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Contemporary Styles For Your Bathroom

When it comes to home décor, bathrooms too often get neglected. Because we’re often rushing in and out of them and we don’t tend to use them at the same time as guests, we forget that they can still make an impression. Renovate your bathroom well and you may find that you want to spend a lot more time there, luxuriating in late evening baths, or that even short visits put you in a better mood. You can do much more with your bathroom than cover it in white tiles, so why not think about giving it the make-over it deserves?

Get Close to Nature

Even large bathrooms can often feel too enclosed. The Japanese solve this problem by bringing natural materials and elements of nature into the bathroom to give it a more open aspect. They make extensive use of timber. This must be properly treated to make sure it isn’t damaged by damp, with any wall it’s placed against treated with a mold-resistant coating, but it can still be a practical choice of material and give your bathroom a rustic look. Of course, nothing beats bringing in actual plants, so look for niches where you can fit them. Trailing plants in hanging baskets are a great solution because they don’t take up counter space and you can easily lower them for watering and maintenance.

Think Stone

Nature-focused bathrooms can look really good with the addition of stone tubs, flooring, counter-tops or tiles. The trick here is to keep it simple, with stone that’s all one color or two very similar colors and complements other bathroom fittings. In other contemporary bathroom styles, stone can be used in a rather more elaborate way. Marble is making a big comeback and even a small amount can add a real touch of luxury. If you’re working on a low budget, check out online auction sites for second hand marble slabs and polished remnants, which are often quite cheap and easy to repurpose. You can also consider using layered paint effects to mimic the appearance of marble, a technique that can be highly effective once you get the hang of it.

Make More of your Windows

One of the most exciting trends in bathrooms this season is the creation of large windows, with rooms that used to be hidden away now being structured around spectacular views. Of course, you can’t pick up your home and move it to somewhere prettier, and you may find it prohibitively expensive to have your walls rebuilt to make room for larger windows, but what you can do is to make more out of the one you’ve got. Switching to shutters, blinds or other minimalist covering options and doing away with curtains lets in a lot more light.You can enhance the effect by painting your window frame a paler color than the surrounding wall. Using window films means you can preserve your privacy in the daytime without having to obscure your view.

A Touch of Glamor

In the bathroom, the focus tends to be on practicality rather than luxury, but every room can benefit from a touch of glamour. Adding a chandelier can turn a fairly plain room into a palace. Metallic highlights also go a long way and are easy to add with today’s great range of paints.Consider painting a dado line or mirror frame. It’s worth splashing out on some stylish looking faucets to complement them. Copper and bronze are this season’s must-have shades and look especially impressive in the company of blues and deep greens.

You can also consider adding art to your bathroom. Anything that’s properly sealed behind glass will be safe from damp. A large Renaissance-era painting or a striking piece of modern art can really make the room look luxurious.

Creative Tiling

Tiling is still a very practical option in bathrooms, but it doesn’t have to be all one shade and it doesn’t have to be square. Hexagons are a popular choice this year. You can also consider mosaic.It might sound like a lot of effort, but you can find pre-shaped sheets to make it easy to fit together. Many designers are working with marbles tiles, both natural and artificial.Available iridescent versions wonderfully highlight focal points in the room. If you want to go for a really high-end effect, you can choose hand-painted tiles to use as features or as part of a fringe.

Space-saving Storage

Bathrooms perennially lack enough space to keep everything, especially if you have a lot of beauty products or medication. This season’s designs are making a big point of storage. They include units that combine toilets and washbasins with cabinets, an ideal solution for small bathrooms, and lots of wall-hanging storage units, which are something we haven’t seen much of in bathrooms in recent years. Finished with a high gloss, these can look very stylish.

Designer Heating Solutions

Standard household radiators tend to look ugly in bathrooms and it’s a shame to bring down impressive design work with something like this. Appropriately colored metallic towel rails look much better and there are assorted designer heaters available for bathrooms which, being specially designed, also reduce the risk of electrical fires. If you really want to keep your old radiator, you can consider painting it with suitable heat-tolerant metallic paint to complement the rest of your design.

Bathroom design is a little more complicated than designing for other parts of your home, because you do need to think about damp-proofing, but as long as the room airs well and doesn’t contain too many nooks and crannies where moisture can get trapped, you shouldn’t have too many problems. It’s well worth the effort to create a room that really feels like a satisfying place to be – and since few guests will visit your home without visiting it at least one, it’s also an opportunity to show off your design skills.

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