Every Designer We Asked Agreed — Avoid These Mistakes When Planning Your Bathroom Layout

Planning a bathroom renovation isn’t a quick or easy task — and it definitely isn’t cheap! Investing in a new bathroom will probably be one of the most costly things you do for your home, so you really want to make sure you get it right the first time. 

The most important thing to do? Carefully consider the layout of your bathroom, as plumbing is usually one of the most difficult and costly things to change. 

So first you need to decide the following: What key elements are you going to include in your bathroom? For example, do you have space for a freestanding vanity unit, or a separate shower cubicle? Will you have to redirect any main pipes or drainage to create your dream layout? 

But if you don’t do all of that in advance, don’t panic. Everybody makes mistakes, and hindsight is always 20/20 — sometimes, you don’t know exactly how you’ll actually use the space until it’s finished. So to save you some time (and money), I spoke to three interior designers who have seen it all to find out the following question: What are the most common mistakes people make when designing their new bathrooms, and how can I avoid making them too? 

More often than not, it’s the finer, most simple details that we tend to overlook. But these tiny tweaks can have the biggest impact. Melissa Urdang Bodie, co-founder of Melissa & Miller Interiors in London, says that the one thing she sees being overlooked most often is “easy access to dry (or warm, even better!) towels near the shower.”

Whether you plan to install a towel bar, hooks, shelving, or a towel rack, just make sure that you can grab them from inside the shower. “The swing of the shower door [also] plays a role in this and should be carefully considered,” Bodie adds. “We often install shower door bars that serve as towel holders, as well as robe hooks in easy reach of the shower.” 

Anna Vasiltsova from Los Angeles-based firm Anna Design said that a common mistake she sees again and again when working with clients is that they don’t plan for enough storage in their bathroom. “Floating vanities are popular, but people often forget where towels, toiletries, and hampers will go. You must plan storage early on in the process so everything has a place, which will avoid your bathroom looking cluttered.”

If you have a smaller bathroom or just really want to keep things feeling open and airy, try a vanity with built-in shelving, like the one shown above. This way, it’s still chic, but also functional — and anything unsightly could be stored in baskets or boxes on the shelves. 

One of the biggest bathroom layout crimes you can commit? Making the toilet the star of the show. Jelena Obradov, founder of Obradov Studio in the Netherlands, says “positioning the toilet as a focal point is a no-no. If possible, you want the first thing you see to be something appealing, preferably a lovely vanity with a mirror and wall lights — or perhaps a freestanding bath.” 

This is all well and good, but it’s good to be aware that moving the toilet can be tricky for builders and will ultimately drive up the cost of your bathroom reno. But it’s often worth it for a result like the one pictured, from a project Obradov is currently working on. See the layout they created below, and get inspired!