Your bathroom is your sanctuary. It’s your place to unwind, relax and get away from everything. That’s why it’s important that you make sure it looks and feels just right.

But even the coziest of bathrooms can sometimes feel a little cramped. This is most especially true if you live in an older home or an apartment. If your bathroom is on the small side, there are plenty of ways to make it feel bigger than it actually is—and still stay on budget!

Small Bathroom Renovation Tips

When it comes to home renovation projects, bathroom remodels typically offer the best return on investment. But, as you know, a bathroom remodel doesn’t come cheap — and an average bathroom remodel costs nearly $10,000.

However, when you’re remodeling a small bathroom you’re faced with even more challenges. This includes budget constraints, plumbing configurations, and tough design choices.

A well-designed small bathroom that looks larger than it really is will help reduce the eyesore “cramped” and “small” factor, helping you save on design costs, and more importantly, on your sanity!

If you’re looking to renovate your small bathroom on a tight budget, there are some smaller and less expensive changes that can make a big difference. You may not be able to alter the size or layout of your bathroom, but you can give it a makeover and make your small bathroom look bigger and more spacious.

To get started, consider these seven tips to help you make your small bathroom look bigger:

Install Glass Shower Doors

Removing doors from the shower space will create an open feel while allowing more light into that area of the room. Try using frameless or semi-frameless glass shower doors or steam shower doors. Ask your shower door installer for some professional recommendations.

Frameless shower doors are completely transparent, which allows the eye to travel through the glass into the rest of the room beyond. This means that any space beyond the glass appears larger and more spacious than it otherwise would. The transparency of frameless glass also allows more light into your bathroom from adjacent rooms, which makes everything appear brighter and more cheerful.

These simple additions will create a stylish look and make the space seem larger than it really is.

Use Neutral Colors

By using neutral colors like creams and whites in your tile and paint selection, you’ll help create the illusion of more space in your small bathroom. Light colors help bounce light around the room better than dark colors. By sticking to lighter shades, you will be able to create a feeling of openness and space in your bathroom. Dark colors absorb light — which is great for coziness but not so for small spaces.

Neutral colors in shades of white and cream tend to reflect light more efficiently than dark colors. This can help give the illusion that a room is larger than it actually is.

Use Mirrors, Mirrors, and More Mirrors

In addition to making your bathroom seem bigger, mirrors also help to reflect the lighting in the room, and that helps reduce shadows. Mirrors also give the illusion of distance, which makes the room feel bigger. Make sure the mirror you choose has multiple panels, so you won’t have a single spot where light leaks through.

Lighten Up The Floor

If you have a very dark space with carpeted floors, consider replacing it with tile or a wood floor instead. White floors will let more light in and make your bathroom look brighter and larger.

Add More Storage

You don’t need to get fancy here; a simple shelf unit hung from the ceiling is all you need to make an empty bathroom feel bigger and more functional. Just remember to use cinder blocks or something similar under your shelves. They might be cheap, but they’ll stand up to water better than wood.

You can also use floating shelves for additional storage space. Place them above a toilet or bathtub for towels, soap, and other essentials. You can maximize your storage without taking too much floor space away from your shower or bathtub area.

Invite Natural Light To Make The Space Feel More Open

Natural light is the best way to make any space feel more open and welcoming, but in a smaller bathroom, it can be tricky to maximize. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to add natural lighting which can make your space look bigger.

Larger windows will allow more light into the room while frosted glass will make the room seem larger by making the window appear larger than it is. A skylight is also an excellent way to bring in more light without compromising space.

Your Lighting Fixtures Matter

Whether your bathroom is big or small, the amount of light it receives can make or break its appearance. If you’re lucky enough to have a large window in your bathroom, then you’re in good shape, but most bathrooms are windowless and rely on artificial lighting.

Adding lighting to the space will make it feel more open and airy. The right lighting choices do not add to the overall clutter of a small bathroom. Choose the right size fixtures based on the size of your space.

Use white light bulbs in your main lighting fixtures to create a sense of openness and cleanliness. You can also add extra light with smaller fixtures or track lighting to give the room a larger feel.

If you’re also thinking about changing out your vanity, consider choosing one that comes with either built-in lighting or has space for lights above or below the mirror.

Takeaway

Whether you’re remodeling or moving into a new space, it’s common to want to convert small bathrooms into more spacious ones. The mentioned tips above will help you optimize your bathroom’s size and make it feel larger through strategic design.

As we’ve seen, you don’t need a large room for a large impact. You can use these tricks to create a focal point, such as a valuable piece of artwork or statement lighting. This will draw people’s eyes away from the walls and create the illusion that the room is larger than it is.