4 min readPictured above: An airy, calm bathroom vanity area in an Ontario home by Ali Budd.
As anyone who’s ever undertaken a bathroom renovation can tell you, it isn’t for the faint of heart. There’s a surprising amount of effort and decision-making that goes into this space, and it can feel overwhelming, to say the least. But it almost always pays off in the long run.
“Renovating a bathroom is always a good idea,” says Kelly Collier-Clark, founder and principal designer of House of Clark Interiors. “Second to our bedrooms, the bathroom is the room we start and end each day, and how we feel starting and ending our days is heavily impacted by the spaces we dwell in most.”
Although you may be renovating with future buyers in mind, the real goal should be for you to enjoy your bathroom long before you sell.
“If the layout is awkward, there is nowhere to put anything, or you’re constantly fighting for counter space, you feel it,” Janelle Patton, principal designer and owner of Lark Interiors, says. “A renovation gives you the opportunity to fix all the little things that drive you crazy and make the space work for the way you actually live (and make it beautiful, too!).”
We asked the experts—is there a particular bathroom feature or improvement that they always recommend clients start with? Here’s what they said.
Why Function Should Be Your Top Bathroom Renovation Priority
“Functionality and flow are the most important things to consider in a renovation,” says Nureed Saeed, Allied ASID, NKBA, founder and creative director of Nu Interiors. Collier-Clark is also on board with functionality and believes that certain updated features can bring about that feeling of ease in a bathroom.
“Function first—always,” Patton says. “If the layout isn’t working, that is where we start. We see so many bathrooms with a surprising amount of wasted square footage. Sometimes just rethinking the floor plan can give you a bigger shower, better storage, a functional vanity, or even allow you to steal some space for the closet. Before we start talking about pretty tile or countertops, we want to make sure we’re using the space as well as we possibly can.”
How to Maximize Function in a Renovated Bathroom
To achieve optimal functionality during a bathroom renovation, start with the floor plan.
“We lock that down before we start making any of the pretty decisions because everything else comes from it,” Patton notes. “Where does the shower go? How big can the vanity be? Do we have enough storage? Can we make the closet bigger? Once you know how the room needs to function, then you can start making it beautiful.”
Also, as Saeed says, the location of your toilet, shower, and sink needs to be considered in the floor plan.
“Can we make your toilet space more private? Can we enlarge the shower?” she asks.
The vanity in particular is a huge part of the functionality component of a bathroom. As Collier-Clark points out, the vanity is the bathroom feature that’s often used the most, since it encompasses things like handwashing, facial routines, and putting on makeup. And let’s not forget about a vanity’s storage capabilities.
Even though swapping out a vanity for a higher-quality or larger one is ideal, Collier-Clark says that in a small bathroom, your vanity area might benefit from just a little refresh: namely through what she calls “supporting characters” in the lights and mirror.
If your wallet can take it, the shower is also a great place to address functionality.
“The shower would be the first thing I would recommend renovating if the budget permits,” Collier-Clark says. “I suggest the shower because it’s the larger area where plumbing and tile have immediate impact to the whole room, both aesthetically and functionally.”
Don’t Forget Some Luxe Extras
After you address the layout and functional basics of your bathroom (because the rule is function before extras), then you can wrap in those lavish bonuses that can increase functionality while boosting the “luxeness” of your bath. These are things that can lend themselves to wellness and overall comfort, which are part of functionality.
To achieve this, Saeed looks at what she calls the “clients’ wants,” and names off things like
steam showers, jetted tubs, wellness refrigeration for cosmetics, Bluetooth-enabled rain showerheads, and heated bidet seats with a multitude of comfort and cleaning functions.
“The possibilities are endless when it comes to a luxury space, and that covers wellness in the bathroom,” Saeed says. “I then merge functionality with the wants to bring my clients a space they can truly feel at peace in.”
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Shelby Deering is a freelance lifestyle writer who frequently covers home design and decor for national publications. She has worked as a full-time freelance writer for over a decade, and has worked in the industry for nearly 20 years, writing home tours, interviewing top designers, and beautifying her own home. She holds a master's degree in Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and when she's not writing, you can find her at thrift stores and flea markets, running, or exploring local trails in Madison, Wisconsin, with her husband and corgi, Dolly.
