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En-suite - advice needed

Eimear G
last month

Just wondering if anyone has advice on the layout for a long narrow en-suite (134cm x 84cm). Many shower trays come in 800mm dimensions, as my bathroom width is 840mm, will there be a gap between shower tray and wall? Should I tile the full en-suite or just tile around the shower? I’ve been thinking about moving the shower to where the toilet is now as it will allow for a more spacious shower area. Is this a good idea? In such a small space how can I maximise bathroom storage? Thanks in advance for advice!

Featured Answer
  • Claire Cadoux
    last month

    I would also suggest you spend time on discovering your own style. Took me years to realise mine was Danish. Never feel you have to make a style inside your house fit the style of the time the house was built. Those days have gone.

    Comments (40)

    • . .
      last month

      I would not swap the shower with the toilet- just because it would block the window and you would not have any natural light in the room. i would marble tile the floor in a light marble and just the inside of the shower, this would create a contemporary feel in just a small area. I would then paint the walls a colour to compliment the tiles. under the sink have a cabinet which is small enough to not empower the room but big enough to store what you need. over the sink place a nice big mirror to reflect light around the room and create a sense that the room is bigger than it is. hope this helps 😁

    • Colm Mitchell
      last month

      Swapping the location of shower vs toilet would add considerable expense due to additional plumbing. New shower fixtures and door, modern sink and toilet and then tiling around the slower, toilet wall and the sink would make a big improvement. Also look at led spotlighting in the ceiling, made a huge difference for us.

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    • N Moss
      last month

      difficult one, especially if you can't m9ve the door, but could you put the sink and storage area where shower is, and convert the rest to a wet room so the toilet/shower don't need to be in seperate areas? Perhaps change the toilet to one where the cistern is hidden in a wall?

    • Sarah
      last month

      Have you thought about getting it tanked and made a (semi-) wet room? That way you don't need to worry about a shower tray as such. Take thought, though, as they don't suit everyone. If you do still go for a shower tray, it will be easy to get the builder/tiler to pack out one wall to suit.

    • bambibear
      last month

      I wouldn’t tile the whole room, just the shower. Maybe a small splashback behind the sink. i think the layout is fine As the shower is out of the way. as you have a lot of room on the sink wall, you could find a slim cabinet with small sinks. I designed ones at Jali as I couldn’t find anything slim enough. I purchased 2 slimline countertop hand basins that go right back to the wall (experience in cleaning behind round

      ones told me to avoid) as opposed to a sink and then sat them on a piece of card to work out the smallest cabinet I could get away with. If you go for a large mirror above whatever sink you have, this will bounce a little extra light in the room. Agree with post above, ceiling lights with leds will help with the lighting. We have one directly above the shower and it helps loads.

      as for the shower. can you find one with minimal frame. That will make it look more contemporary and bigger. If there’s a gap, you should be able to fill with plasterboard and tile Inside, but I’d say if you look around I’m sure you’ll find the right size. We had the same issue with our son who wanted his bath replaced with a shower but is only 70cm wide. We’ve used Bathroom City a few times and their prices, service and range are great. The bath we recently bought was double in price in a few other places.

    • Becky O
      last month

      I would leave the layout as it is

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      Thank you all so much for your comments and advice. I’ve realised now that the first thing I need to do is chat to the plumber. Thank you for advice on getting slim basin units, lighting and storage options. I’ll look into the wet room option but I’m unsure if this is an option as it’s an upstairs bathroom and the floors aren’t concrete. With regard to tiling, perhaps just tiling the shower area and splashback of the sink would be best (and cheapest)! Does anyone have any photos of long narrow bathroom where only the shower area is tiled? Thanks again.

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      Is there a tiling option to make a bathroom look wider? What size tiles would you think would look best for floor/shower area? Thank you

    • 1sandyh
      last month

      This room is crying out to be a wetroom. Then you don’t need to even worry about having a shower screen. Keep the loo & window where it is. Small wall hung basin (look up cloak room basins). Wetrooms can be installed upstairs easily. If you have wooden floorboards that’s even better

    • Karen Burton
      last month

      Definitely keep the natural light - a lick of paint on the wall might help too, like a feature wall? Something bright like a pastel blue or an orange/yellow would make the room pop and feel bigger!

