It is comforting these days to know that it is not always expensive bathroom fixtures or pricey floor tile but quirky architectural features that can deliver the most punch to your bathroom redesign.

In a hardworking room such as a bathroom capturing all the available space critical. I like to believe that one way to do this is to carefully take advantage of unusual architectural details.

In the photo, we see how the bathroom designer turned a plumbing necessity, pipes that led from the sink to a common wall behind the washstand, into a design feature. The designer applied bead board to the lower half of the built-out-wall and capping it with natural stone for a shallow, wall-to-wall utility shelf that helpfully expands counter surface.

The shelf solves another design problem. Old-fashioned washstands are charming, but offer limited space for shaving cream, razors, toothbrushes, toothpaste, makeup, face creams and other products. While the shelf in the photo is only about 9 inches deep, it is more than sufficient to hold bottled products, folded hand towels, washcloths, perfume and aftershave.

Very often a narrow shelf saves a bathroom from being awkward and hard to use. In modern bathrooms cantilevered countertops are popular. The great space-expanding quality to hanging a counter off the wall is that it provides the opportunity to let the floor extend continuously under the sink, thereby creating the illusion of more space.

This idea can work well in super-confined space. On either side of your sink, shrink the counter depth to mimic this built-in shelf. If the sides of your countertop are only 8 to 10 inches deep, you have succeeded in creating the feeling of greater volume and openness.

Another suggestion that comes without a big price tag is increasing the overall height of your vanity countertop so it will allow for more storage drawers below. I design my custom vanities to fit six or seven very shallow drawers.

Admittedly, every time my drawings go out to bid, the cabinetmaker calls me with shocking news: The inside of that drawer is only going to be 2 inches deep!

I patiently explain that I designed the drawers this way on purpose. What I love — and I have done this in my own master bathroom — is that when fitted with plastic trays, shallow drawers are perfect for makeup tubes, nail-polish bottles and medicine bottles turned on their sides so that you can read the labels, combs, brushes, scissors, nail clippers and tubes of face creams.

A wise man said once, "Think big thoughts, but relish small pleasures."

Practicality and increased function are achieved when you embark on a bathroom remodel that allows reconfiguration of the walls and fixture layout.

If on the opposite side of your bathroom wall there is a bedroom closet, you could be able to grow your bathroom space by punching through the wall into the closet at about 30 inches above the floor. The result will be sharing that closet space between the two rooms. The bedroom side would be allocated the lower half of the storage space and the bathroom could be assigned the upper storage as an in-bathroom linen closet.

Obviously, this solution is only possible when you can tear into walls and provide new cabinets or closet fittings for each side of the wall. Yet, this might be a better way to spend money on your design than by buying high-end stone or tile and plumbing fixtures.

Christine Brun, ASID, is a San Diego-based interior designer and the author of "Big Ideas for Small Spaces." Send questions and comments to her by e-mail at christinebrun@sbcglobal.net. To find out more about Christine Brun and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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