Updated September 15, 2019

You’re strolling through Pinterest enjoying a rare quiet moment on your den computer. You feel bathroom envy bubbling up. Your mind starts to wander. You think about expansive luxury walk in showers, separate free-standing bathtubs, and beautiful chandeliers gracing the wide-open spaces. What would it be like to have a bathroom like that, you think. Then your 17-year-old son barges in and says, “Mom, what’s for dinner?” Now you’re grounded back into the reality which is your life.

You don’t have an expansive bathroom. You have a tight 5’ x 8’ space like most suburban Cape Cod, ranch or 2 story homes.

You don’t have space for both a free-standing tub and a shower (unless you can figure out how to bolt the tub in upside down on the ceiling and determine how to have water suspended in mid-air – that’s a bit crazy).

A chandelier also isn’t happening. You would probably walk into it with your 8’ high ceilings.

You want the luxury, style and low maintenance features of a walk in shower. You realize you’re stuck with a 5’ x 8’ space unless you get creative. Maybe you could blow out the wall into your son’s bedroom and make him sleep in the basement? That’s an idea. OK, maybe it’s not too practical.

The challenge becomes how can you design a walk-in shower which will work in your 5’ x 8’ suburban bathroom (or tiny loft apartment or cramped historic home or Air BNB rental for that matter)? In this article I’m going to give you 5 simple tricks to make a cool walk in shower possible even if you don’t have the benefit of the mega “Pinterest-esque-sized” bathroom you wish you had.

A blue colored glass block shower placed in front of a tub in a small European bathroom

When I first saw the picture above showing off a wet room shower with a glass block wall positioned in front of a tub (taken from a project in Europe) I thought there’s no way some one in the United States would position a shower like this in front of a tub (although I think it looks cool)! The reality is in the United States on average our homes are 2,300 square feet in space whereas in France they are 1,211 and in the United Kingdom they are only 818 square feet. So in Europe it’s critical to use the most of every inch of space. That means in this country we’ve got space to spare and didn’t even realize it!

Do we as consumers in the United States think we have to remodel our bathrooms, kitchens and basements larger than they really need to be? Conversely if someone currently has a small bathroom what are some remodeling ideas to consider to use the existing footprint without sacrificing style and function?

The article below will briefly look at the benefits of small bathrooms and then provide a few tips to create a smaller bathroom remodeling project that will pop and work well for all members of the family.