Six Ways To Enlarge Your Bathroom,
Without Expanding!
There are many reasons for why homeowners choose to remodel their bathrooms, but some of the most popular reasons are to make the room feel larger. With ranch style homes being one of the most predominate single family home architectural styles we see in California’s South Bay Area, small bathrooms that house a single sink and small shower stall are quite common and can feel very crowded. So how do you solve this problem when you can’t move walls to expand the size of the bathroom?
The answer is in your finishes, fixtures, and overall functionality! Gridley Company would like to highlight one of our recently completed Primary Bath remodels in San Jose, CA, which we enlarged without expanding. Our client’s original bathroom was dressed in thick, white ceramic tiles with the traditional bulky quarter round edges and wide grout outlines. The shower stall was small and cave-like, once you stepped over the tall 7” shower curb that projected into the room. The cabinets were stained a dark espresso color with raised panel door and drawer styles and drop-in top mount sink over tile and grout countertops. The whole space felt dated, heavy, and crowded.
By working with Gridley Company’s design & build experts, our client was able to achieve the bathroom of their dreams. Through using skilled contractors, creative selections, and expert bathroom design knowledge, this Primary Bathroom became brighter, more contemporary, more luxurious, and most importantly, more spacious, without moving a single wall or changing the layout! While there are many ways to improve a bathroom, Gridley Company found six unique ways to truly enhance this Primary Bath:
- Eliminate the Shower Curb.
Opting for a curbless shower with a linear drain is not an inexpensive or easy upgrade! This solution requires rerouting drains and reframing the floor, so water drains properly and doesn’t exit the shower pan. Ultimately, the benefits certainly out way the cons on this upgrade. Installing a curbless shower not only removes the visual barrier, which can make a bathroom feel smaller, it’s also a safe solution for aging in place. In this unique situation, we ran the large-scale bathroom floor tile right into the shower pan for a truly seamless effect. Be sure to work with a professional design-to-build company like Gridley Company when considering this option in your bathroom!
- Upgrade to Frameless, Starphire Ultra-Clear Tempered Shower Glass.
Frameless shower glass does away with the bulky metal rails at the top and bottom which can be a visual distraction in a contemporary bathroom design and a great place for soap scum and mold to build up, yuck! Upgrading your clear tempered shower glass to the ultra-clear starphire tempered shower glass will make the space feel larger by eliminating the distortions and altered hues that are common with standard, tempered glass.
- Go With Wall-Hung Fixtures Wherever You Can.
One of the most luxurious upgrades in a bathroom is the Toto Washlet. Pair this with a wall-mounted toilet and you’ll thank yourself each time you or your Roomba cleans the bathroom floors. A wall mounted toilet increases the clear space between your toilet and whatever is directly in front of it, an absolute must for building codes, and your personal comfort, especially in compact spaces. Beware, while switching out a toilet in the same location is a relatively simple process, upgrading to a wall mounted toilet is not something for your DIY list! This upgrade requires special framing in the wall to support the fixture, relocating the drain, and a designated outlet for the Washlet seat to function. You truly are bringing in all specialty trades to convert your existing toilet to a Wall-Hung Washlet, so we highly recommend working with a design build company, like Gridley Company to manage your bathroom renovation.
- Use The Space Behind a Mirror for Storage.
Today’s medicine cabinets offer many luxurious features from interior outlets and USB ports for charging toothbrushes and electric shavers, auto-defoggers, dimmable lighting, nightlights, magnifying mirrors and even concealed TV’s. All these unique features really help to declutter your countertops, making them feel more expansive. To pair with this minimalistic bathroom design, our client chose a Robern lighted medicine cabinet, eliminating the need for wall sconces which can make a wall feel crowded or overly accessorized.
- Ground The Space with Dark Floors.
One of the simplest solutions to making a space feel larger is the use of light, natural colors. Too much white, however, can make a room feel stark; and if you’re looking for comfort, you’ll want to bring in a contrast and a natural material. By selecting near-black tile floors, we were able to ground the space, allowing the light colors of the walls and wall tile to bounce light, brightening the room. A natural veneer bamboo cabinet finish complements the otherwise white and black bathroom by adding texture and warmth.
- Keep Details to a Minimum, By Design.
Keeping your design details to minimum helps a space feel larger by reducing visual distractions. By selecting just two different tiles and installing contemporary cabinets, we were able to highlight the minimalistic and peaceful feel this bathroom boasts as the first thing that catches your eye. Contemporary slab front cabinet door and drawer styles simplify a space by looking more uniform. Frameless cabinetry optimizes storage by providing more room for drawer boxes and accessories like hampers to fit perfectly behind doors. The lack of intricate details or accents on your door or drawer front means fewer places for dirt and debris to gather, making this room easy to clean!
The featured products of this bathroom include:
Robern Mirrors, Grohe Faucets, Toto Washlet, NuHeat Heated Floors, Carmel Stone Imports Tile, Happy Floors Tile, Teltos Countertops, Benjamin Moore Paint, Amba Heated Towel Bar
Are you looking to give the bathrooms in your California Ranch Home a fresh update? Contact us to start the process and meet your new partner in home design & build, Gridley Company!