Small bathrooms are some of the most rewarding rooms we renovate. With the right layout and finishes, a cramped, dated bathroom can feel open, bright and far bigger than its footprint. Hunter Bathrooms Brisbane has renovated small bathrooms, ensuites and powder rooms across Brisbane for over 20 years, in everything from Queenslanders and workers cottages to brick homes and townhouses.
Making a Small Bathroom Feel Bigger
Most of the space in a small bathroom is won or lost in the planning. These are the moves we use most often:
- Walk-in showers with frameless glass. Removing a bath, nib wall or framed screen and installing a single glass panel opens the floor and lets the eye travel across the whole room.
- Wall-hung vanities. Lifting the vanity off the floor shows more tiled floor and makes the room read larger — with drawers that hold more than an old cabinet.
- Large-format tiles. 600×600 tiles mean fewer grout lines and a calmer, more spacious look, often run floor to ceiling.
- Recessed niches and mirror cabinets. Storage built into the wall instead of sticking out of it, including shower niches with built-in lighting.
- Cavity sliding doors. A slider frees the floor space a swinging door would sweep.
- Rethinking the walls. Sometimes the best fix is structural — combining a small ensuite with a walk-in robe, or squaring up out-of-plumb framing so the room finally feels right.
Recent Small Bathroom Renovations in Brisbane
- Kenmore — a compact ensuite given a fresh, contemporary look while keeping the existing plumbing layout, which helps keep costs down.
- Mansfield — a compact bathroom in a highset heritage-style home transformed from cramped to spacious with careful planning.
- East Brisbane — a small, awkward ensuite combined with the walk-in robe next door to create one generous ensuite with a walk-in shower and double vanity.
- Red Hill — a tiny shower room re-framed and squared up into a powder room, part of turning one wet area into two bathrooms and a powder room.
- Coorparoo — a constrained, closed-in layout opened up by removing a shower bulkhead and bringing the ceiling to one consistent height.
- Camp Hill — a cramped upstairs bathroom reworked by removing an unused bath and a separate toilet to create an open, modern ensuite.
Choosing Finishes for a Small Bathroom
Lighter wall tiles and a slightly darker floor keep a small room bright and grounded, while one feature wall — like the blue gloss tiles in our Red Hill project — adds personality without crowding the space. Brushed nickel, chrome or matte black tapware all work; the key is choosing one finish and using it consistently. All of our tiles, vanities, toilets and tapware come from Concept Tiles at Rocklea, where Kim and Martin work through the design and selections with our clients.
Small rooms still need the fundamentals done properly. Every wet area we build is waterproofed to Australian Standard AS 3740 and certified. Good ventilation matters even more in a compact Brisbane bathroom, so we make sure exhaust fans are sized and ducted correctly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a small bathroom fit a walk-in shower?
Usually, yes. Replacing a shower-over-bath or a framed cubicle with a walk-in shower and a single frameless panel is one of the most effective changes in a small bathroom. We assess the layout and floor falls on site and tell you what will fit.
Is a small bathroom renovation cheaper?
Generally a smaller room means fewer materials and less tiling, but the trades involved are the same — demolition, plumbing, electrical, waterproofing and tiling. Keeping the existing plumbing layout, as in our Kenmore ensuite, is one of the best ways to control cost. Every job is quoted individually after an on-site visit.
How long does a small bathroom renovation take?
A standard small bathroom typically takes around three to four weeks on site. Structural changes, re-framing or asbestos removal can add time, and we give you a clear timeline with your quote.
Can you combine a small ensuite with another room?
Often. We have combined ensuites with walk-in robes in East Brisbane and Woolloongabba, and reworked a combined bathroom, toilet and laundry into separate rooms in Red Hill. It depends on the walls and plumbing, which we check on site.
Get a Free Quote
Planning a small bathroom or ensuite renovation? Hunter Bathrooms Brisbane is QBCC licensed (1215421) and fully insured, and Kent personally oversees every job. Explore our bathroom renovation process, see more of our bathroom renovations across Brisbane, or request your free, no-obligation quote.