Recently a friend of ours was in the market to purchase a small home in the nearby hills of Echo Park, where smaller 1-2 bedrooms homes still exist and where square footage can run underneath the 1,000 square feet mark. He found himself wanting to convert an awkward walk-in closet space into a full bathroom near the bedroom, but discovered most big box retailers don't cater to the small space customer.
The truth is the domestic bathroom supply market is predominately aimed at suburban-sized homes and specifications; even most apartments feature full sized bathrooms. When one needs to convert a small space like a former closet into a super compact bathroom, you'll likely need to look over the pond to Europe or Asia for small bathroom options. Below are a variety of bathroom solutions that optimize space to the fullest while offering an aesthetic impression.
- Aston Matthews Ergo Corner Toilet: this toilet remind us of our teenage years at the high school dance…stuck close, clinging to the walls.
- Aston Matthews Corner Basin: an ideal partner to the Ergo toilet, this corner sink is cute and compact, about $256 US.
- Ideal Standard Small + Wall Bidet: the wall mounted, twin-bongo shape dual toilet and bidet setup looks like something we'd find inside Matthew McConaughey home.
- Ideal Standard Small+ Wall Toilet: a split version of the dual bidet+toilet, available as both a floor and wall mount.
- Ideal Standard Space Saving Bath: an acrylic showertub, complete with seating area for a half-bath option (would make shaving legs easy for the ladies).
- SPAcer Fold Up Tub: Designer Dominik Chojnacki concept is part futuristic tub and throwback murphy bed design.
- Jersey S Round Corner Shower: sized at 34" x 34" x 76", this 2 piece corner shower packs in a lot of storage with its built-in 4 shelves, 2 soap dishes and 2 bottle holders.
- Bristol and Bath Carlton: the legs of this sink base hides a slide out storage system.
- Clearwater Heart Clawfoot Corner Bath: the aesthetics of a clawfoot, but in half the footprint.
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Number 3, ew! And I love that your description of this option involved Mathew McConaughey. LOL. Nice post!
oops, okay I think I allowed myself to get confused partly due to the differing order of pictures and their descriptions. I thought image 4 was a toilet/sink combo. It's now less hilarious, but also a relief.
Awesome!
There are ten pictures, but only nine things listed -- you skipped the first image, and naturally it's the one with the bathtub that made me sit up and take notice. Who's the manufacturer?
There are many, many small and even tiny sinks on-line - you just need to look for them. The designs can be very attractive. Prices vary greatly.
We found some in-stock items for our 3 tiny bathrooms.
Some tricks: recess the toilet tank into a wall alcove (in one bath, a countertop runs above it, so there is storage as well, in the other, we built a cabinet to fill the space above), use tile patterns to add size, etc.
We also found a narrow storage cabinet for about $60 (a CD cabinet from an unfinished furniture store). We added some molding to make it more proportional, changed the position of the knobs, and gave it a coat of white paint.
My parents' home is undeniably in the suburbs but in a neighbourhood built in the fifties, and their kitchen and bathroom renovations have run into similar problems finding fixtures that will fit comfortably (though, oddly, they were able to order a one-and-a-half sink which would fit into the available space in the kitchen from the US).
When/if they get around to putting in a new vanity in the bathroom, I'm going to have to push for the type in the ninth image, the one with the drawers in the legs. That really is awesome.
i wish i could've found posts like this when i was renovating my NYC apartment 3 years ago. everything in it is mini-sized and home depot definitely wasn't any help.
i think the bathroom was actually easier than the kitchen, though. i spent weeks searching for 18" wide stainless appliances and a sink i could fit in the corner that didn't resemble the ones on airplanes.
regardless, cool post! i love the mini clawfoot
I second K02's comment: where is the bathtub in the first picture from? Anyone?
I, too, am interested in the bathtub featured in the first photo. Any information would be helpful.
We squeezed a bathroom into a closet space 10'x3', loo at one end, shower at the other, and the basin opposite 5' pocket double frosted glass doors.
One big help was raising the ceiling into the roof space and adding a skylight. Still, we had better not put on weight.
Picture : http://ikeahacker.blogspot.com/2009/06/bekvam-and-molger-bathroom-remodel.html
what is the tub in the first picture?
Found it: http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/ny/tubs-toilets-showers-sinks/twinline-tub-shower-combo-040705 (Though the images on that post are screwed up, so the thumbnails don't enlarge.)
manufacturer's site:
http://www.artweger.at/app1/mouseover.jsp?pg=Dynamische%20Seite|Twinline|Produkte|TWINLINE%20Einleitung&lg=en
Note: the page is seriously funky on its loading, and if your screen is less than 1000px, you'll be scrolling horizontally, and I won't even get into the useless mouseovers. Le sigh.
More importantly: only available in Europe at this time. Bummer.
Hmm. I guess a tub/shower setup would be majorly over the weight limit for luggage coming back from Sweden, eh. Not to mention probably such a funky size that the average airline wouldn't allow it anyway. Geez, what's the value in a Swedish step-mother if I can't get a cool tub out of it?
