Dial Up the Drama in an All-White Bathroom
Add character, interest and a personal touch to a basic white bathroom
There’s a lot to be said for installing an all-white, or almost all-white, bathroom. It’s practical, stylish, easy to clean, easy to design and is unlikely to date in the same way that the colour of the moment will. Remember avocado baths and peach suites? Every colour will have its moment in the sun, but white is never really banished to the shadows.
Whether you’re looking to make some simple changes to an existing room, or incorporate ideas at the design stage, there are a variety of ways to make your all-white bathroom anything but boring.
Whether you’re looking to make some simple changes to an existing room, or incorporate ideas at the design stage, there are a variety of ways to make your all-white bathroom anything but boring.
TIP: Use black accents to add shape and definition to your bathroom. If you’re after a modern look, then seek out simple, graphic pieces in a strong black. Black and white tiles are your go-to for a traditional bathroom, while patterns and unusual pieces will work in a more eclectic room.
Add a colour blast
For a defiantly modern look, cover a single, clearly delineated area of the bathroom with intense, saturated colour. The contrast between a blaze of brilliant colour and the sweep of white that is the rest of the room makes for an exhilarating experience.
Used judiciously, a blast of colour in an all-white bathroom can make the area seem larger than it is, or turn an awkwardly shaped space into a feature rather than an issue.
Make a splash with coloured bathware
For a defiantly modern look, cover a single, clearly delineated area of the bathroom with intense, saturated colour. The contrast between a blaze of brilliant colour and the sweep of white that is the rest of the room makes for an exhilarating experience.
Used judiciously, a blast of colour in an all-white bathroom can make the area seem larger than it is, or turn an awkwardly shaped space into a feature rather than an issue.
Make a splash with coloured bathware
TIP: Restrict the accent colour to a clearly defined area to make it easy to update if and when you feel the need to. If you’re going to be bold, be really bold. Choose a strong colour and use it from floor to ceiling for maximum impact.
Use texture and tone
Using a range of contrasting materials, or white tiles in assorted sizes, shapes and glazes, will create a textured effect that lends added visual interest to an all-white finish. Depending on the materials used, you can create anything from a country feel to a slick urban spa.
The beauty of using multiple materials is that it allows you to play with a variety of hues of white, bringing different bases together. Using tonal materials, like white marble with smoky streaks through it, helps to create a layered, polished finish.
Using a range of contrasting materials, or white tiles in assorted sizes, shapes and glazes, will create a textured effect that lends added visual interest to an all-white finish. Depending on the materials used, you can create anything from a country feel to a slick urban spa.
The beauty of using multiple materials is that it allows you to play with a variety of hues of white, bringing different bases together. Using tonal materials, like white marble with smoky streaks through it, helps to create a layered, polished finish.
TIP: You can have a lot of fun with this look and use some unexpected materials to great effect, but whatever you do, make sure that everything is properly waterproofed.
Play with mirror and glass
Play up the slickness of dazzling white with the reflected brilliance of mirrors. A mirrored wall is particularly effective when you’re looking to bring light to a formerly dark space.
Glass can be used in unusual ways to create a decidedly modern effect, such as the glass bathtub featured below. On the other hand, a touch of smoked glass can lend an unexpected touch of louche ’70s sophistication to a white bathroom.
Whether you’re looking to play up to the clinical chic of blanket white, or nudge it in another direction entirely, mirrors and glass are your friend.
Play up the slickness of dazzling white with the reflected brilliance of mirrors. A mirrored wall is particularly effective when you’re looking to bring light to a formerly dark space.
Glass can be used in unusual ways to create a decidedly modern effect, such as the glass bathtub featured below. On the other hand, a touch of smoked glass can lend an unexpected touch of louche ’70s sophistication to a white bathroom.
Whether you’re looking to play up to the clinical chic of blanket white, or nudge it in another direction entirely, mirrors and glass are your friend.
TIP: Bear in mind that glass and any mirrored surface require regular cleaning, and can show dirt, streaks and splashes. It’s a good idea to have a squeegee to hand, and try not to install glass where you can’t, or won’t, reach.
Add a silver finish
Stainless steel can be used to great effect in an all-white bathroom. The silver gleam of quality fittings adds a finished touch to the room, and because it stands out so clearly, you can use well chosen pieces to establish and reinforce the style you’re looking to achieve. Pure white with stainless steel accents can be slick without edging into clinical; whimsical without looking forced; or traditional without looking dated.
Stainless steel can be used to great effect in an all-white bathroom. The silver gleam of quality fittings adds a finished touch to the room, and because it stands out so clearly, you can use well chosen pieces to establish and reinforce the style you’re looking to achieve. Pure white with stainless steel accents can be slick without edging into clinical; whimsical without looking forced; or traditional without looking dated.
