For homebuyers, one of the first rooms that catches the eye is the bathroom – size, design, tile type, comfort, lighting – all of these factors can make or break the first impression. And if you have a smaller bathroom, the pressure to impress is amplified.
If you’re worried about how your cramped bathroom will impact the value of your home and the decision of homebuyers, you could very well benefit from a complete overhaul of this space. And with a few interior design tricks, you can create the illusion of space without breaking down walls – or the bank.
Give Your Tile a New Angle
Acting as an optical illusion, laying tile diagonally tricks your brain into believing there’s more space in the room than there truly is. This is because when there’s a clear 90-degree pattern, your eyes can easily scan the room and subconsciously pick up on the quantity of tile in the room.
Diagonal patterns are also more pleasing aesthetically and add more personality to the room than a regimented pattern. Just be prepared to spend a little more time planning the layout, measuring, and cutting your tile, especially around the perimeter.
Blow It Up!
Using smaller tiles emphasizes grout lines in your bathroom, which box in the space and make it feel even more cramped than it actually is. With large tiles, however, this becomes less of an issue as long as you keep the minimum grout joint width to 3/16”.
And since our brains naturally associate large tile with large rooms, this sizing will, in turn, create the illusion of a bigger room. To make it even more expansive and add an additional level of sophistication, large tile is the perfect kind to follow up on one wall to create an accent wall.
Mosaics Aren’t Off Limits
This might seem a counterintuitive design choice after the last tip, but hear me out – there are ways to make mosaic work in a tiny bathroom. The biggest problem with mosaic, as we went over earlier, is the number of grout lines. But if you tint the grout to the same or similar color to the tile itself, this effect is vastly reduced, and in the end, you have beautiful, vibrant mosaic tile without the boxed-in feeling.
Bonus tip: lay the tile on all surfaces – floor, walls, and ceiling – for even more spectacular results.
Keep It Light, Keep It Simple
This is a basic, Interior Design 101 tip, but it’s one that bears repeating when it comes to tiling a small bathroom: lighter and brighter opens up space, while darker colors box it in. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that every piece of tile in the room has to be white for maximum light reflection. You can even use a black-and-white pattern if you choose since half of the pattern is white. Baby blues, pale pinks, and lavenders are also great options if you want to add a splash of color to the room.
Tiny bathrooms don’t have to be a headache if you’re looking to sell your home in the near future. With a few tweaks to your tile layout, you can transform the look and feel of your bathroom in no time!
Caryl Anne Crowne is a contributing writer and media relations specialist for Re-Bath.
