If you’re looking for small bathroom before and after inspiration, our recent bathroom renovation is proof that even the most compact spaces can feel luxurious and beautifully designed. We transformed this dated small bathroom into a warm and contemporary retreat using a natural wood vanity unit, brushed gold fixtures, and stunning Calacatta Cream marble effect wall panels. The result is a modern small bathroom that feels bright, spacious, and effortlessly elegant. In this bathroom makeover, we’re sharing the full renovation reveal, including the products we used, design decisions we made, and the finishing touches that brought the entire space together.

Small Bathroom Before and After

As you can see, this is a big transformation! Taking this small cluttered bathroom, that had impractical storage, exposed pipework and a dark enclosed feeling.

The full product list is at the bottom of this blog post.

What Did We Want From Our Small Bathroom Renovation

Practical family room
Modern, good-quality fittings
Warmth
Plenty of organised storage
Built in to hide pipework
Easy to clean
No little hard to reach edges to clean
No grout lines
Bath
Shower
Light interiors
Practical heating

Video Tour Of Our Small Bathroom Before and After

Room Sizes and Measurements

Here is a quick rundown of this room’s measurements and the main items used.

This room measures 2.1 m x 1.9 m (6’10” x 6’4″), which is a small family bathroom, so it needs to work well and have a very practical layout; however, I also want it to look lovely too.

L Shaped Bath – 1700mm x 850mm with a left-hand L-shaped for standing in the shower area. We felt this was really important to include to give yourself more standing space in the shower area.

Vanity Unit – 800mm wide. These come in smaller sizes, but I wanted a vanity unit that offered as much storage space as possible, since this was the main storage for the bathroom.

Toilet Unit – 500mm wide. I didn’t want to create gaps around the units, as this only creates wasted space and dust buildup. I wanted a clean flow of units that matched.

Toilet – Comfort height 455mm. I’ve had back surgery, so it’s nice to have it a little higher!

Shower Door – 1500mm, 6mm, 180° pivot to open up. Needed to be big enough that the shower water doesn’t spray out into the bathroom, and fully open to be able to access the side of the bath and shower buttons.

Electric Towel Rail – 1500mm high x 400mm wide. This allowed us to have 8 hanging hooks to hold all our towels.

Bathroom Cabinet – 700mm x 500mm. This has power, a USB charging point, speakers and lights.

Gold Edging – Lengths of 2450mm x 19.05 mm in brushed gold

Flooring – Planks (231mm x 1535mm) – We had to purchase 2 packs

We Moved What Side The Door Opened

The first thing we did was swap the door-opening side around. As you can see, it opened with the hinge on the left-hand side, but this meant it opened straight into the floor space you use in the room.

So moving it to the right-hand side meant it was pushed against the wall and out of the way when you enter the room. It allows you to step into the room and use the floor space to its full extent.

Naturewall Elemence Calacatta Cream Marble Effect Waterproof Shower Panels

These panels are what started the design process. I saw these and loved the warmth of the veining. They’re cream in base colour, with warm brown/gold-toned veining running throughout. This gave the room a warm tone while still brightening it.

I wanted a very easy-to-look-after bathroom, and these are so easy to look after. Just wiping down with the shower squeegee to wipe off water marks. With the AquaGuard interlocking system, these are super practical in showers and bathrooms, creating a seamless and watertight finish. Leaving you with no grout lines to keep clean! This sold it to me; it means they are very practical for a small family bathroom.

You don’t normally see people installing them throughout the full bathroom, but we felt this worked with the layout of the room, as it meant we could keep the wet areas covered for water damage, and there wouldn’t be any strange half-covered areas or what areas do you finish the wall panels off? So covering the full walls meant everything was covered, watertight and practical.

Beauforté Shannon 1700 x 850mm LH L Shape Shower Bath

We thought long and hard about how to fit a practical bath into this room, as we only had a shower in this room. I felt that, as a family home, a bath needed to be installed. Although I didn’t want to compromise on the shower either, keeping a good-sized shower area was just as important. So we fitted in a 1700 length bath with an L-shaped shower area. This increases the width to 850mm and this is a nice space to be able to stand, and not feel like your arms are hitting the walls.

We have added high-quality items to this bathroom and picked a Beauforté bath, which is reinforced and great for insulation to keep the heat in when using the bath. When you step into it, it doesn’t move or bend and feels really well reinforced.

