Small bathrooms can be big on style

Small bathrooms are often forgotten, even though the smallest bathroom in the house is typically the main bathroom residents and guests use most. Don't write a small bathroom off because of its size. It's even more reason to play this little room up, and give it character. Small bathrooms hold a tremendous amount of potential and deserve attention to detail. Just like small kitchens allow you to select more high-end finishes, since they don't require much quantity in materials, the same goes for small bathrooms. Typically a powder room, (although some include a shower or tub), there isn't much floor space so this is the room you can splurge on marble tile, for example, and maybe even glass tile for the shower surround. You can even find great buys in marble and glass at Floor & Decor, http://www.flooranddecoroutlets.com/. Floor & Decor is located at Bumby and E. Colonial, in the Colonial Marketplace.

When it comes to hardware, however, you can find some high-end looking plumbing and lighting fixtures at stores such as Lowe's, Home Depot, or a personal favorite, Overstock.com http://www.overstock.com/, so no need to splurge there at all. The same applies to mirrors. They can be found inexpensively, while giving nothing up in the high style department. Just remember, while you can and should mix your hardware finishes in other rooms of the house, a bathroom is where you want to be more consistent. You can mix things up in your accessories, but your plumbing and lighting fixtures should be the same finish.

If you can do a furniture style vanity versus a typical vanity, go for it. If you don't find something you love locally, check out http://www.superiorbath.com/, and you will find a wide selection of interesting vanities. And don't forget the countertop. Many furniture style vanities already come with a marble or granite countertop. If not, you will find that the different granite/marble yards in town have remnants, leftover from larger granite jobs, that you can pick up and have installed very inexpensively. If you need a terrific granite reference, contact Ira Peacock of Peacock Granite. Ira can be reached at (407) 402-2835. For those of you having granite installed in your kitchen, know that you buy the slab, even if you don't need a full slab for your project, so ask what will be left over, so you can consider using it in a bathroom, laundry room, home office, etc. It's a good use of your money and material, and you can kick up another room of your home a few notches in the style department.

Believe it or not, the picture attached to today's article was once a closet. This client had the bright idea to turn it into a guest bathroom. Having no windows, a skylight was installed. Marble tile was selected for both the floors and the very small, shower surround. To achieve more of a spa-like quality, a watery gray/blue paint color was selected for the walls. Chrome plumbing and lighting hardware gave the added polish of a spa look. White towels cannot be rivaled for high-end looks in a spa bath, and special details like monogramming the crisp white shower curtain and towels, gave the added kick to finish off the look. The rounded furniture style cabinet in espresso didn't hurt either, not to mention the rounded shape adding the feeling of more space. The beveled, frame-less tilt mirror mounted on chrome hardware plays right into the spa effect. This bathroom has big presence, although it was done affordably, with the few "splurges" in materials being the marble tile used on the floor and shower surround and the bath vanity. This one-time closet could have turned into a boring bathroom, if not given the attention to detail it deserved. It is now the client's favorite bathroom in the house.

If you tear out pictures of high-end looking bathrooms from your favorite magazines and catalogs, carry them with you when visiting stores like Lowe's, Home Depot, Costco, Home Goods, etc. You will be pleasantly surprised to see all the knock-offs of high-end, top dollar merchandise on the market. You will find that you can achieve a top-notch look very affordably, without sacrificing anything in the looks or quality department. Don't assume you must purchase everything from the catalog that has the picture of the bathroom you covet. Consider it a reference, and you will see for yourself what you can achieve on your very own budget. And as I always say, as much as you love a picture from a catalog or magazine, you need to veer off, to some degree, to really make it your own.

I hope this article has inspired you to take a walk over to the little, and most used bathroom in your home. Turn on the lights and start imagining what look and feel you would like it to have. It can be a fun and exciting project for you to tackle, and like kitchens, bathrooms add tremendous value to any home, not to mention style. Even the smallest of rooms can speak volumes.