    • Paula R
      last month

      I’d use a feature paint on the wall that has the window in it - hang a blind up- put something like a candle or pot pourri on the windowsill and if possible box the cistern in. Making a feature of that wall could bring it into the room, thereby pushing the longer walls out and making the room feel less rectangular.

    • Anna G
      last month
      last modified: last month

      Our old house had the same layout. We put a wide mirrored cabinet on the wall by the loo and mirrors along from the cabinet up to the shower. Made the space feel much larger and the unusual position of the wall cabinet didn't stand out. We later widened the shower into an adjacent cupboard and replaced the sink with slimline built in units with a slim mirrored cabinet above. Looked great on plan but in reality it felt much smaller than the original. I guess a wall hung vanity would have worked better.

    • Vicky Pow
      last month

      Following with interest as buying a house with a very skinny en suite!
      I’m drawn to bright tiles in the shower area- as you’ve got the extra bit of space could box it in and have a niche shelf?
      Do let us know how you get on.

    • Karen W
      last month

      our en suite is identical, possibly not quite as long. the toilet has a built in cistern, the basin has a half pedestal so doesn't sit on the floor, and the shower is a open so the whole room is a wet room. the shower tray is under the tiles so tiled floor and walls. the wet room isn't as difficult as they used to be. the room doesn't need tanking.

    • Liz Sloan
      last month

      Think the layout is probably the best. It just needs to brought together. I’ve recently gone for wall hung toilet and basin. I have a very small rectangle space and it makes cleaning, especially the floors much easier. You could build in a unit begins the toilet full width with alcoves either side of where the cistern is hidden to give you some storage. See if you can get minimal frame around the shower door for a sense of space. Stone floor in the shower will give you a sense of luxury but speak to a plumber about this, especially if planning to tile over an existing tray. Any renovation makes a room feel fresher. Enjoy!

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      Great ideas for storage and wall hung basin and toilet. Might look into the possibility of widening the shower area slightly (taking space from hot press) to allow for a larger shower tray. If you only tile the floor and shower area, do you just put a small strip of tiles over the sink area or just leave the wall running into the sink without tiles? Sorry for all the questions!

    • Liz Sloan
      last month

      Just found this. (I’m researching my own small bathroom) I don’t know where outside wall etc are (for plumbing) but if you were to swap see pic.
      Also saw the long wall mirrored. Large mirror panels along a good chunk of the long wall will give a feeling of space. And there are also long slim trough type sinks rather than standard depth ones which could help achieve a feeling of space. If budget is tight , then mirrors (make sure they’re suitable for damp rooms but I’ve twice before bought directly from glass supplier and glued to wall without any problem. You could tile a frame or make a frame around it if you like that effect. Houzz searches keep me distracted for hours :))

    • Liz Sloan
      last month

      Here’s the pic.

    • Vicky Pow
      last month

      I like that Liz!

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      Thanks Liz. Looks great!

    • alijaneb
      last month

      Hi, I have exactly the same shape and layout en-suite. I did walk hung toilet, wall hung basin that has two drawers but is shallow depth and then the shower has a low profile tray and a bifold frameless door which keeps it very streamlined. Also a storage mirrored cabinet above the sink and an alcove in the shower for storage. I went full tile with large format matt marble tiles which means few joins and stops the space being ‘busy’. I’m a terrible photographer but I hope this helps.

    • alijaneb
      last month

      I just checked my dimensions - 90cm by approx 270. I dithered on shower tray size being a 900 by 800 or 900 by 900 and went for the biggest one per advice, worried that it would be too big but am so glad now.

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      Brilliant thank you for the photos. Your en suite looks great. I love the idea of the small shelf in the shower. Were you happy that you desired to tile the full area? Some advice here has recommended just tiling the shower area but I think tiling the full wall area looks lovely.

