- Hey guys, welcome back. And today is the three biggest mistake that everyone makes in their bathrooms. And at the end, I'm gonna show you five
pro tips on how to fix it. (upbeat music) Now, if you haven't already subscribed, please take a moment to do so. It makes a huge difference
to us and the channel in how much great information
we can get out there into your guys' hands every day. We'd love it. Okay, guys, the number one
thing that I always see as a mistake that everyone makes, especially in tiny bathrooms is not picking a single focal point. That's super important, especially when you're working
with a lot of dense elements that are in a bathroom. Things like toilets and
tubs and faucets and windows and trim and tile and all
the rest of those things. Those are all things that compete
for your visual attention. And so what you wanna do is make sure that what you're doing is picking a single element
to emphasize and focus on it. Let me just show you some examples. Here's a bathroom here
that has a lot going on. Okay? Like a stained laying ceiling. I don't know what that is, but
there's a lot going on there. Too much so that your eye
can't even understand. Or how about this one that's
made even smaller looking because they decided to
make the shower curtain that hangs right next to the basin a huge focal point and feature element. That's not good. So let's take a look at
some of the bathrooms that have problems with focal elements. Now, this was obviously intentionally done and people decided that they were gonna add
a bunch of things in, but the problem is it
doesn't streamline the space. It doesn't make it look focused. It doesn't create one
element that you really need. Here's another example of a
bathroom that does exactly that, which is the bathroom
has gotten very quiet with the exception of this lovely, fun, green and white pattern tile floor. That's great. And then what they did was they took the rest of the bathroom and made it look super quiet
and super behind the scenes so everything matches
visually and makes more sense. So you've got a single visual element. The room looks huge in comparison
to what it could look like if it had 15 different finishes in it. So that's a perfect example
of the problem, number one. The second biggest mistake I see is people not maximizing your wall space. Oh my gosh, guys. We've gotta think about at
things like vertical storage. Oh my gosh. How can you get shelves
where there aren't shelves? I love this one where there's shelves
tucked in between two studs. So there's just a little
bit of space there, but they managed to get some
nice looking shelves there and it looks green, et cetera. It adds some additional storage space. Another thing you can
think about is niches. Let's go back and look at that bathroom that has the green floor. They took the space on the
opposite side of the tub and added an inset niche in that area so that you can get more storage onto that little shelf
there, right in the bathtub. That's a great solution. Or a third thing you can consider doing, especially in tiny bathrooms is wall mounting fixtures like your sink or perhaps even a toilet because when you lift that sink and those elements up off the floor, the room feels a little bit more spacious. So that's great, and it gives you the
ability to do something else as a storage solution down below. There's even an option, say perhaps if you're in a
gabled area or something, where you can pop up into the ceiling. I love this look where they literally threw the roof line up at an angle that runs right along
besides the roof line. And I believe the bathroom's in an attic. So they kind of gave you
a little bit more headroom in that shower, which
makes a whole lot of sense and maximizes the vertical storage. Now, the third biggest mistake
that I see a lot in bathrooms is too dark. Oh my gosh, the bathroom is the last place you're trying to figure
out what you're seeing. So there's two components to that, which is the coloration and lighting. Think of it this way, guys. Dark and moody is the
enemy of a tiny bathroom. Now, it's not the enemy of a powder room because powder rooms are fun
and sexy and kind of a party. But in a bathroom where you're
trying to get things done, put your makeup on, bathe, et cetera, you need to be able to see
what you're doing, I hope. Now, I love dark and sexy spaces, but not in bathrooms. This blue one is beautiful, but that's gonna feel too dark, honestly. What you wanna do is you
wanna make sure that the paint or the overall envelope
is relatively light, and then you wanna add light fixtures. Oh my gosh, way too many
bathrooms are under lit. So if you have power in the ceiling, you definitely wanna get
light down into the space. So I love these three pendant lights that are in front of the two mirrors. That's beautiful. If you're feeling foofy
and you wanna put in a little fun chandelier, go ahead. That's fun. But don't forget to add
lighting at the face level. So you wanna make sure you
