Most bathrooms in Ireland are small. In the average Irish home it's usually the smallest room in the house, and after nearly 20 years of designing and fitting them from our showroom in Dundalk, I can tell you the size of the room is almost never the real problem. The layout is.
Get the layout right and a tiny bathroom feels calm, spacious and genuinely luxurious. Get it wrong and no amount of expensive tiles or fittings will save it. So this guide starts where I start with every customer - the plan on paper - and only then moves on to the products that fill it.
Start with the layout - it matters more than anything else
If you take one thing from this guide, take this: layout, layout, layout. Before you look at a single tap or tile, get the room down on paper.
Here's exactly how I do it, and how you can do it at home:
- Measure your walls and draw the room to scale on a piece of paper.
- Mark where your three big items sit right now - the toilet, the shower and the vanity unit.
- Then ask yourself one honest question: am I actually happy with this layout?
In most cases you have more freedom than you think. The toilet, the vanity unit and the radiator can often be moved - so play with the layout before you commit to it. A little trick I love: try to position things so the first thing you see when you open the door is a nice vanity unit, not the toilet. It instantly lifts the whole room.
One honest word of warning from years of Irish bathrooms: the toilet isn't always movable. The soil pipe and waste dictate where it can go, and relocating it can mean real plumbing work. So plan around what can move, and get your plumber's view early before you fall in love with a layout that can't be built.
Max out the space - the two things you use every day
Once the layout works, my rule is simple: make the two things you actually use every day as big as the room allows. For me that's the shower and the vanity unit. Nail those two and the bathroom will feel great to live with, every single morning.
Fit the biggest shower you can
The shower is the easy one to size, because it comes in standard steps. Shower trays and glass jump every 100mm, starting from 700mm - 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1200 and up. My advice is always the same: use the space and fit the biggest shower the room allows. If the wall gives you room to go one size up, take it - you'll never regret a bigger shower.
The type of enclosure depends on how much room you have to open the door:
- Bi-fold door - folds inwards, so it's ideal when there's very little clearance in front of the shower.
- Quadrant or corner-entry - tucks into a corner and the doors slide, saving floor space in the tightest rooms.
- Sliding door - no swing at all, great for narrow bathrooms.
- Walk-in screen - the most open, minimal look when you have a bit more length to play with.
Measure the space, decide how the door can open, then go as big as that allows. You can browse showers by size and opening type here.
Then fit the biggest vanity unit you can
The unit is the trickier one, because you're balancing two numbers - width and depth - plus a design you have to genuinely like.
Most vanity units start at 500mm wide. On depth, the industry standard is either 390mm or 460mm - the shallower 390mm option is a lifesaver in a narrow room where every centimetre in front of the unit counts. If even 500mm is too much, look at a compact mini range designed exactly for small bathrooms and cloakrooms.
A wall-hung unit is my go-to in a small space: it hides your clutter, gives you a basin and storage in one footprint, and keeps the floor visible underneath, which makes the whole room feel bigger.
And here's the part people underestimate - you have to love the design. This is furniture you'll look at every day, so choose a finish you actually like. A tip that saves a lot of second-guessing: a wood finish like oak or walnut works with nearly every tile, so it's a safe, warm choice if you're unsure.
The supporting cast - get these right too
With the shower and unit sorted, everything else is about protecting the space and light you've won.
Toilets
Where the plumbing allows it, a wall-hung toilet is both space-saving and far easier to clean around. Pair it with a slimline or concealed cistern to reclaim even more depth without losing any function.
Basins
If your vanity unit already gives you a basin, you're done. If you need a standalone basin - say in a downstairs WC - a wall-hung basin frees up the floor, and for the very tightest spaces a compact cloakroom basin is the way to go. Whatever you choose, leave enough clearance so it doesn't sit too close to the toilet or door.
Want a bath as well? Use a bath screen
The question I get most in a small bathroom is "can I have a bath and a proper shower?" If the room really can't take both, my honest answer is to pick the one you'll use most - and for most families that's the big shower. But if you'd miss a bath, the smart 2-in-1 answer is a bath with a bath screen: you shower over the bath behind the glass, and you get both jobs done in a single footprint.
Mirrors & lighting
Nothing opens up a small room like a big mirror. An LED bathroom mirror doubles the sense of space, bounces light around and gives you proper task lighting - and many have anti-fog pads, a real blessing in a compact, steamy bathroom.
Heating
Don't give a bulky radiator a whole wall. A slim vertical radiator or heated towel rail heats the room, dries your towels and takes up a fraction of the space - ideal for narrow Irish bathrooms.
The mistakes I see most often
A few things I wish more people knew before they started:
- Skipping the drawing. Buying products before you've planned the layout on paper is the number-one reason a finished bathroom feels cramped.
- Leaving everything where it is out of habit. Just because the toilet or unit is there doesn't mean it has to stay there. Always ask whether a better layout is possible first.
- Under-sizing the shower. People often play it too safe and leave 100-200mm of usable wall unused. Go up a size.
- Choosing a unit finish that fights the tiles. Pick a finish you love that works with your tiles - when in doubt, warm wood tones rarely clash.
Ready to plan yours?
A small bathroom doesn't have to feel small. Start with the drawing, be brave with the layout, then max out the two things you use every day - the biggest shower and the biggest vanity unit the room allows. Everything else falls into place around them.
When you're ready, browse our showers by size and explore the vanity units to see what fits your plan. Prefer a hand? Contact us or call into the showroom in Dundalk and we'll help you get the most out of every centimetre. For budgeting, see our bathroom remodel cost guide.
About the author
Łukasz Skrzyniarz is the founder of Bathroom Store Ireland and has been in the bathroom industry since 2007. Based in Dundalk, he has planned and fitted hundreds of Irish bathrooms - small ones especially - and believes a great bathroom is won or lost on the layout long before the first tile goes up.
