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Windows bring natural light and openness to a room. Big rooms like living areas and bedrooms tend to take precedence when it comes to window placement, leaving many people with a tiny, dark bathroom somewhere in their house. Worry not though–there are many tricks you can implement to make an enclosed bathroom feel bigger and brighter.

When you do not have many light sources in your bathroom, you need to make the most with what you have. Walls that are painted in a bright white will reflect the light from each bulb better than other colors. Just a quick and simple paint job can create a world of difference in a windowless room, and having white accents and fixtures helps as well–a white tub, white chair, and white countertops all will bounce the light around the room.

Following the same logic, installing a large mirror can immediately open up the appearance of a space. When you place a large mirror in a small space, you’ve visually added more depth and area to the bathroom without actually changing anything! The mirror reflects not only light, but the entire room, making it seem much bigger than it actually is. Consider using mirrors close to the ground, where they’ll lengthen the floor as well. Reflective tub sides or doors to closets will subtly add more distance to your tiny bathroom.

Use shiny materials like polished metal or glass throughout your enclosed bathroom. Accents and fixtures made with these materials are shiny, uniform, and beautiful. Using glass in particular for fixtures or as a shower door mimics the appearance of a window without actually having one.

Glass or lucite accessories are see-through, so they trick the eye and make it seem like they take up little to no space on your counters. They fit with the light and airy theme of the bathroom and help keep the space from looking cluttered, even if they take up much of the counter space.

Maintain as many sightlines as you can. Bathrooms are often divided by many opaque features–shower curtains eliminate the depth of the shower, and solid vanities take up a lot of depth in the main portion. To make a small bathroom feel bigger, it’s important to keep as much area in your bathroom visible as possible. Depending on your unique situation, this may mean using a clear shower curtain or a glass door; or, if you have the storage elsewhere, choose a vanity that is open and leggy, without closed-off cabinet space. If you need some storage, get a vanity with an open shelf or two to keep towels and extra toilet paper rolls.

Light your bathroom from multiple angles. A single overhead light is not flattering or any room or face. It creates too many shadows and tends to make the lower half of the room seem dark. To remedy this issue, consider adding more sources of light to your small room. Fixtures placed next to vanity mirrors or elsewhere in the room at about 5 to 6 feet high will bring more light and eliminate almost all the shadows, creating a cozy yet open ambience.

West Coast Design Build Florida offers expert design advice and professional workmanship for kitchens, bathrooms, and outdoor living spaces.