Ajax 1500mm Brushed Brass 6mm L Shaped Bath Screen

To make sure the water stays in the shower area, you need a good-sized, properly sized shower screen. I picked this one because of the sizing, the good thickness of the glass, and the 180° pivot, which means you can open it fully to access the side of the bath. Great for bathing children, cleaning the bath, and when you cannot reach the shower buttons.

I liked the brushed-gold hinge details, along with the front handle, which can be used to hold a towel ready for when you’ve finished your shower.

We were really happy with the quality of this; it felt really well-made and solid.

Crosswater MPRO Crossbox Conceled Thermostatic Shower Set

Installing good-quality items was a must, as this means the products will last longer, and since we live in a hard-water area, we need them to withstand it as well. So, after researching, we went for Crosswater, as it ticked all our boxes for quality, style, and the brushed gold finish was beautiful.

We purchased this as a set, which was set 7. When it arrived, you can tell the quality of the products straight away, the weight, the finish and the components. It was a great choice!

The Crossbox 3 Outlet Module

This is a super-slim option with a minimum installation depth of 600 mm, good for thin walls, and it includes a kit to test the installation before you cover everything up. Allowing you to place the plate onto the front when your final wall covering is in place. This, in turn, allows access to the box without damaging the walls.

You push the button in, and it pops out when it’s on. This allows you to use each outlet. Turn the main larger knob for the flow of water, and the smaller knob to change the temperature.

The bath filler, plug and overflow.

I wanted to keep the sides of the bath clear of taps, and this bath filler works well to fill the bath, increasing the flow and temperature.

Crosswater Brushed Gold Shower Head

We picked the shower head that comes out through the wall, but you can also get a rainfall one from the ceiling. Allowing you full head height space. This size is 200mm, but you can also get a 300mm size.

Crosswater Handheld Shower Spray

Giving us options, the handheld shower spray allows you to lift it off the wall and use it independently. You can use more than one outlet at the same time, but this does reduce the water flow.

Spectra Luxury Rigid Core Click Vinyl In Pearl Oak Plank With Built-in Underlay

After many samples, I was very impressed with this flooring; it paired up nicely with my wall panels, picked out the veining colour, and tied them together nicely. It gives the room a bit of warmth while still keeping a cool tone and not being grey. With the built-in underlay, installation was so simple. It’s easy to clean and 100% waterproof, so perfect for bathrooms.

Wish Ribbed Vanity Unit With Drawers in Natural Oak with White Ceramic Basin

This was all about the storage! We looked everywhere for a suitable vanity unit, as we needed storage and as much as possible. The all-in-one built-in units were too narrow and had no depth. We didn’t want a floating sink unit as that was a waste of space, and cupboards that you have to crouch down to open. So finding a vanity unit that was full-floor-to-sink height and had two sets of drawers was perfect.

This Wish ribbed vanity in Natural Oak has two full-depth drawers with metal support edges and soft close. The natural oak has a matte finish that protects against water.

I had a nice clear-out of lots of items and made sure we only had items we use and need in the drawers now. Then, I used clear drawer dividers to keep everything organised and help sort it into sections.

The large ceramic sink is stunning, and a real striking feature in the room. It feels so luxurious but also so practical. The water stays in the sink, no worries about water spilling over the edges or soap marks everywhere. Everything can be easily washed off. The sink comes with pre-drilled holes for the centre tap and plug.

Crosswater MPRO Monobloc Basin Mixer Tap – Curved Spout – Stick Handle – Deck Mounted

Adding our Crosswater basin mixer tap to the sink finishes it off really nicely. The tap fits nicely, with a large enough projection and doesn’t look too small or too big. The tap itself moves smoothly: front-to-back to change the temperature, and up and down to adjust the flow.

The Crosswater click-clack plug was installed separately and pulls it all together, adding a touch of gold to the white sink, which looks so pretty.

Wish Ribbed Natural Oak WC Unit

To keep the units flowing and the units running edge to edge, I picked the matching Wish ribbed toilet unit. This kept it all flowing nicely, and I love having the toilet cisterns hidden and the toilets back to wall.

The unit is 500mm wide and allows you to install the back-to-wall toilet up against it. We had to re work the back of the unit, as the supporting wood strut was block where the exit pipe needed to sit, which looks a very poor design.

We added the cistern that Easy Bathrooms supplied, which felt quite cheap, but we played it safe to make sure it fitted correctly. Also adding the little brushed-gold push button for the flush.

