Powder Room Remodel design

What the room has to do

A powder room is the smallest remodel in the house and the one where boldness costs least. There is no shower to waterproof and nothing to store, so the entire project is a basin, a toilet, a light and whatever you put on the walls — which is why it is the room to do something in.

Layout rules

• The room can work at 3×6ft; below 20 sq ft the door swing becomes the whole design.
• Keep 21in of clear floor in front of the toilet and 15in from its centre to any side wall.
• A wall-hung basin frees the floor and reads twice the size of a cabinet vanity here.
• Hang the mirror to the width of the basin, not the wall — a too-wide mirror shows the toilet.
• Swing the door out if the room is under 24 sq ft.

Lighting plan

One decision: sconces or a single pendant. Both work, a downlight does not. Because nobody applies makeup here, warmth beats accuracy — 2700K and a dimmer is the right answer.

What usually goes wrong

• Treated like a small bathroom rather than a small room, so it gets bathroom tile and no character.
• A vanity that fills the floor in a room with nothing to store.
• A mirror positioned so guests see the toilet reflected.
• Bright white light in a room used for thirty seconds at a time.

In a small one

Dark colours work here in a way they do not elsewhere. With no natural light to preserve and no task to perform, a saturated wall makes the room feel deliberate instead of leftover.