Small bathroom renovation

Small rooms need design ideas that don't take up much space. Furniture and washbasins with a low projection that are specially designed for guest bathrooms are ideal. Warm colours, large tiles, good lighting and a minimalist design help make a room look bigger.

Wall-hung WCs and floor-even showers are good solutions for sanitary appliances in these spaces. Wall-hung WCs make cleaning the floor easier. The double wall that conceals the technology can also offer additional storage space and be designed with special tiles or actuator plates. Washbasin traps and mirror cabinets built into the wall also provide more space.

This depends primarily on the needs and the room size. Does the barrier-free bathroom need to be suitable for the elderly, wheelchair-accessible or accessible in another way? Consider the following ideas:

• Install additional grab rails. Grab rails for the toilet can usually be found even in small bathrooms, as they are useful for holding on to or pulling yourself up. Important: only the tiles and the gypsum plasterboards behind them are not sufficient for anchoring grab rails. So make sure that adequate installation elements with mounting plates for attaching grab rails are installed.
• Purchase a height-adjustable WC: wall-hung WCs can be installed at custom seat heights, which can also be subsequently adjusted in some models.
• Choose materials carefully: non-slip tiles or shower surfaces made of solid surface materials minimise the risk of falling.
• Plan bathroom furnishing well: everyday items should be visible, accessible and usable, even from a sitting position.
• Consider the bathroom door: the bathroom doorway should be 90 centimetres wide and without ledges to make it wheelchair accessible. If the door opens into the bathroom, it will take up nearly 1 square metre of space just for opening and closing. This space is freed up if the door is placed so that it opens outwards. If this is not possible, a sliding door might be just the right solution.
• Minimise tripping hazards: Tripping over at home is always a top figure in accident statistics. Therefore: the fewer bathroom items of furniture and accessories standing around in the bathroom, the lower the risk of tripping and injury.

Depending on the room, your requirements and the budget available, ideas can be brought to life with tradespeople or online tools. Programmes such as the 3D bathroom planner, the actuator plate showroom or a Washplace Configurator. The bathroom can be realistically depicted in terms of size and equipment and then virtually planned and “renovated“. Inspiration can also be found in brochures and product catalogues as well as websites with reference projects, which show real, comparable and beautiful bathroom solutions.