Bathroom Design Tips & Ideas

Modern bathroom design

Whether you are remodeling, adding an addition or having your custom home built from scratch, it is important not to neglect bathroom design! While neither as exciting nor as conspicuous as your kitchen design, bathrooms are nevertheless quite personal. Adding a touch of luxury and designing one consistent with your own style and personal taste can go a long way.

Designing Your Bathroom: Where to Start

As is the case with most architecture and design processes, your bathroom is best imagined as a whole rather than as a sum of its constituent parts. In other words, think of your entire bathroom design instead of your shower, then your toilet, then your fixtures, etc. Below, you will find 3 design ideas in their entirety, as well as their look, feel, style, and indications as to whether they are right for you.

“Rustic” Bathroom Design

If you are looking for a bathroom that is both simple and charming on the one hand, while also cozy and familiar on the other, then this design is right for you. “Rustic” (or “country”) bathrooms have an overall old-fashioned style about them, incorporating:

  • Fixtures made of natural wood and/or stone
  • Waste baskets made of wicker
  • Wooden cabinets

Color schemes used here range from dark orange to brown, and they are best complimented by a bathroom rich with natural light. So, consider this especially if your bathroom is flooded with sunlight and makes generous use of windows.

“Traditional” Bathroom Design

Where rustic bathrooms are old-fashioned in the sense that they have a sense of familiarity, traditional ones are old-fashioned in their elegance. This design is distinctly European in its aura, and heavily emanates nostalgia. It is more generous and perhaps ostentatious in appearance, using:

  • Brass faucets, knobs and shower heads
  • Oval-shaped mirrors/vanity mirrors
  • Porcelain tiles and tubs

It is not uncommon to decorate such a bathroom with wallpaper, as well as floral ornaments. There is no definite color scheme, but light, simple colors are recommended

“Modern” Bathroom Design

Finally, modern bathrooms have a distinctly “sleek” and “smooth” feel about them, with their:

  • Stone (marble or granite) countertops and tiles
  • Stainless steel knobs and sinks

Generally, color is used to accent certain focal points in the bathroom such as the sink, shower and/or bath. Countertops and/or floors may be dark, gray or black, but they are contrasted by the light colors used on the floor and wall. It is also common to add wall art for decoration, but the design is otherwise minimal ornamentation and a rather simplistic.