Small is Getting Smaller
Living in small spaces has always been associated with compact world capitals like New York and Tokyo, giving it a certain cachet. But smaller footprints are trending worldwide in residential architecture, and often an unused (or underused) space in a home can be transformed into a functioning, well-used space if the design is approached with clever thinking.
Bathrooms are the next frontier in this new, scaled-down world. It can be as simple as reducing a bathroom’s square footage to give more space to a bedroom, closet, or hallway, or as intricate as designing a powder room to fit under a front-hall staircase or in a former bedroom closet. The obvious question is how to create these shoebox bathrooms – some as small as 3’ x 3’ – without compromising comfort or aesthetics. But existing TOTO products such as our Aquia Wall-Hung toilet and LT650G Wall-hung lavatory are already offering answers for these design situations, and very soon prototypes in development in the TOTO design lab will bring more options.
The images here show some particularly ingenious and welcoming “micro” bathrooms, but they’re just the beginning of what’s possible, and what’s next. Stay tuned.