Sharing one small bathroom between 4 people is not one of my favourite things about living small BUT we chose it because a special apartment with good light and a decent layout is hard to find and a second bathroom wasn’t included. Having one bathroom can be a great way to save on a small apartment. It’s a small compromise that we have grown accustomed to over the past 8 years! And while I could see it being a bigger issue with teenagers at home, we aren’t there yet so we are making it work just fine for now.

Also, in many other cities it is common for parents with teenagers to share one bathroom until they move out. It’s doable! In fact I think my ideal scenario would be a separate toilet room (also called a “water closet” or “half bathroom” and a washroom (just a bath and a sink). Less to clean and everyone has privacy when they need it.

Communication

One of our first main tactics for sharing a bathroom is to communicate as a family. Who needs to use the bathroom the quickest. Taking a bath or shower? Ask if everyone needs the washroom before you begin. By asking what everyone needs there is chance you can get some privacy.

Our small windowless bathroom also holds our stacked laundry, awkwardly placed behind the door that swings into it. This also requires communication… like, “I’m doing laundry!” or “I’m behind the door! Ouch!”.

The mirror in our bedroom I use to get ready in the morning.

Another spot in the home to get ready

It can be helpful to have a mirror and a shelf or cabinet to store some things to get ready that aren’t in the washroom. I use the mirror in our bedroom and I am planning to add a small narrow cabinet in the space to hold my hairdryer and brush and even my makeup. With 4 of us trying to get ready in the morning we can’t all fit in there at the same time. And I want the priority to be the kids properly brushing their teeth.

Fewer Products

I finally got us all on the same shampoo and conditioner (in large 1 litre bottles that I hope to eventually refill. This has helped the clutter in the bathtub. We use a bar of soap for hands at the sink. Currently we have a kids toothpaste and an adult toothpaste but hopefully one day it will just be one kind. We try to not over-buy any products and not keep unnecessary spares that require storage we can’t spare.

Open Spaces

This may seem counter-intuitive to making a small bathroom work for a family, but I removed additional storage from the walls and kept them empty. I think some empty space in a small busy room can help it feel bigger than it is. While you may want to add cabinets and shelves to every wall in the bathroom try to keep some space clear to hang some art or a plant.

Back of the Door

Don’t forget to use the back of the door. In the past we have hung diapers on the back door, bath toys and now we hang our towels. There are a number of hanging and door organizers that could work for your space. Or simply hooks can help.

Use the shower curtain

A little more embarrassing to share but anyone with small kids and a small bathroom know that sometimes you need to close the shower curtain to pee when someone is in the shower or bath.

Fast Drying Towels

I’ve spoken of it before but I think light, fast drying towels are key to a busy bathroom. And I find this to be especially true in our new older bathroom that has quite poor ventilation. The towels we invested in are the Kontex towels that I am very happy with. I think there are many similar thin but cozy towels on the market.

Narrow shelves for products. Most by my favourite Penny Frances Apothecary.

Narrow shelving

We used narrow metal shelves HERE to hold skin care products that are accessible as we only had the lower vanity cabinet that requires bending down to access.

Storage Elsewhere

We keep some “bathroom” products stored in the narrow wardrobes in our bedroom as there isn’t room in the bathroom. Things like medicines or bandaids etc.

Less to Clean

You may have to clean it more often but at least you only have one tub, one toilet, one sink and one floor to clean!

Hope there are few notes in here that help you with your small bathroom. If you have any others please share below…

Sharing One Small Bathroom