3 × 3 m bathroom layout
A 3 × 3 m bathroom is 97 sq ft (9.00 m²), with 12.00 m (39' 4") of wall around it. Everything below is worked out from those dimensions rather than written for a room in general — the plan is to scale, and the furniture is measured against the real walls.
3 × 3 m bathroom in numbers
- Floor area
- 97 sq ft
- 9.00 m²
- Perimeter
- 39' 4"
- 12.00 m
- Longest wall
- 9' 10"
- 3.00 m
- Wall area at 2.4 m
- 25.4 m²
- door and window deducted
Planning a bathroom
Bathrooms are planned backwards from the drainage. The soil pipe decides where the toilet can go, and everything else arranges itself around that, because moving a toilet more than a metre or so from the stack means a pumped waste or a re-run of the drainage under the floor. Beyond that, the constraints are activity space: the floor in front of each fitting that you stand, sit or dry yourself in. Those zones can overlap each other, which is what makes small bathrooms possible at all, but they cannot overlap a fitting or a door swing. The sizes below are generous by UK standards — a typical British bathroom is nearer 4 m² — so most of the planning here is about what you can add rather than what you have to give up.
A comfortable full bathroom
There is room here for a bath, a basin and a toilet with proper activity space in front of each, and in most rooms of this size a separate shower as well if you are willing to give up a little bath length or use a corner enclosure. Run the bath along the shortest wall it fits — a standard bath is 1700 mm, so a wall of 1.8 m or more takes one without a bespoke size — and put the basin and toilet on the opposite or adjacent wall so their activity zones overlap the same patch of floor. The toilet needs 200 mm clear each side of its centreline and 600 mm in front; the basin needs 700 mm in front to stand and lean over it. Those two zones can share floor with each other and with the space you step out of the bath into, but none of them can sit inside the door's swing. If the door opens inwards and the room is tight at one end, an outward-opening or sliding door buys you nearly a square metre for the cost of the door alone.
What fits in a 3x3 m bathroom
Each piece is measured into a furnished room, not an empty one: it needs its own width plus enough clearance to get past it along the wall, its depth plus that clearance out into the room, and it is checked with a 450 mm basin on the opposite wall already in place. Both pairs of walls are tried, so a long wall counts either way round. Tight means the piece is physically in the room but the clearance is not — you are edging round it.
| Item | Wall it needs | Depth it needs | In a 3x3 m bathroom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bath (1700 × 700) | 2.40 m | 1.85 mincl. 700 mm clearance and 450 mm opposite | Fits1.15 m spare |
| Shower enclosure (900 × 900) | 1.60 m | 2.05 mincl. 700 mm clearance and 450 mm opposite | Fits0.95 m spare |
| Walk-in shower (1200 × 900) | 1.90 m | 2.05 mincl. 700 mm clearance and 450 mm opposite | Fits0.95 m spare |
| Basin (600 × 450) | 1.30 m | 1.60 mincl. 700 mm clearance and 450 mm opposite | Fits1.40 m spare |
| Double vanity unit (1200 × 500) | 1.90 m | 1.65 mincl. 700 mm clearance and 450 mm opposite | Fits1.35 m spare |
| Toilet (400 × 700) | 1.00 m | 1.75 mincl. 600 mm clearance and 450 mm opposite | Fits1.25 m spare |
Clearances that decide the layout
- In front of a basin700 mm
- Standing and leaning forward. 600 mm works at a push; below that you knock your elbows.
- In front of a toilet600 mm
- Knee room when seated, plus space to stand up. 200 mm clear is also needed each side of the centreline.
- Beside a bath or shower700 mm
- The floor you stand on to dry yourself. It can overlap another fitting's zone, but not the fitting.
- Door swing900 mm
- An inward-opening door sweeps this much floor, and nothing can sit inside the arc.
Materials for a 3x3 m bathroom
Quantities from the real floor and wall areas, with the waste allowance already added. Estimates to plan with — measure again before you order.
| Flooring | With waste | Boxes |
|---|---|---|
| Laminate2.22 m² a box, 10% waste | 9.9 m² | 5 |
| Engineered wood1.8 m² a box, 10% waste | 9.9 m² | 6 |
| Vinyl tile (LVT)3.34 m² a box, 10% waste | 9.9 m² | 3 |
| Ceramic tile1.44 m² a box, 15% waste | 10.3 m² | 8 |
- Paint — about 5 litres for two coats on 25.4 m² of wall, at a 2.4 m ceiling with a door and a window deducted.
- Skirting — 11.17 m once one doorway is taken out of the perimeter.
- Ceiling — the same 9.00 m² as the floor, so roughly 2 litres for two coats.
Change the numbers in the flooring calculator or the paint calculator, both already filled in with this room’s dimensions.
Common questions
- How big is a 3x3 m bathroom?
- 97 sq ft (9.00 m²), with a perimeter of 12.00 m (39' 4"). The walls are 3.00 m (9' 10") and 3.00 m (9' 10").
- How much flooring does a 3x3 m bathroom need?
- 9.9 m² including a 10% waste allowance, which is 5 boxes of laminate at 2.22 m² a box. Tile and engineered wood come in different box sizes, so check the pack before ordering.
- How much paint does a 3x3 m bathroom need?
- About 5 litres for two coats on the walls, based on a 2.4 m ceiling, 25.4 m² of wall after a door and a window are deducted, and 12 m² of coverage per litre.
- Will a bath fit in a 3x3 m bathroom?
- Yes. It needs 2.40 m of wall and 1.85 m out into the room once its clearance is counted, and this room gives you 1.15 m to spare on top of that.
- What is the minimum space needed for a bathroom?
- A room with a toilet, basin and shower can work in about 2.2 m², and a bathroom with a bath in about 3.5 m². Those are genuine minimums with activity zones overlapping; anything from 5 m² upwards is comfortable rather than tight.
- How much space do you need in front of a toilet?
- 600 mm in front and 200 mm clear each side of the centreline, so 400 mm of wall minimum plus the side clearances. Building regulations for new work in England ask for 750 mm in front of a WC where it is the only one in the dwelling.
- How long is a standard bath?
- 1700 × 700 mm in the UK, with 1500 mm and 1800 mm as the common alternatives. US tubs are usually 60 in (1524 mm) long. Add 20 mm to whatever you buy for the tiled reveal at each end if it is fitting into an alcove.
- Can the bathroom door open inwards?
- It can, but it costs you the floor inside its arc — roughly 0.8 m² for a standard door — and that floor cannot be shared with any fitting. In a tight room an outward-opening or sliding door is usually the single best change you can make to the layout.
Other bathroom sizes
The same size as another room
Before you draw it: how to measure a room and how to draw a floor plan to scale. Real rooms are never exactly 3 × 3 m — draw yours from scratch if the walls do not match.