Joanna Gaines' Simple Color Trick Makes Any Small Bathroom Look Bigger

Bathrooms can be tricky to get right, especially small ones. However, you don't need to spend money on a full gut-job and room expansion to make the space bigger. There are several tricks you can use to make your small bathroom space feel larger. One of the simplest tricks in the book comes to us courtesy of HGTV's remodeling guru, Joanna Gaines. Her recommendation? Use lighter colors wherever possible.

In a video tour of a challenging small bathroom she remodeled, Gaines says: "I chose a lighter color material for the flooring, and the countertops, and the cabinets, and even the paint color on the wall. It was really important to make this space feel really light and airy, because it's only 45 square feet." This extends to the shower space as well, where Gaines contrasted the white subway tile with a darker gray grout, and elevated the space with a light colored and highly textured shower curtain.

Another budget-friendly way Gaines suggests to add visual contrast and instantly upgrade your bathroom space is to swap out your current fixtures and cabinet hardware with colors that pair well with the lighter colors you've brought into the space. Another key element is light, which Gaines laments many small bathroom spaces lack. "Light makes things feel bigger, and that's really the trick [to this]," she says in the video.

Owing to the fact that you are not physically enlarging your space, you need to rely upon the illusion that light provides to make spaces feel larger. When paired with lighter-colored paints and appliances, light, from lamps or windows, will create a sense of openness and brightness that makes the space feel larger. This is what is known in the paint world as Light Reflective Value (LVR). Any colors that bring the LVR above 65 will make your space feel extra spacious.

As such, you want to take care in choosing the colors for your bathroom. Since no one wants an all-white bathroom anymore, you have room to be more creative with your choices. Off-whites, as well as neutrals like beige or light pink, or even pastel colors like airy blues, make a space feel larger without becoming stark.

Textured surfaces and appliances also work to make a room feel larger. As Gaines noted with the shower curtain, adding vertical visual elements makes bold statements while also making the space feel larger. Wainscoting is another great trick for this. Bring it about ¾ of the way up your bathroom walls for the illusion of added height. And don't forget the floor! Lighter tiles, wider plank flooring, diagonal patterns, and reflective materials will go a long way towards creating a space that has the illusion of being much larger than it actually is.