There is no doubt that although it is one of the smallest rooms in any house, a bathroom can make or break an overall look and feel. While you will spend more time in most of the other rooms, it is important to feel comfortable in the bathroom, and the fact that there isn’t so much room nor so many accessories in the room compared with other parts of the house really increases the importance of getting it right when you’re making additions and sprucing up your home.
Below, we will look at some design concepts that are increasingly popular in the modern day and which can turn your bathroom design ideas into one of the most luxurious, stylish and chic rooms in the house. From the use of more welcoming warm metallics to the highly contemporary cleanliness of a black bathroom, from the retro classic look that is checkerboard tiling to the relaxing tones of a pastel bathroom - and the importance of not overusing one color in particular - these are some bathroom remodeling ideas for the restyling of this small, but hugely important space in your home.
The Warmth of Metallics
It’s not so long since your bathroom fittings were available in any finish you wanted, as long as it was chrome. There’s nothing wrong with chrome here and there, of course, but if you want your bathroom to look more like a welcoming haven and less like a sterile space in a medical facility, you can gain considerable benefits from adding some warmth with charming brushed metallics. It’s easy to make the metallic elements of your bathroom a key element of your overall design - the look of those fixtures and fittings can inspire what you do elsewhere in the room.
If you’re used to chrome faucets and drains, you’ll be surprised and delighted by the way things change the moment you replace these little touches with something more original. Your bathroom remodeling ideas can only benefit from taking out the shiny and unforgiving chrome accents and replacing them with brushed nickel or oil-rubbed bronze. One simple move like this can instantly add a feel to your tub, toilet or basin that is simultaneously gorgeously contemporary and charmingly old-fashioned.
If you’re not sure of the benefits of this change, think of it in one of two ways: what is your proposed color scheme for the room? In many cases, shinier metal will not suit a warmer color scheme in the bathroom, for example if you’re going for a Mediterranean touch. Something that looks more timeworn can be a splendid addition. And if you can’t decide on a color scheme to begin with, starting with the fixtures and choosing a bolder metallic tone there can give you all sorts of ideas that cascade out to become a great overall look.
The Elegance of Black Bathrooms
It takes some guts to decide on a black bathroom in your home. There is a reason that interior decorators tend not to advise on such a stark color for common areas in a household. So why would you choose it for the smallest room in the home. Won’t it just make the room feel even smaller? It’s understandable that people would think that, but it really isn’t necessarily the case. As with any new design touch, it really is all about how you use it - but a black bathroom can give your home an incredibly chic touch and make the room one of your favorite spots in the whole house.
This is a bold design decision, so it’s entirely understandable if you’re not initially convinced that you want to go all out with a black bathroom, picking out tiles, paint and even a bathroom suite in the darkest shade there is. You can instead start by choosing one wall that will be decorated in black, and placing bathtub accessories next to that area to benefit from the framing that it provides. When you are comfortable with that approach, you can then consider whether you want to go bolder. A wall at a time, or going the whole hog, that much is up to you, But you’d be surprised how fine an all-black bathroom can look.
One of the major advantages of making your bathroom fully black is that it is an excellent way to make the accessories in the room look so much better. With so many bathroom additions being either metallic or glass, few tones can do more to make them look their very best than the none-more-black approach. Consider whether you want to achieve this with paint or with tiles, but either way, you can be confident that it will deliver a look that makes your bathroom a talking point for all the right reasons.
The Luxurious Touch of 'Spathrooms'
A lot of attention goes on making bathrooms look as clean and glistening as possible. That’s understandable, given the purpose of the room, but there is a very fine line between clean and clinical, and there are many people who have become very keen on the idea of the “spathroom”. If you’re trying to work out the portmanteau there, it’s “spa” and “bathroom”, and the choice to add a more relaxing tilt to your bathroom by using some touches that would fit well in a spa is one that more and more people are taking.
This can involve a number of different touches, and can involve a greater or lesser degree of change in your bathroom. An outdoor fabric shower curtain, using the same material that you might already use in the parasols or outdoor furniture you have on your patio, will feel that much more luxurious than the standard plastic shower curtain. You can also plump for more relaxing or themed color schemes in your bathroom project images such as a new paint job that puts you in mind of a relaxing location.
Ideas for a potential spa-style bathroom can be themed with some easy steps that take account of where we often find relaxation. Natural spaces are always good, and approaches that will fit well in your bathroom project gallery will include:
Seaside themes
The best colors for this include different shades of yellow, to reflect sand, and blue, which represents both the sea and the sky. You can also accoessorize with seaside images and found items including seashells and upcycled driftwood.