    • alijaneb
      last month

      Hi, yes I was happy with the full tile. It kept it all streamlined and I just didn’t feel it was big enough to have too many different textures, joins etc. This way the only change is the white ceiling. It doesn’t feel cold despite being hard surfaces and neutral which I think is due it catching sun well and I also have a heated floor, electric mat. Super inexpensive due to size of room. If you do paint it might be an idea to do ceiling and wall the same colour so you don’t end up with tile, wall colour and ceiling which might be one too many in the smaller space but I really don’t regret the full tile and indeed think it more modern.

    • alijaneb
      last month

      Ps. My shower shelf was planned in the centre but there is a light switch in another room that scuppered that plan. All the plumbing was tidied up below floor / in wall and I also had the window put in. Some before photos to encourage too - we had similar starting points...

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      This is very helpful. Thank you so much

    • alijaneb
      last month

      You are very welcome - best of luck with your project!

    • Julian Cheese
      last month

      I think there are so many houses built in 20c with this sort of toilet arrangement that there are a lot of design features and hardware available to smarten them up. We used a built in toilet in our downstairs loo using midrange bathroom furniture. This was in a darker colour to bring the wall ‘forward’ the illusion is the room is not so long. In the upstairs loo (we decided to keep it separate but added a toilet to the bathroom) we just changed the pampas coloured loo for a more uptodate one that fitted flush back to the wall. What I would suggest is look at what materials are available before choosing what to do. For instance most answers above include tiling, shower room wallboards are available which are relatively easy to fit. I saw a lit infinity mirror in a public toilet with no window which would give a sense of depth in your room. Look out for hardware and features you like you have to live with them for a long time.

    • carolinep007
      last month

      Wet room if possible, swing the toilet 90 degrees so that it is on bedroom wall and build a dwarf wall in front which could have storage (shelving or cupboards) and plants on top. I’ve used selkie laminate boards throughout my bathroom and will never tile again but the company now do a new brand which looks fabulous, called nuova which looks even better www.rearo.co.uk

    • Su Esse
      last month

      Following with interest! I have something similar that needs renovating, but in an apartment, and no window - around 3500x1200.


      Personally, I wouldn't swap the loo and shower (I always prefer a loo to be near a window (!) and wouldn't lose a window ie valuable ventilation for the sake of a slightly bigger shower, but obviously it depends what's important to you).


      Maybe half tiling the non-shower areas is an option?


      The bathroom fitter may have clever solutions for fitting the right size tray into that width. Good luck!

    • carolinep007
      last month

      Eimear G - would it be possible for you to reposition the bathroom door? If not, could you change it to a sliding door (from bedroom sliding to the right) ? If changing or moving the door is possible and a wet room floor you could increase the “shower area” by moving the shower onto the longer wall and then if you felt it was needed you could put in a narrow fixed glass screen

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      No it’s not possible to reposition door as there’s a built in sliding wardrobe on the other side of it. Once I can get a tradesman to my house I’ll definitely investigate the possibility of a wet room. Thanks for suggestions!

    • Julian Cheese
      last month

      On the door issue, one thing I considered for our larder was a two half door by fold. Didn’t use it in the end but it may help give you a little more wiggle room.

    • Sarah
      last month

      I put pocket doors to my shower rooms and they have been brilliant. If you have a stud wall between the bathroom and the bedroom, then you can rebuild it with a pocket door very easily. The shower is behind the radiator and picture, with the plumbing also hidden in the stud wall. And if you look closely, you can see the small door in the shower room which gives access to the space under the eaves, which is excellent storage for things like suitcases.


    • PRO
      NCM Building Ltd
      last month

      If you changed the location of shower to where the toilet is, it will add considerable expense because of the extra plumbing work involved. You may be worth considering having a wet room instead of a shower cubicle as it will allow for a more spacious shower.

    • Eimear G
      Original Author
      last month

      Thank you

    • Karen Burton
      last month

      I know this is a kitchen but it's the only place I could find the colour aha! This colour would really make the room pop - the darker cherry red. That or a lime green! That would really open the room up and make it feel bigger than it is!

    • Agos Tar
      24 days ago

      kch bm c g gb g ز، ل لو ؤالله ظك.، دي

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