This Bathroom Makeover Has the Most Storage I’ve Ever Seen in 30 Square Feet
Credit: Lorna Denton Credit: Lorna Denton
Credit: Lorna Denton Credit: Lorna Denton
ABOUT THIS BEFORE & AFTER
HOME TYPE: House
PROJECT TYPE: Bathroom
STYLE: Eclectic, Maximalist
SKILL LEVEL: DIY
RENTAL FRIENDLY: No
Many small, stylish bathrooms — despite their teeny square footage — were no small feat when it came to the work put into them. Homeowner Lorna Denton (@thegreenrabbithouse) has some great advice for wallpapering, tiling, or painting (or what have you!) in a small space that will make projects a lot easier: Remove the door, and then add it back on when you’re done.
In fact, she says she wishes she would have done this earlier in her bathroom reno. “It was only after I wallpapered, built the units, built and hung the doors, hung the tongue-and- groove, and painted that I only thought to take the door off,” she says. “When working in such a small room you need as much space as possible.”
The bathroom got a total renovation.
On the flip side, keeping the door on for that long helped keep dust and other messes out of the rest of the house during demo. “The whole room was stripped and emptied so I could start from scratch,” Lorna says, adding that “no matter what [she] did, it would be a vast improvement.”
Before, the pipes and plumbing was haphazard, and Lorna’s dad, Alan, helped with new plumbing and fixtures that fit perfectly in the space. Lorna built a cabinet and countertop for the sink to nestle into and zhuzhed up the walls.
Adding wallpaper was difficult due to non-straight walls.
Lorna went bold in the bathroom and added Graham & Brown’s Rivington Folly wallpaper on all of the walls. “I hadn’t wallpapered before,” she says. “I’d hung a mural, which was a lot more straightforward, as it was one wall. This involved corners and windows. I felt like it was plain sailing until I hit my first corner and used a combination of advice from the internet. It didn’t get easier, and I’m not rushing to do it again, but I couldn’t be happier with the outcome.” (It looks especially maximalist in combination with the artwork in the room, which Lorna downloaded from Etsy and had printed!)
One solution Lorna is particularly proud of is the window frame. When she went to add wallpaper around the window initially, she found that it wasn’t equal sizes on all sides, and on top of that, the walls in the old bathroom are slightly curved. She added a basic new frame that would make for easier wallpaper trimming and installation.
A tongue-and-groove wrap covers unsightly cables.
Another solution Lorna loves is the tongue-and-groove paneling in the corner of the bathroom, which covers up electric cables that stretch from floor to ceiling in the corner. “It feels considered,” Lorna says.
The paneling is one of the only things bought new for the space, as the old floor was simply painted over, much of the decor was thrifted, the cabinets were salvaged from the old bathroom, and the countertops came from another part of the house.
The tiny bathroom packs in TONS of cabinet storage.
In addition to going big with style, this 30-square-foot bathroom goes big with storage. Lorna re-installed cabinetry that was in the bathroom pre-demo and painted it dark brown (Graham & Brown’s Elderton).
“The sink was purchased secondhand for £7 [a little over $9 USD], and the worktop was left behind in the shed by the previous owner,” Lorna says. Lorna cut the countertop pieces to size — including cutting out a hole for the sink to slot into — sanded it and waxed it, and installed it. She even had some extra to make a small floating shelf.
It’s all in the details.
The mirror in the bathroom was a sale find from Dunelm that Lorna added gold leafing to, and many of the accessories are thrifted or secondhand. “Just like with any project, think about what you already have that you can use and repurpose,” Lorna advises. “Not only will it save you money, but it also stops materials going to landfills.”
And she says she couldn’t be prouder of the tiny, stylish “after.” “I’m a stickler for detail, so I love noticing all the finishing touches I hadn’t planned at the start of the project, like the trim on the worktop, brass shelf brackets, or the frame around the window — even down to the brass screw cup washers for the screws,” she says. “It’s an inviting space now — not a room to use only out of necessity and that you’re desperate to get out of.”
Inspired? Submit your own project here.
Further Reading
I Tried the 90/90 Rule and My Closet Is Now Fully Decluttered
We Tested (and Rated!) All the Sofas at Pottery Barn — Here Are the Best for Every Type of Need
