The bathroom is the room in the home that is one of the most vital; nobody can avoid going there at least a couple of times a day. For those who have big families and small bathrooms, this can be a very stressful situation. With everyone competing to use the bathroom before school and work in the mornings, there is 0% chance of a nice long relaxing soak and the chances of someone being in the bathroom when you need it are extremely high. Depending on your budget, limitations and other resources there are many things that you can do to avoid this situation and turn the bathroom from a dreaded necessity to a room you actually enjoy being in.
- Separate the Toilet: Everyone need a toilet in their home, that’s a given, however, as much as you can stand brushing your teeth alongside a member of your family, it gets a little distracting if someone’s banging on the door to use the facilities. In a perfect situation you could look into turning that downstairs cubby hole into a toilet room, or having a small extension built to the back of the home as an additional small bathroom. However, if you’ve only a small budget, then you should look at putting a partition in the bathroom that you currently have by adding a wall and door between the toilet and the rest of the room – this allows for multitasking with privacy.
- Have Time Slots: Limit each member to a time slot where they have full use of the bathroom, this could be Mum at 7am and 7pm, Dad at 7:30am and 8pm and so on. For families with many members this is a good way of establishing a routine and boundaries and it eliminates that morning rush time.
- Take Away The Non Essentials: If you have a small bathroom then space is likely to be a huge priority. As well as the many space solutions available today such as sinks with underneath storage cupboards, you can also prevent the problem from arising in the first place by only stocking the bathroom with bathroom items. Find another cupboard, drawer or basket for your towel bales, keep your toilet paper supply in another room, consider if the large vanity mirror actually needs to be there or could it be replaced with something smaller?
- Keep it Minimalistic: A small room doesn’t have to appear as small as it is, with some clever use of paints and materials your decor can make your room actually appear much larger. Light and plain colours work best, such as whites and creams, but you could also consider a mirrored wall which would really open up the existing space.
Have you any tips for helping make a small bathroom work for a large family? We’d love to hear them!