I thought it might be helpful to walk through how I think about bathroom design. So I share the 9 categories I find important, and some thoughts on each of those. I also want to share my design ideas for our upstairs bathroom we are slowly renovating.
Bathroom Design-Mood
I like to think about how I want the space to feel, what the vibe will be before digging into it. With this being a more private room for our kids and us to use I wanted to have some fun and add some more whimsy to it with some woodland creatures and things. I want to add that whimsy without going full kids bathroom though, finding that line. Also I wanted to bring the outdoors in and make it relaxing with some blues. I don’t want to make the room read too feminine or masculine, just the right balance since we will all be enjoying and using this space.
Bathroom Design-Textiles
Textiles are a great place to start when designing a space. This can be a really fun way to bring color and pattern in. It’s more difficult to incorporate textiles after paint colors have already been chosen. You can pick almost any color for paint where as textiles are a bit more limited in what is available.
With this space I envisioned a blue and white toile fabric for the shower curtain. A classic and beautiful way to bring in some nature inspired shapes. A nice contrast to the straight and hard lines of tile and stone.
It was harder than I thought to find a toile shower curtain. I didn’t want people or architecture in the print, basically just a landscape. To make it more difficult I also wanted it to be cotton or linen. For better or worse I’ve become more particular when it comes to the material. I just think a natural materials look and feel so much better.
I ended up getting this 100% cotton shower curtain. Originally it was sold by Pottery Barn, but I found this one on Ebay. When I looked for toile shower curtains at Pottery Barn they had this fabric but only in window curtains and I wasn’t sure I had the skillset to turn a regular curtain into a shower curtain and on top of that it was expensive.
I was so happy to find a shower curtain in this exact fabric on Ebay. It was so lucky and almost felt meant to be. I actually ended up buying one of our downstairs bathroom shower curtains from Ebay too when we were renovating that space. Anyway, do not be afraid to look on sites like Ebay. It expands your options and can help save you money too.
Bathroom Design-Paint Colors
I’ve been picturing blues and yellows in this space. So I’m thinking of pulling a blue from the shower curtain textile for the vanity color. I already have these little wall hangings with blue flowers (shown above) that I found at a local shop. I’ve had them for awhile and knew I wanted to use them in here.
Also I’ve been wanting to use this natural twine color from Behr on the walls ever since I saw another person use it in their space. It’s such a pretty and classic muted yellow. I think the little wall hangings with their wood frames are going to be so cute against that yellow twine color.
Bathroom Design-Wall Treatments
The walls in this room are wallpapered over what looks like plaster, and they are starting to crumble around the window trim. So with all that said we have to cover them somehow. (I don’t want to open them up and deal with that mess) I’m thinking either bead board or board and batten like we did in our other bathroom. You can see that renovation here.
I know some people put wallpaper up in bathrooms, but especially for full baths I think with the moisture and humidity it’s not ideal. I could see getting away with it in a half bath, but I change my mind too much to commit to a wallpaper personally.
Whichever wall treatment we end up doing I plan on painting it in the natural twine color by Behr. We have baseboard heaters throughout our house, including this room. So I am hoping to clean those up and paint those to match the wall color.
We made our own baseboard heater cover with this decorative metal screen and stained wood in the last bathroom, but that seems like a lot of work for this space since the heater is much larger. Haven’t fully ruled it out though.
Bathroom Design-Tile/Flooring
For the shower walls I knew I wanted to do larger subway tile in white. It’s a classic look that I am always drawn to and it’s pretty budget friendly. We did the regular sized subway tile downstairs so I thought the larger tile would be a nice change.
I went back and forth on penny tile or a smaller hex tile on the floor. Months ago while we were at our big box hardware store we found this smaller hex tile for half off. So I decided to use that on the floor of the shower, floor of the main bathroom and the back of the niches.
I was so happy with this find because it has a bit of a texture to it so it’s not super slippery when wet. The variation in the grey and brown tones is really nice. I like grey but it can get a bit cold and sterile so I like the browns to help warm it up and contrast. Anyway as soon as I saw it and what a steal it was I knew we had to get it.
Bathroom Design-Vanity/Counter Top
We have a dresser that we are using as a vanity in the bathroom currently. I like it ok, but I wonder if we should get a bigger one to fill up the space better. We could go another foot or so wider, and the more storage the better.
If we keep this one I want to cut the little decorative detail on the base. I put a dotted line through it in the picture above. I also would change the hardware to a brass pull probably and change their locations on the drawers.
When talking about vanities, I like to think about storage and how it will function in the space. With this dresser it’s clearly all drawers which is nice, but we do have taller things that do not fit in these drawers. So we are thinking of adding a cabinet over the toilet.
I would really like to find or maybe make an older looking cabinet. There’s already so many new elements going into this space so I want to mix in some items with more character.
I think I mentioned before but whatever vanity we end up with I would like to paint it a blue that goes with the blues in the shower curtain. Once we decide what we are doing as far as the vanity I would like to pick out some stone that goes with everything.
Maybe we will just do another slab of the blue stone. My husband is actually the one that suggested it for the shower bench and curb. I hadn’t decided what I was doing for those yet, and as soon as he said to do stone I knew that was the way to go. I love how that turned out in here.
Bathroom Design-Hardware/Fixtures
A lot of our shower fixtures are nickel, but I like to mix it up as far as finishes go so I’m thinking of bringing in some brass. I like the look of mixed finishes because it looks more like it happened over time and not just gutted and everything bought at once. It gives a space more of a story and personality in my eyes.
I’m thinking of doing the sconces and towels hooks and more decorative things in the brass. I also like how the brass will play with the yellow on the walls. I think the grey in the textiles will play off of the nickel well. So I think it will all mesh and work together nicely.
I will probably do a nickel faucet to go with our other plumbing fixtures. I’m still trying to decide what to do as far as the sink. Our current sink I got off amazon does not have an overflow drain. Now with kids I have learned the importance of an overflow drain. I am thinking about using this old sink that I found at a barn sale. It has an overflow drain thankfully but it is small and an under mount sink so it may cause us to lose another drawer in the vanity. I’m on the fence still.
Bathroom Lighting
This is one of my favorite parts to think about for a room. There are so many pretty light fixtures, but it’s also such an important functional piece to a room. Our bathroom already has a lot of lighting for such a small space, 5 to be exact. 2 dimmable lights in the shower, 2 flush mount lights in the main area and one on the vent. I think we are going to add sconces too.
When it comes to bathroom lighting there’s nothing that compares to the lighting from sconces. We have lots of overhead light but it casts these shadows on your face. If you are trying to do any sort of grooming or makeup, sconces are ideal.
Thankfully my husband agrees we could use some sconces in here. I found these sconces from Wayfair that are beautiful but also help tie in that nature and whimsy, and are at a reasonable price point. I think they will really add a nice focal point to this wall.
Windows
With our downstairs bathroom the window treatment was easy. Because the clawfoot tub sits in front of the window we just did curtains all the way around the tub.
With this bathroom we have two windows that are not anywhere near the shower really. We ended up putting this vinyl product over it to give us privacy but still allow lots of sun light to come in. I think this is a great option. It was pretty easy to install also, and is easy to find at Walmart or amazon.
In most rooms I love curtains, but in a bathroom with all of that moisture it just seems like a bad idea. You could do faux wood blinds but again with the moisture it seems like a good place for mold to grow.
To Be Continued
There’s lots more to share as far as this bathroom goes. I will share more progress along the way. If you want more tips on designing a space you can find information on my room design guide here. If you would like to see the transformation of our downstairs bathroom you can find that here. Thank you for visiting our farmhouse! Check in again soon for updates.
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