Room Tour: A Narrow Bathroom Gains Space and Style
Clever ideas boosted the useable area in this skinny bathroom, while bold décor turned it into a place to linger
When interior designer Amy Shirlaw renovated her small Edinburgh bathroom, she had the adjacent kitchen done at the same time in order to get the most out of her budget. “It meant I got to share the trades,” she explains. “I didn’t need the plasterer to come in twice, for example.”
As in her kitchen, Amy injected colour and a touch of glamour into this small, awkwardly shaped space. Check out these before and after images to see how a plain bathroom can be totally transformed.
As in her kitchen, Amy injected colour and a touch of glamour into this small, awkwardly shaped space. Check out these before and after images to see how a plain bathroom can be totally transformed.
The bathroom’s shape is awkward, since it’s narrower at the basin end. Even though there were no major layout changes, Amy’s clever redesign took this into consideration.
“I moved the towel rail [more of which below]; it had been in the narrowest part of the room and it made no sense to have it there,” she says. She also had the boxed-in pipework under the basin buried into the wall to create a flat surface.
Another space-hogger was the curved bath, which Amy swapped for a straight-edged design. “It’s quite narrow because it has a wide lip,” she says. “You can put a glass of wine or a cup of tea on it.”
She kept the flat area at the end of the bath free, rather than build shelves to the ceiling. “There’s often not enough surface space in bathrooms – for me anyway,” Amy says. “I like having somewhere to put things.”
Getting rid of a shower curtain was a priority for Amy and this shower screen has minimal fixtures. “I wanted it to be as invisible as possible,” she says.
Trafalgar shower fittings; Hudson Reed bath taps, Victorian Plumbing.
“I moved the towel rail [more of which below]; it had been in the narrowest part of the room and it made no sense to have it there,” she says. She also had the boxed-in pipework under the basin buried into the wall to create a flat surface.
Another space-hogger was the curved bath, which Amy swapped for a straight-edged design. “It’s quite narrow because it has a wide lip,” she says. “You can put a glass of wine or a cup of tea on it.”
She kept the flat area at the end of the bath free, rather than build shelves to the ceiling. “There’s often not enough surface space in bathrooms – for me anyway,” Amy says. “I like having somewhere to put things.”
Getting rid of a shower curtain was a priority for Amy and this shower screen has minimal fixtures. “I wanted it to be as invisible as possible,” she says.
Trafalgar shower fittings; Hudson Reed bath taps, Victorian Plumbing.
The floorplan shows how the room is narrower at the bath and basin end. Amy’s kitchen is on the other side of the wall next to the bath and eats into the space.
Find a bathroom designer near you to help plan your renovation.
Find a bathroom designer near you to help plan your renovation.
Amy also chose to boost functionality by adding low-level storage at the end of the bath. In this ‘before’ photo, you can see this space had been blocked off and was not useable.
There is also a structural beam supporting the entire building that cuts through the room, which Amy couldn’t get rid of.
See Amy’s tiny galley kitchen, which gained glamour on a budget.
See Amy’s tiny galley kitchen, which gained glamour on a budget.
The end of the bath now has deep shelves. “They’re handy for anything from toilet roll to shampoo,” Amy says. “I put the nice things at the front and you can’t see all the stuff hidden behind.”
Amy’s strong colour scheme helped to turn the support wall into a feature. Practically, it encloses the loo area on one side, cutting it off from the bath, and on the other side it forms a backdrop for freestanding shelving.
The shelving is in fact a plant holder. “The plants add a bit of texture, colour and movement,” Amy says. They’re all fake, since the bathroom has no natural light. She also keeps toothbrushes and other frequently used bits and pieces in a hanging pot amid the plants.
Amy moved the position of the taps to the centre of the bath and fitted the shower controls above them. “I put the taps together for symmetry, but also so you can turn on the shower before you get in,” she says.
One regret Amy admits to here is the wall niche storage space. “It’s so handy, I should have had two!” she says.
The strong turquoise wall colour is carried onto the ceiling. “It was a nice way to keep the sense of height, to confuse the eye into it feeling taller,” Amy says. “White could have read the same as the tiles.”
She broke up the intensity of the wall colour not only with the white tiles, but also with a feature wall of black herringbone tiles. The unfinished wood bath panel was added “for warmth and balance. If I’d painted that the same as the walls, it could all have looked a bit 1960s sci-fi,” she says.
Plants and freestanding shelves, Ikea. Additional plants, Homesense. Walls painted in Turquoise Copper, Dulux. Black herringbone tiles, Topps Tiles. Bath panel, Victorian Plumbing.
Amy’s strong colour scheme helped to turn the support wall into a feature. Practically, it encloses the loo area on one side, cutting it off from the bath, and on the other side it forms a backdrop for freestanding shelving.
The shelving is in fact a plant holder. “The plants add a bit of texture, colour and movement,” Amy says. They’re all fake, since the bathroom has no natural light. She also keeps toothbrushes and other frequently used bits and pieces in a hanging pot amid the plants.
