Are you dreaming about a sparkling new bathroom but you just don't have enough room in your toilet? Think again because you might yet achieve ceramic perfection.

First thing to do is to get to know your bathroom

Many people give up on their small bathroom before they start because they think that there is no room for improvement. If you follow a simple design method you might be pleasantly surprised and you could have fun doing it. You start by accurately measuring and drawing your existing bathroom on squared graph paper. Spend time on it because this step is important.

By now you should have become very familiar with your current bathroom. You will know where all the strange shapes and awkward objects are because you've had to make a lot of accurate measurements of the room. Now you can think about your new bathroom layout.

Take a fresh sheet of graph paper and accurately draw just the outline of your bathroom. You can take the measurements from your first diagram. Now take another fresh piece of squared paper and draw on it the outlines of the fixtures that you want in your new bathroom. Make sure that you draw the shapes accurately to scale.

Now sit down with a pair of scissors and cut out the shapes of toilet, bathtub etc. that you drew on the last piece of graph paper. Get your bathroom outline drawing and begin trying different ways of arranging the cut out shapes inside your outline drawing. This is fun so don't be afraid to spend a few hours or as long as it takes to get it right.

A small bathroom remodeling example

I recently remodeled my own small bathroom to make it more inviting and to add a shower cubicle to the room so that we didn't have to shower in the bath. The remodeling ideas all started when I dropped something into the bath tub and cracked it. I wasn't popular for doing that and I wasn't looking forward to the project but I love it to bits now it's done.

Click on the link at the bottom of this article to get the low down on how I remodelled my own small bathroom.

Small bathroom problem solving ideas

Here are a few ideas to help you fit your new stuff into your bathroom.

Put a radiator high on the wall

Putting the radiator high on a wall could be an easy way to free some space at ground level.

Place the bathtub in the middle of the room

If you are struggling with where to put the bathtub you might want to think about putting it in the middle of the room instead of against a wall. There isn't any magic to this but it might be an option you hadn't considered.

Redesign the layout of the bathroom

I'm always amazed to find that I can spend hours trying out different arrangements and yet when I leave it alone for a while and come back to it later I can often spot options that I hadn't seen before. So keep playing with your paper cut-outs.

Use a shaped shower cubicle

If you are of small to average build then you probably don't need the space that a square or rectangular shower cubicle provides. Installing a cubicle with a rounded quadrant can save a surprising amount of space in the bathroom and make it look nicer too.

Install a sliding door

A door that doesn't need space in the room to open can give you more options.

Use wall mirrors

Using mirrors won't actually increase the size of the room that you have to install features in but they can be very effective at giving the illusion of space to the users of the room

Storage space

Get all the accessories and cleaning stuff off the floor and into storage cupboards fitted to the walls.

Does this give you hope for your small bathroom remodel? Take a look at how I managed to get an additional shower cubicle into my small bathroom by clicking the link at the end of this article.