The forest
It might be expensive to move to a wood cabin somewhere in a remote forest, but you can get some of the same theme by aiming for a natural look in your bathroom; woody colors and different shades of green can help you feel like you’re having a peaceful time in the wilderness.
Mountain scenes
There are few scenery touches that can hold a candle to a mountainside look. The look of snow can best be represented not by an overly-clean white but by an off-white color that has hints of gray. Other stone colors can be used to represent mountains, while wall art depicting the mountains is easy to find.
The Danish-inspired Color Drenching
Nordic countries often have some of the best concepts for home interiors, with the recent trends of hygge and lagom both having been highly popular with designers in recent years. Having driven the popularity of hygge, the Danish have also landed on a great idea for bathroom design by coming up with color drenching. If you looked at the idea of a black bathroom earlier on in this article and decided you didn’t love it, maybe you would be more at home with brighter colors dominating your redesign.
The colorful architecture of Copenhagen has had an influence on the concept of bathroom color-drenching, and there is some backing from the idea of color theory to make these bathroom design projects seem like a slam dunk for anyone who wants their bathroom to spark joy. You can “drench” as much as you want, but the effect is greater the more prominent your chosen color is; if you can get the bathroom suite in your preferred color, then you can use subtly different shades on the walls, in the tiling, and even in bathroom accessories like a bin or storage.
For the full Danish experience, it is best to go for sorbet colors as inspired by the color-drenched homes that line the banks of the Nyhavn canal. Bright reds and oranges can be a bold way to give your bathroom some dramatic theming, while blues and greens tie in neatly with the spathroom idea. But the end decision is yours; this is going to be where you bring your bathroom design projects to life and create your ideal bathroom, so pick a color that makes you feel good and give it a go.
Maximizing Bathroom Floor Space
Bathroom design isn’t just about the look and feel, of course, and when you are dealing with a room that is smaller than the others in the house, the importance of maximizing space is one that needs to be borne in mind. There are various ways to improve on the amount of floor space available to you, including making the most of recessed areas by using them for storage. But by far the most important thing you can do to improve floor space is to use wall-mounting wherever you can, avoiding the use of space-crunching pedestals.
It’s possible to have a floating vanity instead of a pedestal sink in the bathroom, with space for storage included in the design. You can also have other parts of the suite, including the toilet, mounted on the wall rather than the floor, increasing the space in which you can move around. You may also consider a half-bath instead of a full tub; although there is less space to recline, you can enjoy sitting up in the bath while reading a book or even watching TV. Look at everything that is currently using floor space in your bathroom, and ask if it could be using less. You’ll usually find that it could be, and the best bathroom design images will reflect this.
The Retro Appeal of Checkerboard Tiling
We’re all familiar with checkerboard tiling; it’s been a thing since at least the 1970s, but things go in and out of fashion, and more “subtle” looks have often been popular at most points in the last fifty years. That’s a shame; the look of duochrome checkerboard tiling is classic, clean and stylish when done properly, and it can be a great finishing touch to any bathroom decor.
The done thing with checkerboard is to go with classic black and white, and there’s a lot to like about that choice, but again, it can be seen as being a little overly clinical. If you have a color combo that you like and have used elsewhere in the renovation, then picking it out again in checkered tiling can be a very decent way to finish off the look. It should generally be two contrasting colors for use in this pattern. If, for example, you have gone for a color-drenching approach, then a darker shade and a lighter shade of that color will work well, and will replicate the simple, sharp effect gained by black and white.
“Lighter colors” doesn’t always mean white
Lighter colors in a bathroom have the benefit of making the space look fresh, clean and modern. However, many people looking at bathroom design images feel as though white is a step too far in that direction. The more of your bathroom that is colored in white, the more it begins to feel like a clinical, soulless hospital room, which is not a look and feel you want for your bathroom. Go with lighter colors, by all means, but there is a world of options to explore within that concept. Bright blues, gentle yellows and even a lighter gray can have the desired effect without taking it too far in a clinical direction.
Conclusion
The finished look of your bathroom is important; it should look like it has been a labor of love, with a lot of consideration having gone into it. It should also look carefree and light, with your brushed nickel faucets and your pastel finishes fitting together to reflect an approach that is dedicated towards giving the room a happy feel. If you’re struggling to visualize the approach you are taking, then a play around with World Coppersmith’s 3D configurator will help you get some clearer bathroom remodeling ideas, and allow you to request a quotation on the bathroom of your dreams.
