How to Maximise Space in a Utility Room or Small Bathroom/Toilet
I'm not sure what it is about the British, but we love our fiddly little rooms – cloakrooms, utility rooms, individual toilets – they’re extremely popular.
At the same time, we’re also fond of criticising these small spaces, expressions like ‘not enough room to swing a cat’ and ‘big fish in a small pond’ lend themselves to our attitude to tight spaces.
So, while popular, we don’t appear to like them very much! Fortunately, there are many things that you can do to make these rooms feel like they’re bigger. Here, we’re going to take a look now.
- Mirrors: these are a fantastic way to create the illusion of space. They bounce light around the room and that makes it appear more airy than it is. Bonus points if you buy an infinity mirror (you’ll also get style points here too).
- Light reflecting paint: for the same reason that mirrors maximise space, so too does light reflecting paint. This paint is specifically manufactured to create the illusion of space. It’s fantastic for rooms such as cloakrooms and utilities, but also for narrow hallways, such as those you would find in a Victorian house.
- Light coloured paint: never use a dark paint in a small room. Darkness is associated with smaller spaces. The brain will view it as much smaller than it is. Instead, use a nice light colour, such as white, pink, or pale blue/grey. These colours look incredibly stylish and they maximise space. It’s win-win.
- Cloakroom radiators: sometimes, the problem with these spaces is that we cram things in that are too big for the room. This makes the room feel pinched and tight, and that does not lend itself to spaciousness. If you have a big radiator in the room, then you should consider swapping it for cloakroom radiators. This will provide ample heating for such a small space, but it will also prevent it from feeling too small.
- Small sinks and toilets: this follows closely from the above, but people often pack in large items of furniture into these rooms. For example, when we first moved into our house, the downstairs toilet had a massive sink with a big cupboard underneath it. There was about an inch gap between the door and the sink when you opened the door. It was incredibly oppressive and I have no idea why the previous owner thought that was OK. Especially given that they had nicely decorated the rest of the house. Then, boom!, a massive sink in a tiny room. We got rid of that after about a year and replaced it with a much smaller unit. Instead of the cupboard, we also installed an overhead cabinet. It has very high ceilings, so this didn’t feel too oppressive.
- Thin cupboards: following from the above, we installed thin cupboards, rather than wide cupboards. This tricks the eyes into thinking that the space is larger than it is. I must say, it works wonderfully!
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