Let’s be real: all homeowners place a special value on their bathroom(s). Why is that so? Well, for most people, bathrooms represent a kind of a special oasis of solitude and isolation from the world.
Whether you are becoming a new homeowner or are considering installing a new bathroom in your current place, you should consider how big you want it to be.
Bathrooms come in many shapes and sizes, and understanding their dimensions is the first step to designing your perfect oasis of peace.
In this article, we’ll dive into the topic of common bathroom sizes and discuss what is a good size for a bathroom given the size of your living space and bathroom type.
What Kind of Bathroom Are We Talking About?
Before we begin, let’s set a common ground: in this article, we’ll mainly be talking about primary bathrooms. A primary bathroom, also known as the ‘master bathroom,’ is one that is equipped with a toilet, shower or tub, and a lavatory. This bathroom is different from a powder room, also known as WC or half-bathroom (fun fact: WC stands for ‘water closet’) that usually contains a toilet with a small lavatory and a place for clean towels. The powder room is commonly intended for guests when they need to freshen up, while the primary bathroom is usually used by the residents of the house.
How Big Should a Bathroom Be?
Terms like ‘small,’ ‘medium,’ ‘large,’ or ‘expansive’ are quite commonly used when discussing interior design. Usually, these terms refer to the square footage of the space. However, when it comes to home design, it’s all relative. A large bathroom may not be necessarily large, especially compared to the size of a kitchen, bedroom, or living room.
What Is a Small Bathroom?
There is no fixed rule on how big a small bathroom is, but typically it isn’t larger than 35-40 square feet. This is a tight space that offers a great opportunity for a lesson in minimalism. You can usually fit a small tub or a shower, a sink, and a lavatory in a small bathroom. It’s also good to have a mirror inside to enhance the perceived size of a small bathroom. If you are tight on space, get inspired with these 20 ideas on very small bathroom design.
What Is the Minimum Bathroom Size?
The smallest bathroom size you can go with is 12 square feet. This size fits not more than a quarter-bathroom, which, as you guess, fits no more than a toilet.
Half-bathroom size is at least 18 square feet large, and it’s far more efficient, as it can fit in more necessary functions, such as a lavatory.
What Is a Medium Bathroom?
The size of medium bathrooms ranges from 41 square feet to 110 square feet. Medium-size bathrooms are usually spacious enough to fit a full-size tub, a shower, a lavatory, and a toilet. You can even consider putting a washing machine in the bathroom along with a laundry basket or a bidet. Medium size bathrooms leave much more room for designing your perfect relaxation heaven. They can meet the needs of a whole family. Design-wise, you can get creative and decorate it with plants or a small bookshelf for when you plan on sitting in there for a while.
What Is a Large Bathroom?
A large bathroom is usually between 110 and 210 square feet. These bathrooms far exceed the capacities of their smaller counterparts. With a little bit of effort, you can turn them into palaces of comfort.
If you’ve been paying attention, you may have noticed that large bathrooms often contain items that medium and smaller ones don’t. These items include double sinks, vanity benches, small saunas, bookcases, big windows, plants, and more.
If you’re looking for some inspiration on how to decorate your large-size bathroom, here are some of the most luxurious yet realistic large bathroom design ideas that we loved.
What Is an Expansive Bathroom?
Finally, the largest of the largest is the expansive bathrooms that are bigger than 210 square feet.
These are usually found in big houses or mansions. They include anything that a large-size bathroom can include and more. With expansive bathrooms, the main joy is in the size of the space. The goal is not to stuff your space with furniture but to enjoy the spaciousness. However, thanks to their enormous size, they can still be equipped with things like a sauna, hot tub, shower, multiple lavatories, make-up space, mirroring, and so much more.
Now that we’ve covered the most common bathroom sizes let’s talk about the less common yet nonetheless important bathrooms: the ADA bathrooms.
What Are the ADA Bathrooms?
The ADA abbreviation stands for the American Disabilities Association. Bathrooms need to be accessible for everyone, which is why the ADA has created a set of guidelines on how to make bathrooms more accessible for people with disabilities.
ADA bathrooms are commonly found in business, official, and commercial offices as these places are usually obliged to provide them. However, you may also need one in your home.
The ADA guidelines provide you with everything you need to know about improving the accessibility of your bathroom. They cover everything from the minimum required space to the height of low fixtures and sturdy support bars and the amount of space necessary for moving comfortably within the bathroom.
ADA bathrooms do not have a fixed minimum total size, but they do have a precisely defined minimum size for toilets, sinks, bathtubs, and shower areas, along with a minimum door size.
Depending on the size of the space you are working with, you can opt for a different combination of features in your disability-friendly bathroom.
How Big Is the Average Bathroom?
What is the average size of a bathroom in an American household?
You may be surprised to find out that an average size of a primary bathroom in a US household is 160 square feet, meaning that most Americans have large bathrooms.
The average size of a half-bathroom, on the other hand, is 20 square feet.
What Is a Good Size for a Bathroom?
Everyone likes an expansive bathroom, as having a hot tub, sauna, or any kind of chill and relaxing area at home is quite nice and much better than going to public ones. But not every household nor budget can support a bathroom of this size.
Furthermore, there are certain downsides to expansive bathrooms. For example, cleaning them can be quite tedious.
We think the size of the bathroom should be proportional to the size of your living space. For the average American household, this would be somewhere between 7×7 and 10×10 square feet, which matches the average bathroom size.
Conclusion
For many people, bathrooms are one of the most important places in a home. There’s not a single day that we don’t spend a significant amount of time in this room, and it may be the only place where we are able to relax and spend time with our thoughts or Instagram meme pages in peace.
Most people in the US are lucky enough to have a large bathroom in their household. This means enough room to accommodate everything that a bathroom may need and more, like decoration, books, magazines, or make-up and grooming areas.
If you need to make your primary bathroom more accessible to people with disabilities, follow the ADA guidelines on how to design a home bathroom.
For those of you living in smaller spaces that are able to accommodate only small to medium-size bathrooms, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to make a lot out of a small space and still have a beautiful and relaxing bathroom oasis.
