My first real renovation challenge started with a bathroom the size of a walk-in closet and a sofa bed that doubled as my guest room. The bathroom was the obvious priority. But what I discovered during those weeks with a sledgehammer and a plumbing snake was that every decision in that tiny space echoes throughout the rest of your home. You cannot think about tiles and taps in isolation. When you have no spare room for a proper guest bed, the bathroom renovation suddenly becomes about freeing up square footage elsewhere.

The core problem was storage. My old bathroom had a massive vanity that ate up floor space, but it was mostly empty air behind the doors. I ripped it out and installed a wall-hung sink with a slim cabinet beside it. This opened up the floor so the room felt twice as large. The real trick, however, was deciding that bulky linens and extra towels no longer belonged in the bathroom. I moved them into the living room. You read that right.