Decorating a Small Bathroom: Ideas & Inspiration for Making the Most of Your Space!

It’s turning into the summer of bathroom projects at the Jarrett casa! I’m in the middle of painting the ugly red floor tile in one bathroom (I’ll let you know how that goes!) and totally making over the other. My husband wondered why in the world I decided to put two of our bathrooms out of commission at the same time and… I have no clue. But I do know that I need to get moving on knocking both projects out before we have houseguests later this summer because it’s probably kinda tacky to make them walk through our bedroom every time they need to use the bathroom, right? 🙂  

Both bathrooms I’m working on are small ones and I’m figuring out some ways to really make these little guys shine while staying on a budget. I know I’m not the only one with a small bathroom that’s in dire need of some TLC so I thought I’d share my ideas and inspiration for decorating a small bathroom with all of you! (some affiliate links included in post)

Ditch that Basic Builder’s Mirror

The only thing more boring than builder’s beige walls is a basic builder’s bathroom mirror that’s nothing but a cheap slab of mirror glued to the wall. Our house was 4 for 4 with those babies in our bathrooms when we moved in! One solution is pretty obvious – rip it off the wall and and replace it with a mirror with more personality. And it doesn’t always mean you have to spend a ton of money. Can you believe that Brittany found this gorgeous mirror for over her daughter’s vanity at HomeGoods?  

Her whole bathroom is truly a stunner – you can hop over and see more of in on her blog, Addison’s Wonderland {here} and check out some of my current favorite mirrors that would work in a bathroom here:

And since small bathrooms are often short on storage, another great option is to go with a medicine cabinet mirror with shelving for all of your toiletries inside. Medicine cabinet mirrors used to be universally ugly but now there are some really beautiful ones. I love {this medicine cabinet mirror} that we installed in our powder room (you can take a full tour of it {here}) – it gives us so much more storage so everything is off of the surface of the pedestal sink and hidden away in the cabinet:

If you don’t have any plumbing or electrical work behind the wall to interfere with it, an inset medicine cabinet that’s recessed into the wall like mine definitely gives you a cleaner look than the wall-mount versions. I don’t think anyone would ever guess that these simple framed mirrors are medicine cabinets (medicine cabinets found {here}, vanities found {here}):

But I do have to say that I came across {this wall-mount medicine cabinet option} and thought it was pretty cool how the storage pulls out to the sides!

Another option (especially if you’re on a tight budget!) is to leave your mirror in place but frame it with decorative molding. You can buy a custom mirror frame kit but it’s a whole lot cheaper to do it yourself – simply buy decorative molding from the hardware store, make 45 degree cuts on the ends for the four pieces to fit together (if you don’t own a miter saw, you can use a miter box!), glue the four pieces together on a level surface, and then glue the frame to the edges of the mirror with Liquid Nails. I’m going this route for the guest bathroom that I’m currently working on so will have some “before” and “after” pics to show you soon! 

Go Big with Overhead Lighting!

A lot of small bathrooms are lit by a single overhead flush mount light and while you would think that going with a teeny tiny overhead light would be the way to go, usually that just gives you a bit of a “dollhouse” look, emphasizing the smallness of the space.

Choosing more of an average width flush mount (like 14 – 15 inches wide) will typically do the opposite of what you would expect and make your space look bigger. I can’t wait to see the difference that swapping out the overhead fixture in our guest bathroom is going to make – I’m dissing this teeny guy in exchange for {this inexpensive beauty}:

This light is one of the ten favorites that I recently shared in {this post on favorite flush mount lighting} so check it out if you’re on the hunt for a new one! 

And what if you have dated sconce or bar lighting instead? If your lighting has glass or fabric shades, try switching those out as an inexpensive update – sometimes that can make a huge difference! 

Adding a Half Wall of Beadboard, Shiplap, or Tile Lets You Splurge on Wallpaper!

There are SO many gorgeous wallpapers out there right now but they can be pretty pricey! If you have a pricey favorite that’s way out of your budget for wallpapering a typical room, a small bathroom might be the perfect spot for it. And you can cut the price of your wallpapering in half by adding beadboard, wainscoting, shiplap, or tile to the bottom half of your bathroom walls, leaving only the top half to cover. I LOVE both the wallpaper and half wall of subway tile that Kyla went with for her basement bathroom:

Beautiful, right?! And I love the flooring and the mirror and… everything! You can check out all the beautiful details of Kyla’s bathroom remodel on her blog {here}.

I also love how you can do something a little different with wallpaper in a bathroom than you might in any other room of your house. I honestly would never in a million think of slapping up jellyfish wallpaper in any other room of my house, but on half of the walls in a bathroom? Love it!

The idea of adding tile, molding, etc. to the bottom half of the wall is a great one when you’re stenciling too since it can be SUPER time intensive to stencil full walls – trust me, the fact that the bottom half of the walls in our hall bath were tiled was the saving grace in finishing up the stenciling job in that space! You can read a little more about the ins and out of stenciling your walls {here} and see a few of my favorite wallpapers here (one of them is the one I just had put up in our guest bath!):

Be Smart About Storage & Organization 

Small bathrooms are typically lacking in storage space but there are several ways you can sneak in a little bit of additional storage that can really make a difference! The top of the toilet tank is a good place to start – adding something like {this woven tray} is perfect for corralling a box of tissues, lotion, and/or toiletries for visiting guests: 

And like in every other room of the house, baskets can be a life saver! If you have a pedestal sink or console vanity without any storage space for towels, consider rolling them up and storing them in a wire basket like {this one}:

or a woven basket like one of {these}:

These are a few of my other favorite baskets:

What if your bathroom is so tiny that you don’t have the floor space for a basket? A wall-mounted towel holder like {this one} can be a life saver:

Another space saving option is to take advantage of the space above the toilet with shelving – it can be something recessed like this: 

or wall-mounted shelves like {these}. Another thing I’ve done to create a little extra storage surface in two of our small bathrooms is use small wood stools like this one for holding towels by the shower or toiletries by the sink:

And if you have little kids that need a step stool, I LOVE {this water-resistant teak step stool} that can do double duty as a towel holder when needed:

Update: I finished making over our small guest bathroom and am sooo happy with how it turned out:

Check out my full post with all of the “before” and “after” pics and sources for everything including my killer new small space vanity {here}!