Renovating Small Bathrooms: 12 Ways to Make Your Bathroom Look Bigger

Wish your small bathroom was large and luxurious? Renovating a small bathroom may be easier than you think. These tips will make your old bathroom look new and, best of all, bigger.

1. KEEP THE FOOTPRINT You save big bucks when you keep the existing walls and tub. That does not mean you settle for less. Remove the old tub and replace it with an oval insert or acrylic shower unit.

Small Bathroom Ideas

2. PAINT. Painting a bathroom is the cheapest update. Choose a pale color to reflect light. According to REPAIR-HOME.COM the best color is definitely off-white. " However, pale blues, greens, and tans are also good color choices.

Renovating Small Bathrooms: 12 Ways to Make Your Bathroom Look Bigger

3. WHITE OUT WOODWORK. The Better Homes and Gardens website says the same color painting woodworkas the walls will make your woodwork "disappear." This monochromatic design approach will also unify your bathroom.

4. CLEAR THE WAY. De-clutter the space and get rid of frosted shower doors. Then, "the eye will see all the way to the back of the shower wall and the room will feel a lot bigger than it is," notes http://www.homefocused.com.

5. GET TECHNICAL. In the last few years solid surface technology has improved greatly. New
acrylic surfaces allow you to buff away scratches and sand away stains. Some acrylics are mold-proof, a big plus for small bathrooms.

6. BUILD UP. Bathroom designers tell clients to look upwards for extra space. Install extra shelves on top of a cabinet if possible, or a long shelf along one wall.Adding crown molding will draw the eyes upwards and create the illusion of space.

7. DOWNSIZE. Manufacturers are producing smaller tubs, showers, vanities, and lights in response to market demands. These items are small in size and big on style.

8. CHANGE MIRRORS. The Home Focused website says "two mirrors placed opposite each other can give the illusion of never-ending space!" Framed mirrors are the trend today. If you can't remove an existing mirror glue to frame around it. You may also hang a long mirror in the bathroom.

9. RE-TILE THE FLOOR. Surprisingly, large floor tiles make a small bathroom look bigger. Choose a textured tile to prevent slipping. Cover the skirt of the bathtub with a smaller version of the floor tile.Lay down an area rug if replacing tile is too costly.

10. USE EVERY INCH. Stick robe hooks and a laundry bag on the back of the bathroom door. Removing cabinet doors also creates the illusion of more space, according to http://www.decoratingyoursmallspace.com.

11. ADD ELEGANCE. One elegant touch--glass tiles on the vanity, decorative tiles around the tub, to live on a fern stand--will make the whole bathroom feel elegant. You deserve this elegance.

12. THINK RE-SALE. You never know when you have to move, so think resale as you make your design decisions. Simple lines and neutral colors will appeal to future buyers.

Copyright 2007 by Harriet Hodgson

Renovating Small Bathrooms: 12 Ways to Make Your Bathroom Look Bigger

Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas

If you are looking for ways to decorate a small bedroom, I have good news for you. I am going to show you a different approach to decorated a small room or bedroom.

Many people seem to be guilty that their bedroom is small and they read every bit of information available in libraries and the Internet to make a small bedroom look bigger. Of course it is human nature to look for things that you don't possess right now.

Small Bathroom Ideas

Some of the easy techniques of making a small bedroom look bigger are

Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas

1) Use bright colored paints so that natural light entering the small bedroom get reflected in all directions and the room looks bigger.

2) Use furniture with slim frames. This is a very obvious solution. Furniture with slimframes have less perceived volume and because of this the room looks bigger.

3) Use a platform bed in a small bedroom. What is a platform bed? A platform bed is the one with low height. The normal height of any bed is around 6 inches approximately 1foot. But a platform bed is only 1 foot high fro the ground level. This makes it's volume and the room looks bigger.

4) Arrange the furniture in your room at angles. Of course this is not always possible. But small pieces of furniture can be arranged in that fashion. This is done to distract the visual lines away from the walls.

5) using a wallpaper with horizontal pattern. This will create an illusion of horizontal expansion.

There are many more simple ideas to go for. However there is one moresimple approach to go for this. Instead of spending time in making your room look bigger, why not make it a point that the same room becomes more functional and appealing in the same available space.

I am not saying that making a room look bigger is a waste of time, but it has got certain limitations of it's own. It is a strong possibility that the room, which is being used as a bedroom, was originally designed for something else and then was converted into a bedroom. Small rooms or the other hand can be extremely efficient because it is easy to design furniture in them that will help a human being efficiently to perform specific actions.

I hope this article was helpful.

Copyright Shrinivas Vaidya

Small Bedroom Decorating Ideas