While I love my bathtub for the rare occasions that I get to use it for a long relaxing soak, I don't know what I would do without my shower. Showers are quick, refreshing and a lot more economical than taking baths. When I had the chance to redesign my small bathroom I jumped at the opportunity to improve the shower that was installed above the bathtub at the time.
The first thing to remember is that there usually is a way to do these things and you mustn't give up before you've really thought about the problem. Don't be put off by the fact that you don't seem to have much room to play with in your bathroom design.
So what are the options?
Throw the bathtub away
Taking out the bathtub will give you more than enough room to fit a sizeable shower enclosure. Unfortunately you won't have a bath anymore. While this might fit in well with your current lifestyle you might want to think about what you might have need of a few years down the line and when you come to sell your property.
When you sell a property you must have a bathroom with a bathtub even if it has a great shower instead. People expect to find a bath in the bathroom and the lack of one can seriously depress the value of your property.
Put your shower in your bathtub
If you have no other option you can install a showerhead above your bathtub together with a shower curtain or splashguard. This should be the easiest solution, as it will take up no additional floor space. Personally I'm not keen on this option.
Turn your bathroom into a wet room
This is an ambitious design that will involve turning the floor of your entire bathroom into a giant shower base and drain. It can be a very expensive option to convert a conventional bathroom into wet room but it has the advantage of allowing you to put your small bathroom shower anywhere you like. Even over the toilet if you want to although I wouldn't advise it.
Install a curved quadrant shower cubicle
The option that I like best for any bathroom is to install a separate shower enclosure either free standing in the room or in a corner of the bathroom. This is a great solution if you can find the space to accommodate the shower enclosure.
The problem with this idea is finding the space in a small bathroom to fit the shower enclosure. Enclosures come in various sizes so you will need first of all to decide on the smallest size that you think you can live with. Even a very small shower enclosure is better than none at all.
To make the space available you should consider the whole small bathroom design. Find a smaller toilet and washbasin and even a smaller bathtub if you have to. Use squared paper and cut out shapes to try many different ways of arranging everything.
Finally look at curved quadrant shower enclosures as a space saving alternative to square or rectangular ones. Finding one of these was the turning point in my small bathroom shower design. Everything fell into place nicely after that.
