Small bathroom design. What color of tiles to choose to increase space

A meter to the right, a meter and a half to the left - unfortunately, thousands of tenants still have to put up with this layout of bathrooms. And this tightness sometimes causes not only physical, but also purely psychological inconvenience. Therefore even professional designers are constantly looking for new techniques to visually enlarge the bathroom. The main task is to eliminate the “stone bag” effect, but at the same time maintain maximum ergonomics of the room, so that all the necessary devices and objects are at arm’s length.

There are many ways in which you can visually expand a small bathroom. Firstly, a lot depends on color combinations and the selection of lighting. Secondly, it is convenient to model the space in the bathroom with the help of mirrors - after all, they must be there. Thirdly, it will do its job comfortable furniture, which by default will take its “own” place and will not “absorb” unnecessary square meters.

So, let's take a closer look at the popular ways to visually expand the bathroom.

Colors and paints: insidious and magical

The darker the color, the more it “conceals” space or volume. The lighter it is, the more successful it works in reverse side, that is, it enlarges and expands. This rule is well known to any designer.

Critical options:

bright and rich colors - red, orange, crimson and others;

dark and gloomy tones;

contrasting combinations - for example, a bathroom in black and white will look good only if there is enough space in it. The same can be said about other contrasts.

Wall decoration

The most economical material for wall decoration in a small bathroom is plastic panels, which are mounted end-to-end and create the illusion of a complete, even coating. Ceramic tiles, preferably medium-sized, are also appropriate. Too small or large tile masonry can provoke optical disproportions in space due to the grout being too clearly visible at the seams.

plain texture;

smooth matte or glossy finish;

horizontal or vertical stripes as decoration or masonry technique (the former help to visually expand the room, the latter - to stretch it vertically). Of course, you need to give preference to either the first or the second, depending on the specific tasks.

Critical options:

Ceiling finishing

In small bathrooms, the feeling of crampedness often arises due to too much space. low ceiling. In fact, it is impossible to raise it above its level, but visually - please. Fashion trends and advanced technologies will come to the rescue.

suspended ceilings with a shiny surface. On the one hand, when installing them you will have to “steal” a few more centimeters of height from the cramped space. On the other hand, the end result will be a very attractive sight - you yourself will stop noticing that the ceiling is actually low;

suspended ceilings with a glossy surface - ideally they should be white;

mirrored ceilings - they can be treated differently, but they significantly increase small rooms, especially in height.

Critical options:

Plumbing

It is clear that you cannot install a large and comfortable bathtub in a small bathroom, and here it is not even a matter of visual problems, but a simple lack of space. But you still want the plumbing to be comfortable.

Critical options:

baths square shapes, including sedentary ones, they still won’t provide you with comfortable swimming;

models of toilets with installations;

using the sides of the bathtub instead of shelves - you should not place bottles of shampoos, jars of scrubs, etc. on them.

Furniture

Many owners of cramped bathrooms are hesitant to include pieces of furniture in their interior, believing that this will only aggravate the situation. In fact, well-chosen furniture helps organize the space.

Critical options:

various cabinets, including under the sink - you can do without this piece of furniture, and use the space under the washbasin to install a washing machine;

closed cabinets and shelves - it is better to replace them with models without doors.

You can make your bathroom feel large and spacious, even if it's not, with a few simple tricks. Here are 9 ways to make your small bathroom look bigger and better:

But before you start, there are a few things you should know about.

First, you need to know the sizes. How small is your bathroom really? It is necessary to measure the square footage and height of the ceiling. Also pay attention to how much space is taken up by cabinets, shelves and other items.

Secondly, you need to understand how you will use your bathroom. This is very important to know before moving forward.

Tip #1: correct lines. Visually vertical lines make us look thinner. Take advantage of this by arranging the tiles in a line perpendicular to the long line in your bathroom. For example, if the bathroom is narrow from side to side, your lines will flow from you to the back wall rather than from side to side. This will visually increase the width where you need it.

Tip #2: choice of grout. It is best to use grout that is the same color as the tile, whether large or small. The only exception would be the use of light gray or white grout for multi-colored glass or stone mosaics.

Tip #3: use large mirrors. IN small room, it is better to hang large mirrors. If you have a large mirror that extends up into the ceiling, install it behind the sink. This will help make the ceiling higher, expanding the square footage. It is better to install sconces in the mirror above the dressing table, and not in the wall on either side of the mirror. This will double the amount of light available.

Tip #4: single tile color. Walls in the same color will make the room appear larger. To the extent you are able, be consistent in the colors you choose to make large plots bathroom.

Tip #5: lighting in the bathroom. Installation proper lighting in your bathroom will help you feel more comfortable and wake up faster in the morning after a shower.

Tip #6: install window. If your bathroom is in a private home, you may consider installing a window above the sink or bathtub. Additional, natural light will help the room feel more open and bright. Window with frosted glass hides your privacy, but at the same time gives you sunshine.

