From our site: Positioning Your Bathroom Fixtures Effectively

To emphasize the importance of positioning your bathroom fixtures effectively and appropriately, let’s look at the issues in the picture below.

Yes, this bathroom’s decor looks great, but moving around in it will be no easy task, especially if you are in a hurry. Had this bathtub been a standard rectangular shaped tub, the functionality of this room would have been altered (for the better) dramatically.

The Shape of Your Bathroom

In order for a bathroom to function well, not only do you need for all of your fixtures to function, there needs to be as much space available in the room as possible, for comfortable maneuverability.

Not everyone’s home features a simply square bathroom. Often bathrooms are built-in to the corner of a home, and the roofing recedes downwards at an angle, as seen in the picture below.

Some homes feature ‘L’ shaped bathrooms, or ‘half moon’ shaped bathrooms, while others are as narrow as a passage way.

As mentioned previously, the best way to ensure that your bathroom functions efficiently is to consider how your fixtures will be positioned, in order to render as much space as possible in the room.

The best design to work with is a triangular design. This means that your most important fixtures; your bathtub, toilet, and sink area should be positioned in a triangle. However, this is not always possible when you consider the shapes of some bathrooms.

If you have a narrow bathroom you could choose to make use of a single-line type plan. A plan like this involves all of your fixtures being positioned in a straight line along one side of your bathroom. For example, as you enter the room, on the right hand side you will see your sink and vanity, then the bathtub and then the toilet (alongside the tub or even against the furthest wall). This leaves space open on the left hand side for maneuverability.

For a ‘half moon’ shaped bathroom, you could choose to make use of a freestanding tub, or you could choose to install a half moon shaped tub. As you enter a half moon shaped bathroom your sink and vanity could be on your right, with your bathtub being directly in front of you, and your toilet (appearing as though it is behind the door, when the door is open) on the left hand side.

‘L’ shaped bathrooms are relatively easy to work with. As you enter your bathroom, your vanity and sink could be placed on the right hand side. You could choose to make use of a shower tub or shower stall, placing it in the furthest right hand corner of your bathroom. This leaves space on the left hand side of the room, similar to a narrow bathroom.

Within the short arm of your ‘L’ you could install your toilet. This is also a great way ensure that the toilet area is private. In the picture below, the door is situated in the center of the ‘L’ shape, which means you would walk left or right as you enter this room, and not straight ahead as if the bathroom was a narrow passage way.

Creating Space in Your Bathroom

In many homes, spaciousness in a bathroom is an issue. All that any homeowner needs to remember is that by installing fixtures and features alongside a bathroom’s walls, space is automatically created in the center of the room. Many homeowners like to get dressed in their bathrooms, and this can be difficult if they are constantly feeling as though they may bump the tub and fall backwards in to it!

This is where logic plays a very important role in bathroom remodeling. As you stand in your bathroom while it is still bare, stretch your arms and legs out to the sides and consider the space you have for maneuverability, then position you fixtures accordingly; logically.

You will obviously need to consider your plumbing and electrical outlets once again. If they are not positioned where you would like your fixtures to be positioned, you could choose to either reconsider the fixtures you will use, or you could have your pipes and wires re-routed. This is a job for a contractor. If you are fixed on your bathroom’s new design and hiring a contractor is necessary for the job to be completed perfectly, then so be it.

Back to Bathroom Remodeling

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