One of the biggest issues that the average home in the UK faces when choosing bathroom hardware is size. Our bathrooms are tiny, often comprising just enough room to twist between the WC, basin and bath.
So if you’re opting for a shower room because fitting a bath isn’t possible then what are your options? How can you maximise the space available?
You’re going to need room to move around between a WC, basin and a shower. Consider the following small shower room ideas.
1. Choose a suitable shower
Corner shower cubicle
The smallest corner shower you can buy for tray mounting is 700x700mm. Indeed the smallest tray size available is a matching square 700x700mm.
With profile adjustment in a space with true walls, you might be able to get the shower door size down to 650mm. You’ll need to cut the tray down though to complement that or fit the edge into a wall recess where it meets your tiling.
At the 700mm size, you’ll be choosing from a pivot, hinge or bifold shower doors. An option where the door opens inwards will also save on your floor footprint. Don’t expect much elbow room though.
Wetroom screens
Alternatively, you could consider a wet room floor and mount a single shower screen onto that. This means you could opt for a narrow longer shower space, perhaps at an absolute minimum of 600mm from the wall.
In terms of the actual glass, there are walk-in shower enclosures from 500mm in size. Add a hinged flipper panel at approx 300mm and you have a compact and practical showering space.
2. Take every storage opportunity
In a small shower room try to incorporate storage into each piece of hardware.
Vanity basins
Instead of installing a basin with dead space or a pedestal beneath consider a vanity unit. Options are available with a single shelf or contained cupboard beneath.
You could also incorporate a WC unit into this.
Mirror cabinets
A slim mirrored cabinet perhaps with lighting built-in is great for storing all your essentials. Toothbrushes, cosmetics and medicines can all be neatly tucked away.
A mirrored surface also has the benefit of bouncing light around the room. Options with LED lights will exaggerate this and help you with grooming.
Wire shower caddies
Open wire shower caddies are inexpensive and can be hung from your shower or corner mounted. They’ll help contain all your shower gels and hair products instead of leaving them on the floor.
3. Use minimal space for heating hardware
Radiators
There are plenty of small towel radiators available that won’t take up much wall space. If you’re really struggling then you could mount one higher up your wall perhaps with a warming rack. Or choose a slim vertical option, some are slim enough to tuck behind a door. Look for products that don’t project too far from the wall to lessen the impact on your floor space.
Underfloor heating
If you have no free wall space then consider underfloor heating. This will only be a viable option if you’re renewing the flooring. Inexpensive complete kits are available that are easy to install and are pretty frugal in terms of running costs.
4. Go light and reflective on wall and floor surfaces
In a small space, you need to avoid dark colour schemes. Go pale and let the light bounce around making the space feel larger. Of course, you could go for a bold feature wall to add colour and personality.
In terms of wall materials, tiles and shower wall panels are hygienic and easy to clean. Wall panels are quicker and less expensive to install plus they can hide imperfect walls whereas tiles are less forgiving.
For flooring forget carpet. Opt for tiles, vinyl or bathroom ready laminates. Again these are easy to clean and many will be compatible with underfloor heating.
5. Use the recess of the ceiling for lighting
Light from a window is helpful but you’ll also require electrical lighting. Opt for slim projection led lights that are IP44 rated.
Downlights recessed into the ceiling and spaced at regular intervals will provide even lighting in a small shower room.
Wrapping things up
We hope these small shower room ideas have offered some inspiration to motivate you into taking action. Remember before purchasing anything consider the size and the remaining space that will be available once you fit that item. Small projection products will also use less space.
FAQ’s
Most small shower rooms incorporate a washbasin and WC as well as the shower. With that in mind, we would suggest the smallest usable space with gaps between each piece of hardware would measure 1.6 x 0.7m or 1.79 metres square. This would incorporate the smallest off the shelf shower enclosure size at 700x700mm. Of course, it could be smaller without the WC or washbasin but then is it really practical?
The absolute minimum size for a walk in shower comprising of a single or double shower screen setup would measure 1000 x 700mm. At 1000mm wide this would incorporate a small 600mm shower screen with a 400mm entry space. The other end would either be the wall in a recess setup or the other shower screen at 600 or 700mm in length if installed in a corner. These are absolute minimums. A more comfortable walk in shower would measure 1200 x 700mm and upwards. If you only have this much space consider a shower door instead.
Hello, my name is Dean.
Together with my business partner we own and operate Shower Enclosures UK.com Ltd.
We’ve been running the business for over 9 years and have amassed a reasonable amount of knowledge and expertise on the subject of shower and bathroom hardware. Enough that we’ve been able to put together a series of blog posts that should make buying bathroom goods that little bit simpler and help answer all the most popular questions.
If there’s anything that doesn’t make sense or needs expanding on please let us know in the comments. You can also reach out to me on LinkedIn
Thanks for taking the time to read our posts.