have sconces on either side or right next to the face
mirror above the vanity. So this one I love because
it's an electric mirror, so it's lit from behind. That's great. You can just add sconces in, just make sure that
you've got some good ones. There's some amazing ones
in the dezign club store. So if you haven't
already checked that out, you better go there. I love this one. It's a triple bar sconce with a glass, so it gives you plenty of
light to take a look around. And then again, if you feel
like adding a foofy chandelier, that's always good too. Now, let's talk about the
five pro tips I've got that can help fix these
problems absolutely right away. So they're a little bit on the pro side, so not that many people
are talking about it. But the number one trick I always use is, especially in small bathrooms
to make them feel larger is I make the floor dark and I to make the walls either
light or white altogether. Now, some of you may not want
a black and white bathroom, and that's okay. You don't have to make it black and white. This one's very handsome and they've added in the
bottom of the tub that way, so that's cute. But it can be just a darker surface like we saw with the green
tile, that's a darker visual. And then the walls can be a lovely, lighter shade of something,
just not green guys. Now, I love this one
that's pink with black. Oh my gosh, that's a beautiful option because it's a soft pink and it just makes that room
feel like it's exploded. It just feels so roomy and luxurious. Now, the second pro tip is using
the same pattern floor tile up onto the walls. And preferably, it's in a lighter value. I love this room where literally, they've taken this lovely
kind of faux marble porcelain and popped it all the way up on the walls. What happens is it creates no blockage for the eye to move up. So the room feels luxurious, it feels generous, space-wise, and those are probably porcelain, so they're probably not
that expensive to do. And boom, you've got your
second finish covered because you have the floor finish that you've gotta always
make a decision about, and you've got the walls where there's wet or moisture gonna be happening that you've gotta make a
finished decision about as well. So both of them being the
same makes the room look huge. Now, the third pro tip that I love using and have used it for many years and it can always look fresh and exciting is to add big mirror, like even one full wall
to a tiny bathroom. Now, you can either go
ahead and add a full wall where it's Florida ceiling. I love this one that's
clearly in an attic space of some sort with a deep purple floor, but that just expands that space and reflects the light
coming in from that window, which is another good thing that you want. This is also a beautiful
one with the eglomise, which is the smaller
tiles of antique mirror. That's actually very beautiful. And put behind the vanity basin, you don't need a second
mirror if you don't want one in the space. So that's quite lovely. Here's a third option where
they just mirrored the shower, which again, expands that space, makes it feel larger, and
is always a good option when you're looking for something tiny to feel a little bit more generous. The fourth pro tip that
really is a pro tip because you gotta be knowing
what you're doing with this one is to pick a large format, oversized format tile and use it in a tiny bathroom. Now, I know your head's exploding because typically, you think,
"Oh, it's a tiny bathroom. I can put penny tiles or
something small in there." Yes, you can. But you can also play
against the idea of it and do like a big 18 by 18 square or even larger, 24 by 24. Because what happens is
the fewer grout lines, the fewer times your eye
gets stopped visually. So it makes a tiny bathroom like this feel just enormous when you do a large format tile. Great, all right. Now, my last pro tip, which I love, is painting the room, everything in the room that's
gonna get a painted surface, all of it; trim, details, maybe even sometimes pipes or a conduit that run along a wall, everything in the same color. Now, you can do it in a white, like a nice, bright, light color, but you may be going, "Eh, I want something a
little bit more interesting than a white bathroom
with a patterned floor." And that's fine. It's still pretty and it works. But if you wanted to
do it in another color, again, no-no on greens, but if you wanna do it in another color, make sure that you hit every surface. I love this one. You can see the ceiling is slanted and they've painted it
the same color as well. So visually, it takes the breaks away for your eyes and the eye travels further quicker and the room feels larger. So there's your fifth pro tip on making a tiny bathroom explode. Now, what I want you to do
is I want you to go over here and click this button. This will take you to all
of my small spaces videos. And if you wanna know more about design, be sure to join the dezignclub
at www.thedezignclub.com. I'll see you guys next week. (lighthearted music)
