Small Bathroom: We Know How to Fit Everything You Need

We reviewed innovative products, found out what techniques Russian designers actively use, and collected successful ideas for decorating small bathrooms.

3 Commandments of a Successful Small BathroomVERTICAL STORAGEIf square meters are in short supply, it's wiser to utilize the walls up to the ceiling by installing cabinets, shelves, and hooks.TOUCHABLE MATERIALSIn a small bathroom, you're more likely to lean against the walls, plumbing, and furniture. It's important that they feel pleasant to touch.FUNCTIONALITYIn compact bathrooms, it's hard to fit everything you'd like. A bathtub with built-in shelves or a toilet with bidet function will come in handy.Design: Concept 58

What's new: 3 innovative solutions for compact bathrooms

Shower + Bath

If you choose such a model, there's no need to mount an additional shelf for bath textiles. Besides, towels and robes taken from such a shelf are always warm.

Photo: Dina Aleksandrova

Tiles that look like wallpaper

In trend are "living" bathrooms and "living" decor: woven baskets, curtains or mats that are easy to imagine in the living room or bedroom. Large-format tiles that look like wallpaper, combined with a wall-to-wall mirror, will transform a small bathroom into a spacious one.

Design: Design Hall studio

Shower + Bath
Product two in one Shower + Bath was developed jointly with Austrian designers EOOS. It is both a shower and a full-sized bathtub, offering the possibility to sit and use a shelf for small items.Design: Duravit

Simon Raimer
Expert
General Director of Duravit

Duravit created Shower + Bath specifically for spaces where every centimeter should be used to the maximum. With such plumbing, you can take a refreshing shower and a bath in candles, or bathe children without worrying that water will splash onto the floor, open shelves, or your washing machine.

Additionally, Shower + Bath is an optimal solution for large families and individualists who want to have both a shower cabin and a bathtub in the bathroom but can't afford it due to small area or modest budget. The compact dimensions of this innovation — just 170×75 cm — allow placing it even in the smallest bathroom.

How Russian designers decorate compact bathrooms: 5 solutions to note

In the project of a compact bathroom in an apartment by the Baltic Sea, Marina Kuznetsova covered the wall with large-format tiles, combining them with paint. Asymmetry in finishing, lighting, and a sink with a "handle" added dynamism and air to the space.

Design: Marina Kuznetsova

Designers from Prosvirin Design couldn't avoid the trendy tile pattern of terrazzo and used it in the design of a Moscow one-bedroom bathroom. But what's most important here is not just the tiles but maximizing vertical storage and built-in systems — even a washing machine was hidden.

Design: Prosvirin Design

Designer Nikita Zub isn't afraid of experiments and is convinced that black color isn't a taboo for a compact bathroom. Indeed, a total black look and white contrasts in the form of floor, ceiling, ceramics, and towels make the bathroom space vibrant, fresh, and not cramped at all.

Tiles and paint, pedestal sink, open and closed storage next to the shower — classic elements for small bathrooms. Designers from Legkocom know this and successfully applied these techniques in the design of a Moscow one-bedroom bathroom.

Design: Legkocom

In the project of a small bathroom in a St. Petersburg two-bedroom apartment, Tatiana Vorontsova made a bet on bright blue accents combined with tiles resembling Gzhel painting and calm gray color. She didn't hesitate to choose compact items — a narrow towel rack and a vertical loading washing machine.

And also 4 proven ways to make a small bathroom convenient

Use not only compact plumbing and furniture, but also electrical appliances

"Hotel-style" hair dryers with wall-mounted stands save space on shelves, while mini boilers and compact washing machines save room for the shelves themselves.

But if you can dry your hair with a hair dryer in the bedroom, move the washing machine to the kitchen, and even a boiler isn't necessary in every home, the most important thing is to choose compact plumbing and furniture.

Think about anti-stain coatings

Compact bathrooms are places with high concentrations of steam, water, and dust, so cleaning in them needs to be done more frequently.

Anti-stain coatings — transparent hydrophobic compositions that prevent dirt from accumulating on sink, toilet, and shower glass surfaces — can help make life easier.

Investing in such a coating is definitely worth it: for example, plumbing with anti-stain WonderGliss coating from the brand Duravit only needs to be wiped with a damp cloth.

Make a bet on built-in storage systems

The best option is to have them custom-designed, planning storage according to your individual needs. Another alternative is to choose a minimalist and spacious vanity unit under the sink and a compact cabinet.

Don't overdo the decoration

Minimalism and simplicity are the best friends of small bathrooms.

On the cover: design project by Alena Vlasova