TIP: If you’re using metal accessories and fittings as the major design accent in your bathroom, it’s important to invest in quality pieces that won’t tarnish or flake.
Go for a different kind of grout
There’s no law that says bathroom grout has to be white. In fact, in an all-white bathroom, using dark grout can be an easy way to add interest to the finished look.
Coloured grout is an option, but dark grey or black grout is the best way to create a clean look with a point of difference. You can use this technique anywhere you’d usually use grout, but it works particularly well with mosaic and subway tiles, though large square tiles can carry it off, too.
There’s no law that says bathroom grout has to be white. In fact, in an all-white bathroom, using dark grout can be an easy way to add interest to the finished look.
Coloured grout is an option, but dark grey or black grout is the best way to create a clean look with a point of difference. You can use this technique anywhere you’d usually use grout, but it works particularly well with mosaic and subway tiles, though large square tiles can carry it off, too.
TIP: You absolutely don’t want it to look as though your bathroom just needs a good scrub, so to avoid this, try to match the colour of the grout to the colour of another feature, to create a sense of unity.
Accessorise
Coloured accessories are a simple, inexpensive and obvious way to brighten up a white bathroom. Towels and linen are always the first accessory to spring to mind, but there are other ways to quickly add colour, and often with greater impact.
Furniture is an excellent way to make a splash because it’s portable, easily replaceable and the range of options is, for all intents and purposes, infinite – if it fits and you like it, you can use it.
You can do more than simply introduce colour with accessories, you can also use them to tie a theme together. A single chair can loudly proclaim ‘1950s glamour’, while a few well chosen pieces murmur ‘urban eclectic’ in an understated kind of way.
Coloured accessories are a simple, inexpensive and obvious way to brighten up a white bathroom. Towels and linen are always the first accessory to spring to mind, but there are other ways to quickly add colour, and often with greater impact.
Furniture is an excellent way to make a splash because it’s portable, easily replaceable and the range of options is, for all intents and purposes, infinite – if it fits and you like it, you can use it.
You can do more than simply introduce colour with accessories, you can also use them to tie a theme together. A single chair can loudly proclaim ‘1950s glamour’, while a few well chosen pieces murmur ‘urban eclectic’ in an understated kind of way.
TIP: Fittings don’t have to be fitted. If space allows, mirrors and cabinets can be chosen as standalone pieces, and used to accessorise your chosen design scheme.
Change up your shower curtain
Fabulous fabrics can make a real impact in a small space like a bathroom. The right shower curtain can make or break the room.
The beauty of using a shower curtain as a major design point is that you can really let your imagination run wild without regret. There are plenty of ready-made curtains out there, but you can have a shower curtain made out any waterproof fabric, or even run one up yourself. This means you’re not limited by current retail trends, or required to stick with a single choice. You can update a shower curtain as and when the mood takes you.
Fabulous fabrics can make a real impact in a small space like a bathroom. The right shower curtain can make or break the room.
The beauty of using a shower curtain as a major design point is that you can really let your imagination run wild without regret. There are plenty of ready-made curtains out there, but you can have a shower curtain made out any waterproof fabric, or even run one up yourself. This means you’re not limited by current retail trends, or required to stick with a single choice. You can update a shower curtain as and when the mood takes you.
TIP: Don’t ignore the possibilities inherent in the way in which a shower curtain is installed. There’s no rule that says it must be hung from a single, steel rod or at a certain height. You can use two curtains to create a proscenium arch or a single length of fabric to create a four-poster bed effect. For maximum impact, install a longer length, and hang the curtain from the ceiling rather than leaving a gap.
TELL US
How have you livened up your white bathroom? Upload your pictures in the Comments and share your tips.
MORE
You Decide: Shower Doors or Shower Curtains?
9 Simple Updates That’ll Make Any Bathroom Work Better
20 Bathroom Splashbacks With Wow Factor
TELL US
How have you livened up your white bathroom? Upload your pictures in the Comments and share your tips.
MORE
You Decide: Shower Doors or Shower Curtains?
9 Simple Updates That’ll Make Any Bathroom Work Better
20 Bathroom Splashbacks With Wow Factor
Black and white bathrooms have the weight of history behind them – the prototype black and white check bathroom is an instantly recognisable design classic. Yet monochrome designs can offer anything from a charming, traditional aesthetic to a stark, contemporary effect, and every possibility in between. With a little tweaking, they can even come down on the quirky side, despite their august history.
Whichever approach you prefer, a white bathroom with black accents is a style that will weather pretty much anything time, fashion or use can throw at it. Monochrome is a look that rarely goes out of style, so feel free to invest in pieces that will last.