Tip #7: paint the ceiling the same color as the walls. In the case when different colors ceiling and walls, especially if up in dark shades, That general form the room will turn out to be understated. You will feel small. When the eyes can travel effortlessly, without boundaries in color, your space will be visually expanded.

Tip #8: storage priorities. Clutter will make your bathroom look smaller as it takes up space, both physically and visually. For this reason, a properly organized bathroom looks better. If you want to make your bathroom visually larger, store things in specially designated places, the same applies to bottles of shampoos and masks in shower stalls.

Tip #9: choose narrow shelving. If you've always wanted to try those cute (Ikea) ladders and storage shelves, this is the place for them. Narrow shelves are a good way to build extra storage space without taking up a lot of space.

Even a very small bathroom can be made cozy and modern by visually expanding its space. There are many techniques used by professional designers for this. How to visually enlarge a bathroom? This can be achieved by correctly using:

• color combinations;
• selection of plumbing fixtures and furniture;
• mirrors;
• lighting.

Rule number one is that the walls of a small room (especially the bathroom, where there is insufficient natural light) should always be painted in light, preferably pastel, colors. If the bathroom walls are tiled, then its color should also be light.

The second rule is that in a small room you cannot use contrasting color combinations; they visually reduce the space. You can only create monochromatic combinations, and there should be much more light tones than bright ones. Although, of course, this is a matter of taste, it will not be possible to achieve a visual increase in space with color contrast.

To increase space in a small bathroom, you can use stripes. For example, after painting the walls, you can extend the ceiling by 2-3 cm, then it will visually rise. In addition, designers recommend using foam moldings; they will also create the illusion of a higher ceiling.

Horizontal stripes on the walls will help to move the walls wider, and vertical stripes will help to move them higher.

Light flooring covering the entire bathroom floor area will also play the role of a “visual enlarger” of space.

Doors and furniture will visually “disappear” if they are matched to the walls, which means that the space itself will visually increase.

Such bright details, like towels, for example, should be hung in the farthest corner of the bathroom so that the eye slides across the entire space to an attractive bright spot.

Plumbing

So that furniture and plumbing do not clutter the already small space bathroom, they must be proportionate. You can also consider an option such as replacing the bathtub with a modern shower.

Various small items, such as shampoo bottles, jars of cream, placed along the sides of the bathtub, sink or on the shelf in front of the mirror, visually reduce the space of the room, so it is better to use built-in niches or a wall cabinet for storing them. They are the ones who create visually clean, seemingly effortlessly sliding lines in the bathroom. The same applies to large items, such as a boiler or any other water heater - it is also better to hide them in a closet.

The design of a small bathroom should be very laconic, so if you use bath curtains, you should always keep them open, closing them only when taking a shower.

You should not use bulky furnishings and plumbing fixtures in a small bathroom. For example, sink pedestals, which are only suitable for large room. Consider options for placing the washing machine in the kitchen and the laundry bin in the pantry.

When thinking about how to visually enlarge your bathroom, don't forget about mirrors and mirrored cabinets. You can also use cabinets with highly reflective tinted glass.

It is well known that a wide mirror will visually expand the walls, and a tall one, on the contrary, will raise the ceiling. If you want to achieve both, then use a large square mirror. In addition, you can make one of the walls in the form of a mirror surface, but you need to take into account that the mirror does not like water and steam, which destroy the amalgam, so you need to make sure that it is always dry.

Use in a small bathroom glass shelves although it does not provide the benefits of reflecting light, it also does not delay light passing freely through the glass surface, this makes the bathroom more “airy”.

Lighting a small bathroom is best done on several levels. You can install a central lamp or several spotlights built into the ceiling. IN modern design used frequently LED Strip Light, located in a special niche along the perimeter of the ceiling.

In addition, as local lighting, lighting above the mirror or on both sides is definitely needed. You can try this too non-standard solution, like lamps built into the floor steps, if any.

The small space of the bathroom requires you to think through its design down to the last detail. To make the bathroom not only functional, but also aesthetic, take color, light and shape as your allies, then even such inaccessible walls of a small room will recede a few steps, and you will get a feeling of free space.

Majority standard apartments have very small bathrooms that only accommodate a sink, a bathtub, minimal free space and a toilet in the case of a combined bathroom. However, it is possible to expand the space of a small bathroom visually through the use of various tricks.

Decorating individual parts of the bathroom

First of all, you should pay attention to wall decoration. It must be taken into account that the color of the tiles can expand or narrow the space. For example, light shades contribute to the visual expansion of space, and dark ones, on the contrary, reduce the number of square meters. So if you decide to tile the walls ceramic tiles, give preference to a light pastel solid shade. Patterns in in this case will be inappropriate. As an option, you can use small mosaic tiles, which will visually add space to the bathroom.

It is worth paying attention to the pattern in the form horizontal lines. They can visually expand the space. But vertical lines will make the bathroom taller, but less narrow.

You can also visually increase the height of the room by painting a narrow strip of the ceiling along the edges the same color as the walls. For these purposes, you can also use a decorative strip of wallpaper or molding.

