Unless you're rich, chances are at least one of the bathrooms in your home is a little on the small side. While that certainly doesn't stop the bathroom from being functional, it can make your time in there feel a little cramped.

There are no fast and easy solutions to the problems of a small bathroom, particularly if you can't or won't knock out a wall to build a bigger room. In some cases, though, a few simple small bathroom decorating ideas will help you to transform the look of your bathroom from cramped to something that at least feels more open.

Decorating the Walls

Most of the easiest decorating ideas for your small bathroom requires little more than a trip to the paint department of your local hardware store. Changing from a darker shade of paint to something lighter will help to brighten your bathroom and make it feel more open. Pastel colors tend to work best, and the theory of colors and moods suggest that cool colors, such as a light blue, work well for creating a serene, open feel.

Wallpaper instead of paint also works if you're searching for small bathroom decorating ideas, but it pays to be careful here. If you pick a pattern with a large picture, the wallpaper will feel overwhelming and in turn make your bathroom feel cramped. A small pattern is best if you choose to paper your bathroom walls.

Changes Above and Below

Just as it pays to keep the walls light, the same small bathroom decorating ideas can work for the floor below your feet as well as the lights above your head. On the floor, use a light-colored tile to help keep the room bright, and be sure to have lots of bright lights to illuminate your bathroom. Again, the easiest way to give a sense of space is to lighten the feel of your bathroom, and bright decorations and plenty of light is the best way to accomplish this.

A Trick of the Light

Another one of the easiest small bathroom decorating ideas, if you have the wall space for it, is to add another mirror to your bathroom, preferably opposite the mirror above your sink. This creates an illusion of depth using reflection.

The use of mirrors, in fact, is not just one of the great ideas for decorating small bathrooms, but for other rooms in the house. Any time you reflect the room, you add a sense of space to it. As with the other small bathroom decorating ideas, anything you can do to play off the use of light will make your bathroom have a roomier feel, even if the reality is that it's small.