Tiny living has become an increasingly popular way of life. In today’s culture of health and environmentally conscious consumers, the advent of tiny living is extremely appealing, as we’re able to lessen our carbon footprint and ultimately lower the costs associated with home improvement.
In addition to this way of living being better for the environment, tiny living is less of a financial burden. With an unstable economy, homeowners are more conscious than ever in the ways in which they’re updating their homes. After all, about 1/2 of American’s income is devoted to home upgrades, whether it’s for repairs, renovations, or upgrades.
Kitchens and bathrooms are one of the most sought-after rooms in a home to renovate. These renovations add resell value to a home and make overall living more enjoyable. After all, the kitchen and the bathroom are two of the most utilized spaces in a house. Generally speaking, bathrooms are tiny! Traditionally speaking, bathrooms are anywhere from 5×8 feet or smaller. It makes sense, then, that they would be the easiest to update and accessorize in accordance with the tiny living trend.
Here’s how you can bring the trend of tiny living into your home and make the most of the smallest space in your home – the bathroom.
- Balance with light neutrals and soft contrasts. Busy patterns can quickly overwhelm a small space and shrink its size. Focus the elements in your bathroom on lighter tones you would find in nature, as they can make even the smallest of spaces feel more open. Coincidentally, these hues also help to evoke a sense of calm, which works perfectly in the bathroom. For the walls, use a neutral shade like beige or gray, then accessorize with natural hues of sky blue, moss, or dew.
- Use monochromatic schemes. In the same vein of avoiding busy patterns, a monochromatic color scheme can work wonders in making a bathroom feel more open. To create an ideal monochromatic bathroom, it’s important to use a healthy mix of shades from the same color family. If you’re going to use gray as your color, use a lighter gray on the walls and medium to darker shades for the sink, toilet, tub, and accessories.
- Find space-saving necessities. No bathroom is complete without a toilet, sink, and tub. With tiny bathrooms comes to issue of space, so it’s important that these elements be as conservative on space as possible. Wall mounted sinks, toilets, and wall mounted bathroom vanities are lifesavers in tiny bathrooms. The more you can install onto a wall, the more floor space you have to play around with minor accents or smaller necessities, like toilet paper or plungers. Think of other ways you can save on space. For instance, hanging towel bars on the back of the door instead of the wall can prevent cluttering the walls with hanging items.
- Downsize where you can. If your bathroom features an outdated toilet, splurging on an upgrade could save you money and space in the long run. Older models typically take up a lot of unnecessary space. You can find a variety of elongated, compact toilets on the market that use less water when flushing, so it’s a win-win in the eco-friendly, tiny bathroom book.
- Install lighting with purpose. Strategically placed lighting can work wonders in a small bathroom. Use a mix of task and decorative lighting to illuminate the space, with a focus on the sink, shower, and cabinetry areas. This helps create height and depth, ultimately broadening the room.
- Optimize corner space. Every square inch matters in a small bathroom. To avoid creating the feeling of clutter by installing a sink directly across from a toilet or tub, tuck the sink away in a corner. This will limit the disruption to the flow of the area and can help make it easier to open stall shower doors if your tiny bathroom has that feature.
With the right tips and tricks, it becomes easy to create the look of depth and height in even the smallest of bathrooms. Discover the amount of space and money you can save by implementing these tiny living tactics into the smallest room in your home!
For more help designing your tiny bathroom, contact Becky Lane, an Olathe interior decorator.