How to design a small bathroom

Hi Interior’s Enthusiast!

Happy 2025! I don’t know if it’s still acceptable to say that but given this is the first newsletter of the year I think I can get away with it.

I hope you all had a wonderful break and managed to take some time off.

Over the next few months we’re going to be looking at design for small spaces.

It can be really hard to feel creative when you are faced with a small space or an awkward layout. So this week we are talking about small bathrooms - how to make the most of the space and make it into something beautiful.

1.⁠ ⁠Consider your priorities or non negotiables. Is this a bath or shower preference? Do you prefer the idea of more space for a larger sink, are there two of you using the space? Are you including things on your list purely because you saw them on Pinterest?

2.⁠ ⁠How much storage do you need? There are some really great ways to cleverly fit in shelves, drawers or cupboards. What sort of basin do you want? A vanity unit can be a great way to add some extra cupboard or drawer space at a low level. You can also add shelves around the mirror to really utilise the sink space and don’t neglect the walls as a useful space for storing things. When you’re tight on floorspace, the walls are your friend! Make sure to keep it covered though, no one wants to look at their skincare everyday!

3.⁠ ⁠Don't skimp on great tiles and colours just because you’re covering a smaller space! Given you have a small bathroom, going all out on the tiles is possible as it’ll cost you far less. You could create a statement shower to bring the space to life or how about creating a niche in the shower and using contrast tiles.

Look to tile companies such as Mandarin Stone, Bert & May, Otto Tiles and Starel Stone for interesting bathroom tiles.

4.⁠ ⁠Get your lighting right! Yes, here at OCD we love to talk about lighting, because it is SO important. Use a central flush mount pendant and wall lights to create the ambient and task lighting, then add a small concealed spot into your bath or shower niche to really elevate the space. If you can put this on a sensor you’re really stepping things up a notch! It wouldn't be a newsletter from me without me saying, GET RID OF THE CEILING SPOTLIGHTS! They are the worst in small bathrooms and can feel so overbearing.

Below is a small edit of my favourite bathroom lights, tiles and sanitary ware to elevate your small bathrooms.

This week was my second week fully back to it and I’ve spent a lot of time on site at my Windsor project. The builders are really ramping it up, they’ve fully rewired so we’ve had lots of conversations about circuits and most of the pipework has gone in.

This is your friendly reminder to have your electrical plans (and plumbing plans) ready ahead of first fix. You don’t want to be caught out when your builder asks you where the sink is going! Most good builders won’t let you get to this stage without asking the questions but be prepared! If you need help with this stage, do book in with me to go through your plans.

Need help finding a good contractor? I’ve been working with The Page for a few years now and can’t recommend them enough. They have an extremely good vetting process and only recommend fantastic contractors.

Since the last newsletter there have been quite a few new videos on Instagram and TikTok, I’ll put two recent ones below for you to check out.

If you like my videos and find them useful, I’d be really grateful if you could go over to Instagram and show the videos some love. Likes, comments and saves really do make the world of difference to my engagement and the ability for me to keep bringing you free tips. Thank you x