13 Amazing Tiny House Bathrooms (And How to Copy Them)

Teal tile shower with a clear glass shower door

When Savannah King and Drew Richter designed their 23-foot bus build, they knew they wanted a bright and inviting bathroom space with a spa vibe, since it’s the first thing people would see when entering the bus. The last thing they wanted was for it to have a plastic-y RV feel, so they chose a real clear glass shower door and teal subway tiles for the project. The teak shower floor adds warmth and sits flush in their custom shower pan. The shower build took a few days to complete and cost around $1,000-$1,500.

Wine barrel tub in a concrete wet room

Michael and Tawny McVay’s wet-room style bathroom is a wine-lover's dream. They built it inside their 250-square-foot skoolie, Oliver. The bathroom is only 5x5 feet, but it has a sink, composting toilet, shower and a portable bathtub made from an old wine barrel. The walls and floors are covered with several layers of feather finish concrete that was sealed to make it non-porous. They installed acacia tiles both for aesthetics and functionality, since concrete is slippery when wet. Copper fixtures add warmth to the “cozy grotto-like spa.”

Bright, airy bathroom with turquoise tiled shower

Paula and Liam O'Neill’s 235-square-foot tiny house on wheels features a bright, airy bathroom. The room includes a spacious turquoise tiled shower, composting toilet, heated towel rail, and beech wood flooring with a matching vanity top. It was built by Shaye's Tiny Homes, and cabinetry was made by Variant Spaces in New Zealand. A big window lets in light while the mirror and glass shower door makes the space seem much bigger.

Nature inspired rainfall shower with marble and blue tile

Craig Gordnier and Katelyn LeTourneau’s open-floor bathroom design was inspired by the idea of having no walls in their 1999 Blue Bird skoolie, with a 20” roof raise. A three-eighths-inch thick piece of tempered and laminated glass divides the bathroom from the rest of the house and can be blocked with a privacy curtain when needed. The inspiration for the shower was to feel like you’re standing completely outside. It features a 14” rainfall shower head, Carrera marble draped in green ivy and a glass skylight. The 54-by-34-inch residential shower pan and blue glass subway tile have over 12,000 miles on them and are holding up fine, Gordnier said. The entire bathroom cost under $1,700 and took roughly two weeks to complete. 

“My advice to anyone wanting to recreate this bathroom is to have fun, play with colors and textures and push the limits,” he said. “Bring on the nature; Bring on the adventure!”

Dreamy, minimalist indoor/outdoor shower with skylight

Mariah Hoffman self-built and designed her mobile studio atop a 20-by-8-foot trailer. Her bathroom design was informed by two things: the triangular shape of the existing trailer frame hitch and the feeling of a dreamy indoor/outdoor shower that was connected to nature. She lined the walls with conventional fiberglass wall paneling and installed matte black fixtures for a modern look. The focal point is the skylight, which she custom built, and brings in tons of light to make the two-by-two-foot space seem much bigger. The floor is lined with dark wood paneling that she stained and sealed for a spa-like feel. 

She worked on the bathroom slowly on and off for a couple of months. The total material cost for the bathroom was $481. Her advice for tiny home DIYers is to find ways to work with the existing frame and test to make sure your shower products will fit in the space. And if you add a skylight, consider hiring a professional to ensure it’s waterproofed correctly.

Earthy, open-concert tub shower with orange ceramic tile

Matt Rogne and Emilie Herbert’s bus conversion, ClaySanaBus, was inspired by nature — the earth and the sun. After living in a camper for nine months, they wanted their bathroom to have lots of airflow. It features a “horse trough” tub surrounded by orange ceramic tiles (which were free) that were intentionally made to look “imperfect.” They used Redgard to waterproof the space and Schluter tile corner and edge trim to hold the tile in place. They’re also installing a Nebia water-saving shower head.

The bathroom is still a work in progress, but the total cost estimate to the date the article was published is $2,689 for the tiling material, composting toilet, Nebia shower head, horse trough and decor.

