- Hey guys, welcome back. Today's subject is a super biggie. You guys have been asking
all about what to do with like bathrooms? Just everything from how to
design them, design hacks, how to's, trends, more. So today we're hitting
all things bathrooms and stick to the end because I'm gonna give you
my three top design tips for those teensy tiny little bathrooms. Now, I have lived in Europe,
I've lived in New York and I know how tiny those bathrooms are and you gonna maximize them. So that's what we're going
to be talking about today. (upbeat music) So guys, here's the deal about bathrooms. They're what I call design dense. So what does design dense mean? Well, bathrooms are small spaces and there's a lot happening in them. Think about this. You've got multiple plumbing
fixtures and other things. So you've got sinks, you've got toilets, you've got bidets, tubs, showers, all kinds of specialty
drains, specialty flooring. You've got tiles and things
that are resistant to wet. You've got ventilation issues, you've got specialty and regular lighting. You have massive mirror issues. And the biggest thing of all, is you have huge storage issues. So we're gonna hit all of that today. So let's dive in and take a look at how we can make your
bathrooms work for you and make them free in the process. Now to maximize your
bathrooms performance, and that's really what
we're talking about here, is you need to absolutely think about it like any other small space. It's like a ship. You have to have every square inch usable and doing things for you. Take a look at this bathroom. They literally have shelving
stacked all the way up to the ceiling and it works
and actually looks attractive, which is really nice. So we're gonna think a lot
vertically with our bathrooms and that's gonna all of a sudden change how much we can use them
and make use of them. So when I'm designing a bathroom, beyond location of the plumbing fixtures, the first thing I'm thinking about is how do I maximize storage
space in any situation? So when you're going
vertically with your bathrooms, you need to plan
everything out in advance. You need to know exact measurements to the inch or centimeter. You need to know exactly where
you're gonna put shelving, clearances, et cetera, right? A really great option
I like to use are kind of cute little racks that
are above head height. There's all that wasted space up there. So let's go ahead and use it. Let me show you a couple of cute things. Like I love this one that has
the towel rack over the door. It looks attractive as long as
you fold your towels, right. And you know, it's way up
using that dead space up there, which doesn't have any use otherwise. I also like to build up ceiling cabinets. So for instance, this one
is higher up in the ceiling on this lovely wood wall, but you can go all the
way up to the ceiling, like these shelves that hold either TP and some other baskets or
this one that runs all the way across the toilet and small sink that has lovely little
baskets right next to it. Those are great solutions
because that area up there, no one comes near it and it's dead space and you can maximize it for storage. So that's one thing to
be sure and think of. The other thing too that
you want to consider is how can you utilize the
area above the toilet basin? Because a lot of times, if you've got a wall that
goes in or you've got a recess where that toilet is, ooh, you're golden. You can throw in shelves
up there all the way to the ceiling, you can build in cabinets. There's all kinds of ways you can do that. There's lots of different options there. Now I wanna show you a quick tip. (alert beeps) Baskets are your buddies. So guys I've said this before,
but baskets are your buddies, especially in bathrooms. Bathrooms have to store a
lot of small items that need to be tucked away 'cause
they're not really attractive. Things like linens, small toiletries, bath and shower products, often medicines or first aid supplies, grooming
equipment like hairdryers, shavers, toothbrushes. Frequently even makeup and
other vanity table supplies, toilet and bidets supplies
and cleaning equipment. Sometimes even jewelry, so much more. Basket buddies help you stay organized. So another fabulous thing that
you really wanna maximize, and I love them, and
there's so many great ones out there now are hooks. Ooh, I'm a hook freak, oh my gosh. I'll put them anywhere
and you can use them for so many different things. There's so many different
cool ones out there right now, we're gonna link a bunch
of these down below. I love this big quadruple one, or maybe they're just some singles. You're utilizing vertical
space in a great way by maximizing your hook usage. Now don't forget, as I
mentioned the space next to and above your toilets and or bidets. The what I go over the
loose base can be maximized with shelves, with cabinets,
there's all kinds of things. This is a beautiful little one
with two little wood shelves, that's great. If you're renting and you
don't wanna build something in, there's a number of
different vendors that do over the toilet kind of ladders that give you some storage space that you can put basket buddies on. These are beautiful, the
one with the chrome finish, which is great. Or if you are building in, look at this fabulous one that
has the wall-mounted toilet with the built-in cabinet
above with a little bit of low light, ooh, that's very sexy. Or you can just put a big cabinet recess in between two studs with shelves above it and store all kinds of stuff in there. So there's great options for this, as long as you make sure
you're maximizing it. Now, the key there is, if
you're going to do open shelves, you wanna make sure
that they look organized and at least a little attractive. So again, the baskets,
but also maybe think about a little plant or something that maybe can kind of
work well in dark spaces. If you wanna do a foul one
in there, that's really fine. But if you wanna do a live one, be sure and check out my
video on plants that survive in low light conditions and love moisture. And for those of you all
who have pedestal sinks or small wall mounted sinks, don't worry. Look at the way you can
maximize some of this. There's even some little built-in
cabinets that you can do, or if you're renting again, you can actually buy
shelves that have the dent in the center, but it still