Amy moved the position of the taps to the centre of the bath and fitted the shower controls above them. “I put the taps together for symmetry, but also so you can turn on the shower before you get in,” she says.
One regret Amy admits to here is the wall niche storage space. “It’s so handy, I should have had two!” she says.
The strong turquoise wall colour is carried onto the ceiling. “It was a nice way to keep the sense of height, to confuse the eye into it feeling taller,” Amy says. “White could have read the same as the tiles.”
She broke up the intensity of the wall colour not only with the white tiles, but also with a feature wall of black herringbone tiles. The unfinished wood bath panel was added “for warmth and balance. If I’d painted that the same as the walls, it could all have looked a bit 1960s sci-fi,” she says.
Plants and freestanding shelves, Ikea. Additional plants, Homesense. Walls painted in Turquoise Copper, Dulux. Black herringbone tiles, Topps Tiles. Bath panel, Victorian Plumbing.
This part of the bathroom has quite a different feel to the rest, as it’s all painted. Amy filled the wall behind the loo with more faux foliage.
“The toilet is the first thing you see when you walk into the room,” she says. “It’s not ideal, so that’s why I have the plant wall, to add some softness and at least minimise the impact.”
Amy went for traditional-style sanitaryware and taps, echoing the era of the flat.
Taps; loo; basin, all Oxford Cloakroom Suite at Victorian Plumbing (no longer available). Plant shelves, Ikea.
“The toilet is the first thing you see when you walk into the room,” she says. “It’s not ideal, so that’s why I have the plant wall, to add some softness and at least minimise the impact.”
Amy went for traditional-style sanitaryware and taps, echoing the era of the flat.
Taps; loo; basin, all Oxford Cloakroom Suite at Victorian Plumbing (no longer available). Plant shelves, Ikea.
The bathroom’s colour comes from the hallway, seen here. “I wanted it to feel like an extension of the hallway,” Amy explains. “I really love having baths and for it to feel slightly luxe, but also practical, but I didn’t have a huge bathroom, so psychologically I wanted to ‘borrow’ space from the hallway to make the room feel bigger. It probably sounds incredibly pretentious, but that was the thinking.”
It wasn’t only the boxed-in pipework under the basin that cluttered the space, it was also the pedestal.
Amy replaced the basin with a floating, wall-mounted design.
Find out how long a bathroom renovation takes.
Find out how long a bathroom renovation takes.
As previously mentioned, the old towel rail had taken up space in this tight end of the room.
Now it’s tucked away on this wall near the entrance.
Amy chose a black design. “I think I read somewhere on Houzz that matt black doesn’t show up watermarks in the way chrome does. I also didn’t want to be looking at a big, gleaming chrome thing while lying in the bath.”
Amy chose a black design. “I think I read somewhere on Houzz that matt black doesn’t show up watermarks in the way chrome does. I also didn’t want to be looking at a big, gleaming chrome thing while lying in the bath.”
The painting is one of Amy’s own. “I like the monochrome in here and that it’s oversized, especially with the even bigger frame,” she says. “It balances out the black wall, but also plays with scale. In such a small room, you might be tempted to put in small artwork, but in fact something big tricks the eye into seeing a larger space.”
Amy chose a round mirror to soften all the angles. It features LED lighting, which, she says, is incredibly handy. The floor plant blurs the join between the two walls “and gives the basin some company”.
Mirror, Pebble Grey. Plant and planter, Ikea.
Amy chose a round mirror to soften all the angles. It features LED lighting, which, she says, is incredibly handy. The floor plant blurs the join between the two walls “and gives the basin some company”.
Mirror, Pebble Grey. Plant and planter, Ikea.
Amy’s advice on renovating a bathroom is to get your quotes for labour before you consider anything else. “You can think you have £10,000 to spend and start looking at tiles costing £50 per square metre, but if you need pipes moving or lots of tiling, for example, that’ll eat into your budget.”
She did brilliantly with her bathroom, coming in under budget at £4,800 including all trades, when she had allowed £5,500. As she says, “I am a budgeter!”
Tell us…
What do you like best about this tiny bathroom renovation? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
She did brilliantly with her bathroom, coming in under budget at £4,800 including all trades, when she had allowed £5,500. As she says, “I am a budgeter!”
Tell us…
What do you like best about this tiny bathroom renovation? Share your thoughts in the Comments.
Who lives here? Interior designer Amy Shirlaw and her cat
Location Haymarket, Edinburgh
Property An 1850s Victorian ground floor conversion flat
Room dimensions 3 x 1.7m at the widest point; 1.3m at the narrowest
Designer Amy Shirlaw of Amy Shirlaw Interiors
Budget £4,800
Contractor Nicholson Joinery, Edinburgh
Photos by Alix McIntosh of Alix McIntosh Photography
This ‘before’ photo shows the bathroom Amy inherited when she bought her flat. Because of the way the building is configured, it wouldn’t have been cost-effective to change the layout significantly. As such, the rethinking of this small space was about changing the finishes and the small details.