Just because you have a water closet doesn't mean it has to feel like a closet.
Water closets — tiny rooms that enclose the toilet — are showing up in new production and custom homes and master-bathroom remodels.
"A lot of master suites are so open between the bedroom and the bathroom," Emilee Weine, president of MLE Direction and Design Inc., says of the popular layout that puts the toilet behind its own door.
"You need that (door) as additional privacy," says Weine.
A lucky homeowner has a water closet with a window to the outdoors or frosted glass that lets light in from another room. That helps make it less claustrophobic, says Elaine Paul, of Arroyo Design Interiors.
If you're not that lucky, there are still ways to make the room comfortable and interesting.
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Don't count on the designer's trick of using color to visually expand the room, however, Paul says. "In a really small space, there is no color to make it bigger."
Instead, use the same paint, tile or wallpaper that's in the rest of the bathroom to make it part of the bigger space, she advises.
Weine suggests using a deeper color that coordinates with the rest of the bathroom "to give it a warm, inviting feeling."
For instance, if the bathroom is celery green, paint one or more walls in the water closet a deeper sage.
Another age-old decorator tip that actually does work is installing floor tile on the diagonal to visually extend the room, Weine says.
Use reflection to make the room feel less closed in, says Paul. Create "a little jewel" of a room with a deep color or glazed wall, a wall mirror and a sparkly crystal chandelier or sconce.
Storage poses another challenge to the small rooms, but there's probably more space than you think.
"I've never had one so small that I couldn't get a small accent table in there," says Paul. She suggests checking out Crate and Barrel or Ballard Designs for little cabinets and accent tables.
Weine suggests using the wall for small cabinets or shelving. That provides plenty of storage for all sorts of things.
One of her clients installed a magazine rack and added a shelf for a coffee station.
For more comfort and style, Weine suggests:
● using bowls of potpourri instead of candles, which may not be safe in a tiny space.
● bringing the outdoors in with a landscape picture or painting.
● adding a cute area rug for a bit of personality.
» Resources
• Arroyo Design Interiors, 884-1012.
• Ballard Designs, www.ballarddesigns.com.
• Crate and Barrel, 2905 E. Skyline Drive, Suite 120 in La Encantada, 299-7100.
• MLE Direction and Design Inc., 885-5173.