Space Planning Principles for your Bathrooms

Photo by Random Sky on Unsplash

See these principles in action on our Houzz ideabook.

Planning a new bathroom or planning to remodel your existing bathroom? Below are some space planning principles to keep in mind for this area of the home. Note that when remodeling, these space planning principles tend to be the hardest to apply due to the existing layouts and architecture of the home. Whether it's a guest bathroom, powder room, master bathroom, or kids bathroom, these should all be both functional and fashionable.

Here are a few space planning principles to keep in mind for a bathroom:

1. Bathrooms should have an accessible, yet modest and private, location. Bathrooms are best to not be seen directly from other rooms in the home; for example, a small room, closet, or hallway is best between another room and the bathroom.
2. Bathrooms should have an adequate amount of storage, at minimum, and sufficient counter space. There should be enough room to store toiletries, appliances, towels, etc while maintaining enough counter space for some of those items at a time plus decorative accessories.
3. Bathrooms should be appropriately sized; they should not be too small nor have superfluous spaces. Similarly, showers should also be appropriately sized, with enough room in which to move around without hitting the walls, doors, curtains, or sides when showering, shaving, etc.
4. Bathrooms should be well-organized and include the fixtures needed for the desired functions of the room. For example, install a tub where desired in one bathroom or a stand-alone shower without a tub in the bathroom where desired in another. Hanging towel storage should be provided near the shower and/or bathtub. Ideally, do not have the toilet visible from the entrance of the bathroom, nor from the mirror above the vanity cabinets.

OVOLO Interiors Project Portfolio Photo: Updating a Pair of Bathrooms

These principles are best accomplished through new construction but during a remodel, a good bathroom designer will apply as many of the principles as possible while working within the various project constraints such as overall home layout, room dimensions, budget, project timeline, client wants and needs, etc. However, as mentioned previously, when remodeling, these space planning principles tend to be the hardest to apply due to the existing layouts and architecture of the home. So, if you are thinking about remodeling your bathroom, try to apply as many of these principles as possible.  

If you haven't already, see these principles in action on our Houzz ideabook.