The bathroom is many people’s comfort zones. Evidently, it will not be called comfort rooms if it is not. Many prefer this part of the home to be as spacious as possible, but, the reality is, most often than not, this room compensates to the lack thereof.
Fret not! You don't really need to knock down some walls to expand the room. One of the most common techniques—and the most functional one too: proper cabinet and storage placement.
Here are some tips for your mind to think your bathroom is bigger than what it really is:
Following the theme of your bathroom, choose cabinets that goes and blends in mono-chromatically. If it’s possible, go with the lightest shade possible. The color white (or light colors) reflects light, be it natural light from the sun or supplied by lighting fixtures. If the light touch cabinet surfaces, it will bounce back, making the room seem brighter, hence bigger and more spacious. If you want to trick your mind into thinking that your bathroom is actually bigger, install white tiles, paint your walls and your ceilings white.
If you have wooden cabinetry, opt for using lighter woods as opposed to dark colored woods. A light colored wood will allow for more light to reflect off of surfaces and will not make the room look more cramped than it already is.
If white is not your thing, you can choose any color to paint your bathroom. But, keep in mind that the lighter it is the better it would be for the illusion of a much spacious room. Try to keep the decor in one shade. According to experts, painting everything with a unifying color will make those unusual shapes disappear, and the space will visually expand. “It cuts down on the number of transitions and planes intersecting, therefore creating a cleaner, more expansive upper space in the room,” they advise.
Keep in mind, though, that even monochromatic dark shades will make your bathroom look smaller, so going as light as possible is the best way to go.
Think of the spaces in your bathroom that you don't usually go to—say for example, above the doorway. Typically, the space above a doorway is vacant. Especially, if you have higher ceilings than the minimum clearance you can install decorative storage shelves to house bath tub salts, scrubs etc. You can also use the shelf for storing extra toilet paper and cleaners to free up valuable storage area below the sink
Consider having cabinetry built to extend up to the ceiling. Adding color at a vertical height will cause the eye to go up and therefore enlarge the bathroom space and feel. It is also a wise use of the space above head, which will not make you feel cramped inside the bathroom.
Open storage shelves trick the mind that it is not occupying as much space as possible, because the eyes see what’s beneath it. At the same time, it allows owners to use it as a display rack, as well as to keep the necessities in a decorative manner. But, keep in mind that if you decide on open storage for your bathroom, you should be mindful of clutter and adding too many items on the shelves.
SOURCES:
About the Author:
James Coleman - Senior Director of Relations and Business Development of Luxury Commercial Bath
James Coleman is the Senior Director of Relations and Business Development of Luxury Commercial Bath, and the President of DIRECT Show Flooring. Luxury Commercial Bath has been proven a leader in the Hospitality Bathroom Remodeling Industry and aims to provide the best services for bathroom remodeling in the hospitality industry (director which involves hotels, restaurants, bars, etc.).