One more in a simple way visual expansion of space are mirrors. A wall mirror can double the space of a room.

As for the ceiling, it can be made suspended with multi-level lighting. Alternatively it can be used on the ceiling mirror or stained glass. If placed on the ceiling spot lighting, the bathroom will be very bright, at the same time it will not be tiring for the eyes. For lovers unusual solutions A good idea would be to paint the ceiling to look like a starry sky.

We correctly plan the placement of plumbing fixtures and furniture

In solving the problem of visual expansion space will also help correct layout . If you place plumbing and furniture correctly, the room will gain additional centimeters. The best option in this case would be corner bath and shower. In the same way, it is quite possible to place a sink and toilet. It’s good if the bathroom has a small niche that allows you to place a bathtub or other plumbing fixtures there.

As for furniture, the best solution will be used built-in wardrobes and shelves, the lines of which will merge with the wall. To store things you don't really need, you can do a few things: open shelves slightly above the comfortable level. Shelves can be made of glass, which will help visually preserve the area of ​​the room rather than reduce it. Important to place in the bathroom as few things as possible, because the a large number of trinkets take up a lot of extra space. Only necessary items can be in easily accessible places; the rest should be hidden in closets.

To avoid cluttering the space, do not install it in the bathroom washing machine. It is better to place it in the kitchen. Good decision will make good use of the space above the toilet. For example, you can hang a cabinet there.

For clothes, you can install hooks in the door, but not many.

Regarding lighting, the best option is spot lighting. It helps to create diffused light and thus increase the space. Alternatively you can use several small lighting fixtures above the sink, bathtub and above the mirror. It is better to avoid white and bluish lighting. It is important that there are no unconsecrated areas in the room.

Small tricks

In most standard apartments, the bathroom layout does not include a window, however interesting solution can be false window. This way you can visually expand the space. To do this, you need to create a drawing on the wall that imitates the view from the window.. For greater authenticity, you can hang curtains or blinds.

Don't go overboard with bright objects: towels, decorative elements and so on. It is best to place such things in the far corner of the bathroom.

We spend a lot of time every day in the bathroom, as in the bedroom, and naturally we want our stay to be as comfortable as possible. Alas, Russian layouts most often give us bathrooms ranging from three to six m2. The situation is a little more rosy in modern houses, however, we are still desperately trying to use the treasured squares to the maximum. Today Kvartblog will tell you what five tricks can visually expand the bathroom a little, if actual enlargement is impossible.

More light

Most people's dream is to have a spacious bathroom with a window through which natural daylight will pour in. Alas, such luxury is most often available only in private country houses. In apartments, we rely on competent artificial lighting. To make the bathroom seem larger, the light should evenly fill the entire space, and not shine exclusively on the mirror or from above. The principle by which lighting should be done on different levels, works here too: ceiling lamps it needs to be combined with a sconce, then the room, flooded with light, will seem more spacious.

Notice how the niches are highlighted with light in the photo below.

Color is important

Light walls and floors are almost an axiom for small bathrooms. pay attention to Scandinavian apartments, which are approximately equal in area to Russian ones: the Swedes with unprecedented zeal exploit the color of the snow, diluting it bright accents in the form of colored towels, bath curtains and posters on the door.

Known fact: dark walls They cause an oppressive feeling even in spacious areas, let alone small rooms. In addition to what has been said: on dark tiles, drops of water are especially visible, which freeze and leave streaks.

Optimal color scheme for the bathroom: light base (white, beige, pastel) and contrasting accents, possibly one accent wall or colored cabinets.

Small space - small tiles

The size of the tile and the way it is laid out are just as important as its color. It’s worth remembering right away that what less space, the smaller the tile should be. Of course, it’s more troublesome to post it, but it’s small and mosaic tiles are able to create a sense of perspective on the wall. And too large a tile will give guests the illusion that the wall is so small that only 10 tiles fit on it. By the way, tiles with a small repeating pattern also work to increase space, this was proven to us by two designers with whom we visited. Alena Stark designed it in Moroccan style and in Arabic style.

Through the Looking Glass

Mirrors visually increase the space in any room, and in a small bathroom it would be a shame not to take advantage of this effect. Don't limit yourself to just a small mirror above the sink. Hang a mirror to the ceiling, as Anya did in her one-room apartment on Dubrovka, or choose cabinets with a mirror surface (you will also have organized storage and additional space for self-admiration). There is only one downside: mirrors require constant care. In the bathroom, they definitely won’t be able to escape accidental splashes, so you’ll have to wipe the mirrors more often than in other rooms.

Less e things in plain sight: hidden storage

In small spaces, you should not allow the room to become overgrown with too many things. Of course, in the bathroom there is a lot of things that we use every day: toothbrushes, creams (for girls they can number in the dozens: from face creams to highly specialized jars for dry skin on the elbows or something else), towels and so on. We advise you to try not to clutter open spaces near the sink, but to group things as much as possible and put them in hidden cabinets. Minimalism will create the illusion of a large and uncluttered space.