Bathroom Fact Sheet: Important information for the renovation enthusiast
We all try to do a little DIY fixer-upper every now and then. For some of us that means painting a room on our own (and even picking the color ourselves). For others, that means taking on an entire room renovation on their own. And while we appreciate your enthusiasm for design (because we've got it too), there are a few things you may want to tuck in your "tool belt" when you start considering a bathroom reno.
One of the biggest mistakes many people make is height--hanging items at the right height. This is probably because we're all different heights ourselves, so the height that we're comfortable looking at varies. There are rules about height, and what's appropriate in a bathroom, so let's discuss them!
Most vanities are typically 32"-34" heigh. If you're wondering which height is best for you, look at your own height. For taller individuals, go with a taller vanity and for shorter individuals, go with something shorter. Once you've determined your vanity height, though, your mirror height should be considered. When determining this, there are a couple of things to take into account.
First of all, how large is your mirror? If your mirror is very large in scale and goes almost all the way to the ceiling, there's probably not a lot of room for error when hanging it. However, if your mirror is smaller and will have a lot of wall space surrounding it, the number one thing to remember is that you want it to be "connected" visually to the vanity. It doesn't need to hang smack dab in the center of wall space. If you do that, the mirror will most likely appear to be "floating" and feel completely disconnected. An easy rule to follow is that the center of the mirror should be right around 60"-66". Unless you have an unusually short vanity, this will make it so the mirror is a part of the vanity space and not just something that's hanging on the wall. The goal is to make it so a part of the vanity overlaps with a part of the mirror, so if a little of the faucet is in front of the mirror, that's a good thing!
While vanities are pretty standard heights, you may have a bathroom with a "make-up station" where someone would be sitting at the counter. In these cases, the counter top height needs to drop down. Usually a counter height of anywhere from 24"-28" is good and allows the person using the space to get items off of the counter comfortably.
If you have a walk-in shower and are including a seating area/bench for shaving, trust us when we say, lower is better! Since you will most likely be using the space to either prop your foot up to shave or sit down to shave, you'll want to make sure the height works for both uses. A bench height of anywhere from 16"-18" is a safe range.
The last thing that often goes into a shower is a niche. Walk-in showers especially, have these because we need somewhere to set all of those product bottles! I don't know about you, but I always get frustrated when niches are too high. Nobody wants shampoo bottles tumbling onto their heads! If you're including a shower niche in your bathroom remodel, keep it safe! Place your niche at the 46"-48" mark. Then it's right at grabbing height.
Good luck on your next bathroom remodel! If you don't want to worry about heights, you can always call us!