I like the description on the manf. website:
"The best of two worlds. Finally - starting now you no longer need to decide between a tub or shower! Because with the new Artweger TWINLINE you have both: a complete shower AND a bathtub in one. The world first by Artweger: the all-inclusive solution for your bath!"
Finally!... wait... what?
surely that first tub is available in the U.S.?????
I've done this. Jacuzzi has a line of tubs especially made for renovation purposes. I had a 5' x 7' closet. I put a 5' by 30" Jacuzzi at one end (55 gallon tub, the smallest they made), next to a pedestal sink next to the toilet. I reversed the door to open out, and lined the wall that used to be behind the door with three flush mounted 4" deep medicine cabinets joined together. Between the tub and the door was 18", and I found a wrought iron shelves five feet tall with four shelves 16 inches wide. It was a great little bathroom.
I took two side by side closets and combined them to 4' by 9' and made it into a 'potty with shelves' as my contractor put it. It was a half bath, window at one end, toilet under the window, next to a 30" cabinet with door and two shelves, which I topped with that composite that runs a shelf over the back of the toilet, like a hotel. I put in a 20" wall next to the 18" deep cabinet, and on the other side I built a wall of shelves with two walls of mirrors. It was a tiny dressing room, but I loved it. It would also be very easy to convert the walk in closet into a shower, for a future owner.
I have recently bought a condo, and it has the standard tub/shower with sliding glass doors, toilet, and sink with a huge cabinet. I hate it. It's so ordinary.
Ooooh that first picture is to die for
I think the first picture is by ideal standard. They do a space range especially for small bathrooms. Much more affordable that the other link but I don't know if it is available in the states.
http://www.ideal-standard.co.uk/concept/shower-bath-bath-e7362.aspx
http://www.homesupply.co.uk/ideal_standard_space_bathroom_range=222-prod.html
http://www.jamesonmedical.com
they too have a walk in tub not as fancy though.
Please let me know if anyone has tips on where I can find a small sink (very short depth front-to-back).
We're still trying to find a sink that will fit in our tiny bathroom and having a tough time finding something that is small enough and not going to break the bank.
The closest we've found is a bar sink.
Try the American Standard Elfe - 9 inch deep by 22 inch wide. It is reasonably priced and surprising comfortable to use in my 2 x 4 feet half bath.
3...2...1....que yet ANOTHER "ewwww" comment about a bidet. What is with people and their aversion to bidets? I think it's a wonderful option for people who LOVE bidets and don't have space for a toilet and a separate bidet. I bet you a dollar the "ewwwww" person is from middle America and has never traveled to Southern Europe.
Also, if you've never tried a bidet, don't knock it until you try it!
@ Monica
The "eww" comment wasn't about the bidet. Mechelle explained in her/his next post that the order of the photos and descriptions didn't match up, so they thought it was a toilet/sink combo. I would say eww to that too.
Sounds like you hate middle America as much as you think middle America hates bidets.
MiklakMiklak: You are correct! I misinterpreted Mechelle's comment. My bad. And yes, some of the more narrow-minded Middle American attitudes irk me and I have made it my personal mission to try and get all my friends to try my bidet so they can see how wonderful, green and clean it is. I've converted several people over the years and my Dad even installed one in the house he built some years ago.
Walk in bathtubs are being used more and more by the elderly population in renovations. They offer a safer way to get in and out of the bath tub.
I'm converting a 60" square half-bath into a full bath, and am considering two options (plumbers will obviously be involved with either option):
A. TRIANGLE SHOWER STALL + TOILET/SINK COMBO
1) Triangular corner shower stall (DreamLine SHEN-7031316-01, which is about 31" on both legs of the triangle)
2) An eco-friendly, small-silhouette High Efficiency Toilet (HET) and Sink combo that uses the soapy water ("greywater") from washing hands to flush the toilet, plus has one flush for #1 and another for #2 (name: Caroma Profile Smart Dual Flush Toilets Plus Sink). (16.5" wide x 29.5" long x 32" high)
3) Triangle corner linen cabinet
B. WETROOM + TOILET/SINK COMBO
1) Tile everything (floors, walls, ceiling), slope the floors slightly toward a drain, install a showerhead, and put in a swinging glass 3/4 height door with squeegee rubber along the bottom (to keep cold water off the toilet when showering)
2) Caroma dual toilet / sink combo
3) Corner linen closet
Anyone tried either of the above? Hard-won lessons learned?
Follow-up to my previous post about the 60" square half-bath conversion to a full bath, either with a shower stall or wet room:
Turns out that the combo of U.S. building code and the concrete floor (which cannot be drilled into as it is the roof for the condo below, understandably enough) make it so that we cannot make this idea work. Or maybe just that our plumbers are not imaginative/innovative enough :) And we're not willing to risk not being up to code, several thousand dollars later!
what is the size of the first bathroom?
will the first bathroom fit into a 5x5 room?