gives you the opportunity to place folded towels
and maybe some cosmetics or vanity products right there above it. Look at this beautiful
one with the baskets. These are great and we'll link
to some of these down below so that you can maximize that as well. Now tip number two is to
maximize your lighting in a bathroom. Ooh, this one is so important. Bathrooms need to be places
that you can really see well. Now you wanna be able to
see if something is dirty, but you also wanna be able
to see if you look normal, because what you look like
in that bathroom mirror, may not be what you look like in the world and that can be a problem. You wanna make sure that
you're looking healthy and you definitely wanna make sure that if you making up your face or doing your hair in the bathroom, you wanna make sure your lighting is good so that you don't end up
walking out into the world, looking a little crazy. So take a look at these three spaces. What do you notice? Now, the overall lighting
palette should be bright. You want to be able to
see dirt in this room. Make sure your ceiling lights are as bright as you can get it. Don't worry you can always
put them on dimmers, but you can see from all
three of these rooms, there are different
approaches to lighting, but they're all well lit
and they have face lighting, ceiling light, and even
under-counter lighting, which is really another
element that you wanna consider that we'll talk about. Now, we've all seen these
dark powder rooms before. Those are lovely, but you don't want to be doing
that for your main bathroom. So leave the sexy lighting for
the powder room and make sure that your bathroom is
as well lit as possible. So not only do you wanna
include the ceiling lighting, but you also wanna make sure
that you have face lighting, directly on you. So consider things like strips that go on either side of a
mirror, you can hang a pendant, it doesn't matter. As long as that light gets
down to an area that's close to where your face is, you're going to get be
getting direct light onto it, which will give you the best
opportunity for understanding really what it is to you're seeing. Now, the last element of lighting that you don't wanna
forget about is the option of under-counter or strip lighting. Oh, I love these two images. This one where the mirror
is actually back lit on a darker wall, that's really important. And then there's also
one that has a cabinet that has the lighting
underneath it, which is great. The reason I always include strip lighting or low level LED lighting, which of course you can dim these days, is because you can turn those on if you switch them separately, so they act like a nightlight at night, because if you need to get
into the bathroom in the dark and you have that just little
dim glow at the bottom, you at least know where you're going, which is super, super helpful. So it's very important to
see if you can consider that. And don't worry again, if you're renting these
things come battery powered. So you can add one to below a cabinet and just make sure you
take it when you leave. Ooh, and one more thing
about face or wall lighting for bathrooms, if you are using
your bathroom for a vanity, you wanna make sure that that light sits at about 3000 kelvins, which
is kind of close to daylight. And if you wanna learn
more about lighting, be sure and go to my lighting video, which will explain kelvins
and all the rest of that, right here. Now, hey guys, I have a bone
to pick with a couple of you. I've been looking and there's
some of you that are watching and not subscribing, what is that? What's going on? Come on. You gotta hit that subscribe
button, ring that bell, like and comment, and
I'll be so appreciative. Now, my third tip for
maximizing a tiny bathroom is to make sure that you use
a neutral color palette. Ooh, what do I mean by that? Let's take a look at a
couple of bathrooms here. These are both beautiful,
very different bathrooms, but they have this overall
lovely light color palette to them. Now they've popped in some
colors here and there, but the overall tonal value of
the walls is true and light. And that's what's really
super important to understand. You do not wanna build
out a tiny bathroom, make it overall pink, make up in it and walk out into the world. You're going to look like a crazy lady. So the key there is making
sure that the overall palette, near your face stays
as neutral as possible. Now I can hear it now from you guys. I don't want my bathroom to be white. Well, listen, the reality of
it is there's plenty of ways to add pops of color into the bathrooms. And the second thing that's
important to note is, I'm talking about your main bathroom. The one that you do
everything in every day, this is the one we're talking about. You got a guest bathroom and
you want to paint it blue, fine, go ahead, no problems. But the one that you use every
day has got to stay neutral or your face is gonna pay the price. Now let me show you a couple of ways that you can actually add some
color to that main bathroom of yours and have some fun with it. Here's a beautiful one
that stayed over all white, but they threw a fabulous floor in there with that star pattern. That's fantastic. Now, if you're renting and
you don't have the ability to redo the floor into something colorful, add some great rugs. Look at this one with this
gorgeous Turkish runner, that's fantastic. Or you can pop in some color with linens and your countertop items and accessories. That's always great. I love this one that's got
the yellow inside the drawers. It's like a little surprise
party when you open the drawer and then they echoed it
with a little yellow linen. That's fantastic. Or if you're doing some
vertical open storage, like we talked about earlier, you'll wanna consider maybe
doing the shelves in a color. This is a nice one with the natural wood, with a little bit of a brass railing, and then they put a cute
little plant on one edge. That's fantastic. So there's tons of ways to
add little pops of color in that don't shift the overall
palette so that you're in the danger zone, when
you leave the bathroom. That's the key. So guys, if you found this video helpful, you will not believe how
much information is packed into the "Ultimate Tile Guide" video, which is where you can click
right here and go to next. Ooh, it'll give you tons of info and I will see you guys next week. (upbeat music)