Fully tiled floor with vanity and large shower

Nicole and Charlie Jones’ bathroom is a beautiful compromise of all of the things that were important for them to have in their custom bus conversion: a vanity sink, privacy for the toilet and a large functional shower. It fits in an L-shape design and features a skylight, fully-tiled floors and natural tones accented by matte black fixtures. They used a Kerdi-Schluter waterproofing system for the floor and walls and a pre-sloped pan for the shower. All ceramic tiles were set with flexible grout and the cedar ceiling was waterproof sealed. 

The bathroom took about one month to complete and cost about $5,000. Their advice is to plan the entire layout first, including plumbing and electric lines, so it’s easier to plan where all of your decor will be. “Also be patient with yourself! Things always tend to take longer than you expect them to and that is totally okay, especially if you're doing a DIY,” they said.

Bright van conversion shower with silver fixtures

When it came to their van conversion, Megan and Chris F. of ActiVan Conversions wanted a private indoor shower that could be used in all seasons and locations. Their build features a stand up shower with silver fixtures and a shower door for privacy. “We have literally showered in a Yosemite Valley parking lot after a long hike and no one had any idea,” they said.

Marble hexagonal tile shower with wood accents

Glaucio and Morgan Araujo designed their bathroom to accommodate their family of six in their converted 40-foot school bus. It began as a simple list of things they knew they wanted: a shower, skylight, toilet, sink and ample storage. Then they got creative with white penny and marble hexagonal tiles, cedar wood accents and navy blue shiplap. They custom-made their composting toilet to fit the space and installed an instant hot-water heater above it. It took about one month to complete and cost approximately $2,300.

Farm style bathroom, featuring a stock tank tub

Carole Robin lives in her tiny home with her partner Lawrence Laramee and his dog Luna. She designed the farm-style bathroom, and it features a stock tank tub, custom shelving, distressed barn board and wall panels from a local hardware store. The total estimate of her bathroom, including appliances, is approximately $3,200. She recommends people shop around for the best prices, take their time choosing appliances and make sure they have a warranty.

Moody, rustic bathroom with two-person shower

Amber and Tyler Woodruff’s tiny home features a modern, rustic and nordic bathroom design. It features a two-person shower and is made with all local lumber. Iron handles and hooks, live edge wood, wood tile, black metal and glass accent the moody color palette. The bathroom took about a month, working on it part-time and cost about $3,500-$4,000. Their biggest tip: “Hire out the shower,” Amber said. “It's worth the money to hire a professional versus saving the money and doing it yourself. Your time is sometimes worth more than the money.”

Aqua tile shower with skylight and built-in shelves

Brother and sister team Ellie K Madsen and Dan Madsen of Paradise Tiny Homes, LLC, design tiny homes with beautiful bathrooms, like the Oasis model home in Hawaii. It features a skylight, built-in shelves and textured aqua subway tile. The shower head was plumbed to come out of the center of the wall opening, and a standard curved corner shower pan was used with a sliding curved glass shower door to let natural light pass through. Plants on the shower ledge create an outdoor shower feel. It bumps out over the trailer tongue and adds space to the entire bathroom, which took about a week to build.

Bold black and white shower with 90’s flare

The bathroom in Talia and Andy Kingston’s self-converted bus is an homage to one of their favorite cities, Atlanta, Ga. “There is no Atlanta without OutKast...hence the ‘so fresh and so clean clean,’” Talia said. They used black and white hexagon penny tiles for the floors and 4x4 inch black and white tiles throughout the room. Andy hand-built the vanity and we purchased the sink from Concretti Designs. They installed a low flow shower head from Nebia and built a skylight for amazing night time views.

The total cost was $3,000 and involved a lot of trial and error, they said. Their advice to DIYers: Hire a professional. “The bathroom is our pride and joy, but...it would have actually saved us so much time with what we spent on fixing our own errors,” Talia said.