Small Bathroom Layouts That Work: The 5x8 and Its Cousins

Most Polk County hall bathrooms are around forty square feet. What to move, what to leave, and the choices that make a small bathroom feel bigger than it is.

The standard hall bathroom in a Florida home is about five feet by eight feet: a tub along the short wall, a toilet, a vanity, and a door that barely clears all three. It is the most common bathroom we remodel, and homeowners almost always ask the same question: can it be bigger? Usually not without taking space from a bedroom or a closet. But it can be made to feel bigger, work better and look like a different room, and that is what a good small-bathroom remodel does.

Keep the plumbing where it is

The single biggest cost driver in a bathroom remodel is moving drains, and on a slab that means cutting concrete. In a 5x8, the layout is usually already the most sensible one for the space. Leaving the toilet, tub and vanity in their positions and spending the budget on finishes, storage and fixtures gets far more room for the money. Our post on bathroom remodel costs explains where the money goes.

Tub or shower

If the house has another tub, converting the hall bath tub to a walk-in shower is the best change most small bathrooms can get. A shower with a glass panel instead of a tub with a curtain opens the room visually and removes the step over the tub wall. If this is the only tub in the house, keep it; a house with no tub is harder to sell and harder to bathe a child in. A deeper soaking tub in the same footprint is a good compromise. See our post on tub-to-shower conversion for that option.

Choices that make a small bathroom feel larger

• A floating or open-base vanity. Seeing the floor run under it reads as more space.
• A large mirror, wall to wall over the vanity, doubles the apparent width.
• Large-format tile with fewer grout lines, run the same on the floor and up the shower walls. Continuous tile makes the room read as one space.
• A frameless glass panel on the shower instead of a curtain or a framed door.
• Light colors on the walls and a light floor, with the contrast in the fixtures and hardware.
• A pocket door or an outswing door, if the hall allows, so the door does not eat a third of the floor.
• Recessed storage: a medicine cabinet set into the wall, a shower niche, a recessed toilet paper holder. Nothing sticks out.
• Good lighting: a bright, warm overhead plus lighting at the mirror, and a real exhaust fan so the room stays dry.

Storage without bulk

Small bathrooms need storage more than large ones and have less room for it. A vanity with drawers instead of doors holds more usable stuff. A tall, shallow cabinet over the toilet uses space nothing else can. Shelving built between the studs on an interior wall is nearly free storage. Our post on built-in shelving has more on that approach.

Fixtures sized for the room

Comfort-height, elongated toilets are wonderful and need a couple more inches of clearance than a round-front bowl; in a very tight 5x8 a compact elongated model gives the same comfort in less depth. A vanity depth of 18 inches instead of 21 buys real walking room. A wall-mounted faucet frees the counter. Every inch matters, and choosing fixtures for the room rather than the showroom is a big part of the design.

The 5x8 variants

Older Polk County homes often have a 5x7 with a smaller tub, or a long narrow bathroom where the tub is at the far end. The long bath works well with the vanity near the door and a shower at the end behind glass. A bathroom with a window in the tub wall is common in Lakeland's older neighborhoods; keep the window for light, tile the sill and use a glass block or an obscured, moisture-rated window. Jack-and-Jill baths shared between two bedrooms benefit most from separating the vanity area from the toilet and shower with a door.

Cost in the Lakeland area

A small bathroom is not proportionally cheaper than a large one, because the fixtures, the plumbing work and the tile labor are similar. It is, though, the most affordable full remodel in the house. A free estimate gives an exact number for your layout and choices.

Inventive Home Improvement remodels small bathrooms across Lakeland, Lakeland Highlands, Highland City and all of Polk County. Learn more about our bathroom remodeling or call (863) 633-5499.

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