Comfort Height Toilet With Soft Close Lid

I’ve had back issues for years, and a couple of back operations, and during the last one, we had a seat raiser for the toilet. It was brilliant for recovery and so much easier than the lower drop-down! So we went for a comfort-height toilet, at 455mm, which sits you higher and ended up working better with the sink height when you’re seated anyway.

Rust-Oleum Spray Paint

You might have noticed the little gold caps on the toilet; these were chrome, but there is no chrome entering this bathroom! So I used Rust-Oleum Elegant Gold spray paint to colour those, and the little screw caps near the floor.

Willow Brushed Brass Illuminated LED Mirror Cabinet

We asked a lot from our bathroom cabinet, needed a power source to charge electric toothbrushes and shavers inside, to keep them hidden away. Brushed gold colour scheme, deep enough shelves for plenty of storage, the correct size as it could only go on this wall and electric for soft lighting. It was nice to have a mirror on the front so the light could bounce, rather than a solid block of colour on the wall.

So we hunted high and low and found this one. At the time, it was cheaper to buy the one with speakers included, as it was on offer; the kids were very happy!

The cabinet is perfect, ticks all our boxes, and we’ve been very happy with it, but the condition it arrived in is not so! As you can see from the picture below, the inside has a mirror, and every single delivery we had arrived with a massive crack in the mirror from the bottom hinge. It’s obviously a weak point, and all the replacements arrived like this. So we gave up, the delivery wasn’t at a convenient time, or they didn’t arrive when they said they would, and we had to get rid of every cabinet that arrived.

As you can see, though, the inside is a fantastic cabinet, and I have filled it with little organisers, so things are kept neat and tidy, and organised into items. This is very statifscying!

Reina Solara Stainless Steel Electric Heated Towel Rail

I love this electric towel rail. We needed some heat in this room, and as we removed the central heating towel rail from where the bath needed to go, we needed to add another heat source to this room. We decided to just go with an electric radiator, as well as place it easily on the wall behind the door where we wanted it. Having used a dual fuel radiator in the utility room, we have found it very useful. During the summer, the central heating radiators don’t come on, so you are left with wet towels on the radiators, so having electric control allows you to use them as and when you want.

This stunning electric heated towel rail lets you set it to run for 2 hours or auto-cycle between on and off. We have just popped it on as and when we want it for 2 hours, but during the Winter we might set it to auto-cycle to keep the room warm.

Another lovely feature is being able to hang the towels on the radiators. We picked the 1500mm x 400mm size, which allows for 8 towel hooks. This is important for us as a family of 5, and it means the towels aren’t easily falling onto the floor!

I purchased this waffle hand towel, which has its own hook on the towel!

Door Stopper

We needed to stop the door from bumping into the new radiator, so we needed a permanent doorstop, but it had to be gold, didn’t it? This cute little doorstop does the job perfectly and looks lovely, too.

Plants and Greenery

I love adding a shot of greenery to this colour-toned room, as it really makes the leaves pop. Having real plants is really beneficial to your home, too. I picked up the little fern at our local garden centre, but don’t leave it in direct sunlight, as they are really delicate and can’t handle the heat. Adding a plant with thicker leaves allows it to absorb water and store it in the leaves for longer.

Gold and Marble Bathroom Accessories

Adding a little texture, I found these gold-and-marble bathroom accessories. I have picked up the soap dispenser, a tray to play with these items on, and a stunning mirror to sit on the windowsill. The quality of these is amazing, and the weight of the marble is wow!

Gold Window Edging – Brushed Brass Profile

The gold edging around the window is to hide the edges of the wall panels. They needed finishing off on the cut edges, as you can’t fill them with grout like you would do with tiles. I think it is lovely with a shot of gold on the walls too!

TAYLOR Semi Flush Bathroom Light

I didn’t want to put spotlights in, as I never like strong, harsh lighting, so I was looking for something soft and not what you usually find in a room. Picking out the fluted wood of the vanity unit, this fluted light pulls the two together nicely.

It has four semi-flush ribbed glass over the bulbs (not included ), which disperses the light really nicely into the room. Creating soft lighting, but also they are bright enough to use as a functional bathroom for putting on makeup, etc.

I was concerned about the satin brushed gold effect matching nicely, but it works really well with the rest of the items in the room.

Overall Feelings On Our New Small Bathroom Renovation

We love it! It’s such a practical room now, with well-thought-out storage for all our bathroom items, hidden away yet still within easy reach. To have soft lighting and heating that we can control. Extra floor space, with washing options of showers or baths. It’s modern, pretty and feels much more luxurious. Yet it’s practical and easy to clean!