods to delimit a perimeter, attach a curtain to the rods so you don’t make a mess out of the whole bathroom and you have a shower. Keep in mind to do this only if you have a drainage system in your floor. The drainage also needs to be in your delimited perimeter, so water won’t spill all over the bathroom floor.

If you’d rather have a bathroom Space saver toilet, you have to make sure you’re saving space from somewhere else. If this is the case, you can save some space by removing the tower racks along the walls and using a washstand with tower bars. This way, you can use the place on the wall where the towel rack was for a floating shelf for storage. You can also save some space if you opt to buy a small sink rather than a large one. Many people complain that a small sink does not come with enough space for all the products they regularly use, but this can be avoided by placing a counter above the sink. Another way of making space is to buy bathroom furniture that comes with curved corners. If a vanity has rounded corners, you’ll gain more space around it.

Another feature that might come in handy is the sliding door. If your bathroom is small, there’s no point of having the door occupy space, as well. But you can’t have a bathroom without a door, so a sliding door would be the perfect fit for you. The only problem with this feature is the fact that the door will take up space on the outer wall of the bathroom, in your bedchamber or hallway. This might prove to be problematic, so make sure you think about all of these aspects before buying one.

Bathtub or Shower

Most small bathrooms come either with a small bathtub with the shower inside or only with a shower. If you have the possibility to choose, think about your specific needs when you do it, and don’t just pick one or the other because it looks better. Are you going to live alone? If the answer is yes, then choose whatever you want. But if the answer is no, you’d better think of the other inhabitants’ needs as well. Is an elderly person going to stay with you? Keep in mind that most elders prefer sitting down when washing, because it’s easier for them. Are you going to have a baby or a toddler stay with you? Cleaning a small baby or a toddler is much easier to do in a bathtub than in a shower. If you decide on one or another, there are some tricks you could use to make the bath seem bigger.

Place glass doors for your shower or bathtub instead of a curtain. If you do this, you will create the illusion of an open space and the bathroom will seem larger. If a glass door is not an option, always go for light colored shower curtains. If you choose a darker curtain, the bathroom will seem smaller.

Light and Mirrors

Another great way to make your bathroom seem bigger is to have a natural light source and to use many mirrors. In order to save space, you can place the mirrors on the cupboards or shelves. The mirrors, in combination with natural light, will create an illusion of depth. This will make the bathroom seem bigger and you’ll be able to feel more comfortable in it. You can even enhance this feeling by painting the walls with plain white paint or with sunny tones that make you feel warm. Pick some light bulbs that emit a warmer glow. If you do all of these tricks, your bathroom will seem bigger and your whole apartment will have a better ambient feeling.