Beebe Cline, White Rock Realtor

Many people have at least one bathroom in their home that feels a bit small or cramped. But no matter what amount of square footage you have, you can create more physical and visual space within the same footprint by using a few design tricks.

As a designer, I’ve applied many of these methods to small bathrooms, but the same principles work just as well in any size space where more openness is the goal. Here are my five go-to features for creating a more light and airy bathroom.

1. Curves

Curves allow for better flow in any floor plan, but they work especially well in tighter spaces. Curved elements are easier to maneuver around, and they add softness to a design, which helps visually lighten the look.

If you have multiple entry points into your bathroom, consider a curved vanity. It will physically create more comfortable traffic paths and psychologically eliminate any worry about bumping a hip on a sharp corner.

In addition to saving space and softening the look, using curved elements to balance linear features creates a more visually interesting design scheme. And that’s important in a tight space.

Speaking of visual interest, curved pieces can add more playfulness than linear ones. So if you’re looking for a way to perk up a bathroom, consider round sinks, mirrors, tiles and other circular graphic elements.

2. Floating Vanity

A floating vanity frees up floor space to create more visual and physical openness. It also puts more of your flooring selection on display, which means you can play with lines and shapes to visually extend your space as well.

A floating vanity has other benefits as well. It makes cleaning the floor easier. Plus, if space is tight, a floating unit can give you space below for placing a trash can or other items.

In this New Jersey bathroom, it’s easy to imagine how different things would look if a standard vanity covered a great deal of the small marble hexagonal tiles. With a stylish floating vanity, more of those tiles are visible, and that translates to more space.

3. Pocket Door

Did you know that the swing of a standard interior hinged door takes up as much as 10 square feet of floor space? That’s not to mention the often unusable space the door occupies when open.

That’s why a pocket door, one that glides on a track set into a wall, is always on my list of recommendations to clients who are trying to create a more open and airy bathroom. There’s no swing clearance to interrupt the space and no disruption when the door is open.


Though this bathroom is already quite spacious, it shows how a glass-panel pocket door can bring in light from an adjoining room, a good idea for making any size space feel bigger and brighter.

You could also consider a mirrored pocket door to achieve a similar effect.

4. LED Strip Lighting

As mentioned, brighter spaces look bigger and more open. And enhancing natural light isn’t the only way to get results.

Sufficient artificial lighting is key to highlighting certain attributes that can make a space look and feel larger. LED strip lighting is the way to go for two reasons.

First, in a space where every square inch counts, even something like a small light fixture that protrudes from a wall or ceiling can seem like it’s crowding the room. Strip lighting, on the other hand, sits more or less flush with a surface.

Second, strip lighting can be used to trick the eye into thinking there’s additional space behind certain features. This approach works especially well below a floating vanity and behind a mirror, as seen in this funky bathroom.

Also notice the cool strip lighting detail on the ceiling that draws your eye up and emphasizes the height of the room.

Here, an LED strip highlights the span of a shower niche, which helps visually expand the room’s width. Another LED strip below the vanity calls attention to the open flooring below, further expanding the room.

5. Mirror Walls

Adding mirrors is one of the simplest ways to give the appearance of more space. Mirrors reflect elements in a room, tricking the eye into thinking there’s more depth and space than there actually is. They also enhance light, creating a brighter, more open appearance.

You can play with multiple small mirrors, but I often recommend going for full walls of mirrors. This will almost completely blur the lines of where your space begins and ends.

Reflective tiles, like those shown here, or antiqued mirror tiles visually expand a room while introducing texture. Notice the curved sink and the space-saving floating vanity.

Solid mirror panels can really make a space feel limitless. I often recommend installing wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling mirror panels to reflect a view outside a bank of windows for a stunning, near-panoramic experience.