Bathroom is simply defined as a room with a bathtub/shower and usually with a basin and a toilet seat, but bathroom is not just about this only anymore. In a poll of about 2500 people including men, women and youngsters they have accepted the fact on an average they spent 30 minutes of their day in the bathroom. So the bathroom has not just remained a place to go, freshen yourself and come out but now people sit there scrolling through the internet, going through the world on their phones and so much more. On a note it is accepted by about 70% of people that there ability of thinking increases in the bathrooms compared to normal work space. So it has become equally important to design them well too. In houses bathrooms now work as a style statement. In this article I will try to write down the basic principles used in designing a bathroom. Bathrooms should be a quiet and hygienic place and must be designed accordingly. If you are designing one for home than you should considering making a mood board for it. Usually a mood board is where you write the main element i.e. is bathroom in this case and around it you write all the things that come in your mind by thinking of that particular word, than select the words you are most attracted and paste their pictures on a sheet. In this way you will get a clear picture for what your thoughts are on how your bathroom should be.

Before designing of the bathroom it is mainly divided into four parts to get most of the bathroom that are-

• Dry area- that is your Wash basin area
• Semi wet area- that is the WC/Toilet seat area
• Wet area- that is the bath area
• Slopes- Bathroom’s floor is made in a way that it is a little slant so that if water get collected so it automatically slides down to the drainage point.

This are the basic principles that are used in structuring of a bathroom. Below is a small brief about this areas.

1-Dry area or the ‘Basin’ area- This area is considered as the soul of your bathroom area. The first part of the area that catches the attention of the person. Wash basin must be placed just at the entrance of the bathroom. This is the area which can be and is mostly designed to the fullest. This area can be filled with a lot of design elements, big looking mirrors, cove lights and so much more. This area has to be kept dry. Although you have wash basin here where you will wash your hands and face a lot of times in a day. So the area should be designed in such a manner that water don’t spill everywhere. The height must be at correct level (standard at 36” from floor level) so it provides you ease of use. Wall mounted basins are new in trend but still counter top basins are preferred more till date. A small mat or rug can be place on the floor near the basin area. Though people decorate it very much by filling it up with different products but to get best of it try to keep the minimal stuff on the counter, keep liquid soaps in a bottle hanged on the wall. Use vanity under the basins to store more of the stuff as they will also work a design statement for your bathrooms as well as a storage option too. Below are some the bathroom basin area designs. Don’t fill up too much here as it will make it look tidy and later will create various issues like cleaning and maintaining it.

2- Semi wet area- The WC/ Toilet seat area is known as the semi wet area of the bathroom. This area must be hidden or designed in such a way that it is not visible directly when you enter the bathroom. The position of the wc should also be maintained so you don’t feel tidy or uncomfortable while using it. In smaller bathrooms wall mounted wc can be used to save more space.

3- Wet area- The bathing area is known as the wet area. It is advised to create its floor a little slant than the normal floor level so that the water don’t get collected there. If possible try to divide the wet and semi wet area, particularly it is done by giving glass shower enclosures. Shower enclosures are trending these days but demand a proportionate of space also which is mostly not available in regular bathroom sizes. So to overcome this either you can create a partition wall between the two or keep the wet area floor a little lower than the rest of the floor of bathroom. Another thing to keep in mind is that the wet area and semi wet area must be constructed near to each other than being in the opposing directions. Below are two ways to separate the wet and dry areas.

4- Slope- As described above, the bathroom floor is constructed in such a way that it is a little slanted towards the wet area so that water can easily travel out through the drain point.

These were the four main basic principles on which a bathroom design is based upon. These things are essential for a bathroom to function to its full efficiency. Once the plan is made according this, than you can move to next step that is designing of the bathroom. Planning with this rule will automatically result in better outcome of the design no matter what you choose to apply there.

While designing the bathroom watch out for these things also-

• Proper ventilation of air and the placement of the exhaust to clear out humidity in there.
• Minimum space required in bath and wc area so that you can move your elbow and legs freely without hitting anything.
• Use matt or rustic flooring in the bathroom to avoid slipping.
• To avoid termite or water damage on wall apply tiles till the ceiling. One it will protect your vanity and other items from problem and it will also work as a style element for the walls.