If you live an apartment with a small kitchen, odds are you might be dealing with a small bathroom as well. In New York, that’s obviously extremely common. But just like with the kitchen, my years in the remodeling industry have given me valuable insight into ways my team at NYKB | Kitchen & Bath can help you turn your small bathroom into a beautiful space that meets all of your needs. Here are a few ideas on how to do that…
Make everything “LIGHT.” This starts with the obvious choice of bringing as much physical “light” to the bathroom as possible. Natural light is preferable. Man made light can also work well, especially if you recess the lighting in order to preserve more air space. LED’s are the perfect way to give a small room more light, they emit brighter whites and do not heat us like Halogen lights. Next, we move on to colors, where “light” is also preferable. No blacks, no bolds… just soft, pale colors that will make the space feel more open. Third, we want to go “light” on the furniture. While this may limit us in some areas, the choice of a bulky vanity cabinet for your sink can take up a good chunk a real estate in a small bathroom layout. Go with a pedestal or wall-mounted sink. I just mentioned how the sink vanity can be an obstruction, which is why at NYKB, we often recommend pedestal sinks for clients in Manhattan with small bathrooms. They offer the advantages of saving a ton of floor space and making the bathroom “feel” more open, while also looking beautiful. There are also sinks and vanities that mount directly to the wall. While many of our customers believe that they are losing storage space by installing a wall mounted vanity, the truth is that wall-mounted vanities offer the same amount of storage space. How is that possible? Well, you have to take the plumbing fixtures and vanity legs into consideration. Most self standing vanities have only one shelf, and their support system (legs/foundation) takes up half of the space. Shelving is your friend. I am often amazed at how much more open a room looks when you replace cabinets with shelves. It just makes everything more airy. The other great thing about shelves is that, with a little creativity, you can stick them almost anywhere. In a bathroom, look for little nooks of space like directly over the door or above the toilet. You could even add a recessed niche shelf into your shower so you can easily store your shampoos, conditioners, and soaps.
Make everything “LIGHT.” This starts with the obvious choice of bringing as much physical “light” to the bathroom as possible. Natural light is preferable. Man made light can also work well, especially if you recess the lighting in order to preserve more air space. LED’s are the perfect way to give a small room more light, they emit brighter whites and do not heat us like Halogen lights. Next, we move on to colors, where “light” is also preferable. No blacks, no bolds… just soft, pale colors that will make the space feel more open. Third, we want to go “light” on the furniture. While this may limit us in some areas, the choice of a bulky vanity cabinet for your sink can take up a good chunk a real estate in a small bathroom layout. Go with a pedestal or wall-mounted sink. I just mentioned how the sink vanity can be an obstruction, which is why at NYKB, we often recommend pedestal sinks for clients in Manhattan with small bathrooms. They offer the advantages of saving a ton of floor space and making the bathroom “feel” more open, while also looking beautiful. There are also sinks and vanities that mount directly to the wall. While many of our customers believe that they are losing storage space by installing a wall mounted vanity, the truth is that wall-mounted vanities offer the same amount of storage space. How is that possible? Well, you have to take the plumbing fixtures and vanity legs into consideration. Most self standing vanities have only one shelf, and their support system (legs/foundation) takes up half of the space. Shelving is your friend. I am often amazed at how much more open a room looks when you replace cabinets with shelves. It just makes everything more airy. The other great thing about shelves is that, with a little creativity, you can stick them almost anywhere. In a bathroom, look for little nooks of space like directly over the door or above the toilet. You could even add a recessed niche shelf into your shower so you can easily store your shampoos, conditioners, and soaps.
