Want a bathroom that feels bigger without moving walls? This is shared by DIY Remodel Reddit user redhotjose9 Shows how changing tile scale, shower framing and color contrast can completely reshape a narrow bathroom.
Before the renovation, the room relied on beige floor tile, olive wainscoting, heavy gold shower framing and large visual breaks on every surface. The layout felt divided into small sections rather than one continuous space.
After the remodel, matte black hex tile, vertical blue wall tile, frameless glass, and a floating wood vanity changed the entire flow. Even with the same footprint, the bathroom now feels longer, taller and more custom built.
Gold shower framing makes the room feel smaller
Before the renovation, thick gold metal framing surrounded each side of the shower enclosure. Frosted glass panels block visibility through the back wall and cut the room into separate zones.
The large beige floor tile added another layer of visual weight. Combined with dark green lower wall paint, the bathroom felt cramped from floor to ceiling.
Frameless glass opened up the entire layout
A frameless shower became one of the biggest upgrades in a glass remodel. Without the bulky metal framing, sight lines now move throughout the bathroom instead of stopping at the corner of the bath.
Black shower hardware also connects directly to faucets, mirror frames, hooks and vanity pulls. That repetitive finish creates structure without adding extra materials or colors.
Black hex floor tile grounds the space
A large matte black hex tile replaced the entire floor plane.
Instead of small square beige tiles with heavy grout lines, the new floor creates a strong geometric movement throughout the room. Larger tile scales also reduce visual clutter and help narrow bathrooms feel cleaner.
Some Reddit users singled out the flooring in particular as the strongest upgrade in the remodel.
Vertical blue tiles line the walls
Changed how a long vertical blue tile reads wall height.
Rather than stopping at random breaks or decorative trim, a narrow stacked layout draws attention upward and visually stretches the room. Floor-to-ceiling shower tile also makes the shower wall feel integrated rather than an afterthought.
White grout softens the contrast between tiles and keeps the wall surface continuous.
A floating vanity removes bulk from the floor
Replacing the old dark vanity with floating wood cabinets opened up visible floor space under the sink.
That one change seems less crowded near the bathroom entrance. Black pulls tie in with the rest of the hardware while a warm wood finish prevents the black floor from making the room feel cold.
An arched mirror also breaks up the straight tile lines of the entire room.
Demolition exposed structural problems behind the shower
Once demolition began, the old shower wall exposed damaged framing, plumbing access, and an open wall cavity behind the enclosure.
Part of the remodeling included reframing sections of the shower wall and resurfacing the surfaces before waterproofing and tile installation began.
The renovation took about three months and cost about $6,000, according to the original Reddit post.
Waterproofing and tile preparation changed the final finish
Before the finished tile installation, the shower walls received orange waterproof membrane panels and a rebuilt shower base.
The large black hex floor tile already shows how strong the layout will be compared to the original beige floor. Even during construction, the bathroom began to read as a connected design rather than several disjointed finishes.
The owner later mentioned that two errors still bothered him: the shower curb measurement nearly missed alignment with the glass door, and the recessed floor fell lower than planned due to tile layout gaps.
The ceiling and lighting make the whole room look simple
Old ceiling textures and oversized fixtures often distract from the actual remodel job. During construction, the roof layout and ventilation system were redesigned before the final surfaces were completed.
The finished bathroom now uses simple overhead lighting that focuses on the tile, glass and vanity rather than the ceiling.
The remodel kept roughly the same footprint, but the removal of gold framing, beige tile, heavy cabinetry, and split surfaces completely changed the feel of the bathroom. Black hex flooring, vertical blue tile, frameless glass and floating storage push the space closer to boutique hotel design than a builder-grade bathroom renovation.
All credits go to the Reddit user redhotjose9.
