Renovating your small bathroom – our top tips for planning and designing

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Are you looking to give your small bathroom a modern makeover, and make the best use of the space while doing so? Here you will find practical tips and ideas on making small bathrooms look larger, using space cleverly, and creating an inviting luxury oasis – even with limited space.

Save space with an open plan design concept

When positioning furniture in small bathrooms, avoid ‘dissecting’ the room. Large, coherent surfaces, such as tiled flooring with an open walk-in shower, convey a sense of space and make the bathroom feel much bigger and more inviting.


Conversely, high walls, furniture that cuts across the space or solid shower walls that stick out into the room create visual barriers, further dividing up the already limited floor space and making the room look smaller.

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Dare to make changes when renovating a small bathroom. Don’t hold onto the old norms when it comes to baths, showers, sinks and toilets: instead, consider the possible alternatives.

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Technically speaking, it is easy to rearrange the bathroom suite, or design your dream bathroom with modern installation walls and completely refurnish according to your vision. A plumber can make this happen by re-laying the corresponding pipes and installing the connections at the desired locations.

Small bathrooms demand solutions that do away with anything that is unnecessary. In your planning, only consider the things you really need and actually use, arranging them so that you feel completely comfortable in your new bathroom, with all the space and convenience you were hoping for.


Some tips to help you in the planning stage:

More storage space, more free space: What do you really need?

Have a look around your bathroom. Are the existing furnishings suited to your daily routine? Does the current arrangement provide enough space for your toiletries and bathroom rituals? Do you enjoy spending time in the bathroom? Sometimes longer than necessary, to read, listen to music, or surf the internet, for example? If not, what is restricting your mobility? What is having a negative effect on your well-being? What annoys you? What do you definitely want to change?

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Before renovating your small bathroom, have a mental clear out of everything that doesn’t need to be there (anymore). For example, does the washing machine really need to stay in the bathroom? Could it not be moved to the cellar or integrated into the kitchen? If you have a bidet or second washbasin – are the additional units really needed, or are they just in the way?

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Perhaps you and your household prefer showers, and the bath is hardly used. In this case, you could say goodbye to the big tub and design a bathroom that only has a shower. By removing the old bathtub and shower cubicle you immediately create considerably more space. You could fill this space with a larger, more modern and luxurious shower, and still have enough room left over for a nice new bathroom cabinet, perhaps, or shelves with more storage space than before.

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In many bathrooms, completely unnecessary things often accumulate over time. Sort through your old cabinets – perhaps you won’t need nearly as many after the renovation? Start thinking now about where to store the essentials later on. In an ideal world, everything should be within reach where it is really needed – from towel rails, plug sockets and switches through to hooks, shelves and compartments.

Do you want to save space, rearrange or completely refurnish your bathroom? With a virtual bathroom planner such as the Online Bathroom Planner by Villeroy & Boch, you can get started immediately and try out different arrangements. You can also visit a bathroom showroom to gather ideas and be inspired by contemporary modern furnishing concepts for small bathrooms.

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What furniture works well in small bathrooms?

If there are already alcoves in your bathroom, you should make as much use of them as possible. Small alcoves are ideal for made-to-measure built-in cabinets or shelves. Using lightweight design pre-wall installations, you can construct perfectly fitting corner or alcove areas, perhaps for a corner toilet or an open walk-in shower.

If you are looking to renovate and modernise your small bathroom, you have a much wider range of options today than ever before. Solutions conceptualised especially for small bathrooms include compact suites, bathroom furniture and radiators, which do not compromise on comfort or power despite the smaller dimensions.


Enticing lighting

Don’t forget lighting in your plan! Light can do wonders in small bathrooms: by installing several spotlights instead of a central ceiling light, you can illuminate dark corners. With modern LED technology, you can create an affordable atmospheric bathroom using coloured lights.

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The best tiles for small bathrooms

Quality tiles, maybe in combination with underfloor heating, transform even a small bathroom into a luxury oasis. You may have to save on space when furnishing your renovated 6 or 10 square metre bathroom, but you can still have attractive, luxurious tiles fitted in your new bathroom. If there isn’t enough space for a hot tub or bath, think about investing in a luxury walk-in shower, a tile mosaic over the washstand, stylish natural stone or cast stone tiles for the floor, or a high-gloss backsplash in your favourite colour.

Seeing as there is not much floor space to tile in a 6 square metre bathroom, you can also treat yourself to something slightly more luxurious here. Large tiles that are not too brightly patterned are perfect for making the room feel larger. Borders, mosaics and accents with metal-look or gold leaf tiles bring glitz and glamour to the smallest of bathrooms and provide a touch of sunshine, even in windowless rooms.

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Making the most of your wall space

Choosing wall cabinets, shelves or a wall-mounted toilet instead of one fixed to the floor will free up floor space. This not only makes the bathroom look larger, but also makes it easier to clean. A wide mirror hung along the longest wall will immediately make the room appear twice as big. Ensure the overall bathroom design overall has clean lines, smooth surfaces and flush edges – regardless of whether you prefer straight or curved shapes. Seamless transitions as well as nicely coordinated alignments and pieces of furniture have a more calming and harmonious effect in small bathrooms than individual blocks.

Avoid the visual chaos caused by visible pipes, protruding cabinets or angular, open shelving units that draw the eye all over the place and prevent a clear overview. To get the best out of your small bathroom when renovating, have the installations and as much of the furniture as possible fitted directly into the wall. This provides a lot of ‘hidden’ storage space, as well as an attractive, coherent overall appearance that encourages relaxation and recuperation.