Small bath solutions

Sunset, August, 2000 by Ann Bertelsen, Mary Jo Bowling, Daniel Gregory, Peter O. Whiteley

Innovative ways to make limited space more functional and appealing

* The typical small bathroom, which contains a tub/shower, a toilet, and a sink in roughly 50 square feet, is cramped, unimaginative, and devoid of personality. How can you make such a space more efficient and expressive without adding square footage? Here's a roundup of examples--including before-and-after transformations, storage details, and information on shopping for fixtures on-line--to help inspire a successful remodel.

Modest moves, big gains

BEFORE: It was the typical small bath: a charmless jumble in a constricted 5- by 7-foot space. The conventional wall-mounted sink, the projecting medicine-cabinet mirror, and the storage cabinet swallowed up the narrow space opposite the tub.

AFTER: The architect took a tailorlike approach, making small adjustments--like nips and tucks in a piece of fabric--to create a visually coordinated, functional, and comfortable room. The clean, uncluttered look reflects several key decisions. A new rounded sink occupies less space. The room's lines are simplified by treating the entire wall above the sink as a mirror and by a medicine cabinet built into what had been a jog in the wall to the right of the sink. Using tile as wainscoting unifies the space.

DESIGN: Mark Creedon, M2 Studio, Sonoma, CA (707/938-8345)

New layout

BEFORE: When Melody and Doug Wisdorf wanted to use their second floor bathroom, they practically had to take a number. With just one sink and one mirror in the corridor-like 75-square-foot space, two people were a crowd.

AFTER: The remodel gave each person a place for morning and evening routines, created more storage, and transformed a room the family described as "flat-out ugly" into an attractive space. Certified kitchen designer Jan Setterlund suggested adding a sink and subtracting a bathtub.

Instead of the typical side-by-side sink plan, Setterlund opted for a more efficient layout: a vanity sink, and storage area for each adult on opposite sides of the room, staggered to provide maximum floor space. One area features a cherry vanity with ample drawers and a ceramic sink, while the other incorporates a pedestal sink flanked by cabinets.

A two-person shower in the narrowest part of the room freed up space once occupied by a bulky tub and dividing wall.

Setterland sums up, "The key to making the bathroom work was putting everything in the right area." DESIGN: Jan Setterlund, Kitchen Witch, Issaquah, WA (425/391-6042)

Angled sink

BEFORE: The old green wallpaper, though attractive, only darkened and enclosed an already tight area. The main fixtures--the tub and toilet on one side, a pedestal sink and small cabinet on the other--consumed the space.

AFTER: Designers Pamela Pennington and Tsun-Yen Wahab opened up the room by removing the old sink and installing a new limestone vanity in the corner, where it could become a focal point without blocking traffic. To add flair, a wall-mounted spigot was set in a rectangular mirror flanked by halogen sconces. Shutters were removed, exposing the handsome steel-framed window and increasing the natural light.

The designers used the window as a cue for the floor tiles: The 4- by 4-inch tumbled-marble tiles, set in a checkerboard pattern, echo the window grid. A low wall at the end of the tub screens the toilet and serves as a display surface. DESIGN: Pamela Pennington and Tsun-Yen Wahab, Pamela Pennington Studios, Palo Alto (650/813-1797)

Compact elegance

BEFORE:

The tub and opaque sliding shower doors cut the room in half. There was no Connection to the adjacent side yard, and the room lacked visual drama.

AFTER: Designer Christopher Grubb installed a shower enclosed by clear glass walls. He also replaced the small window with glass doors, letting in much more natural light and giving the owner a direct route to the garden hot tub.

To achieve an elegant contemporary appearance, Grubb covered the floor and walls with green slate tiles set at a 45[degrees] angle. "In an older house, the lines of the ceiling and floor usually aren't perfectly straight," he says. "Putting the slate at an angle helps hide uneven construction. It's less noticeable than when the tiles line up in a conventional grid." The tile is interrupted by a black granite "chair rail," because, says Grubb, "an entire wall of tile could feel too overwhelming. The granite breaks it up."

A mirrored wall gave the owner more tile and granite for his money Running almost seamlessly from floor to ceiling and wall to wall on one side of the room, the mirror is both decorative and practical. "It's much less expensive to cover a wall with mirror than with slate tile," Grubb says. "Here it reflects a wall of slate, and you get a built-in full-length mirror."

Grubb selected a black toilet because he feels that fixtures in small rooms should blend in. "White would scream 'Look at me!' Here, black fades into the background and relates to the chair rail," he says. Indeed, the toilet almost disappears. DESIGN: Christopher Grubb, Arch-Interiors, Los Angeles (310/724-6464)