Complete renovation a home in the Marina in collaboration with Angela Free Interior Design. This 1930’s single family home was in need of a major upgrade to make the living spaces functional for a current lifestyle. The kitchen and bathrooms were completely remodeled and other living spaces were given further articulation to update the original charm. This project was published in San Francisco Cottages & Gardens Magazine (print and online).

Monroe Street, Hinsdale

Tate Enterprises

Inspiration for a small traditional powder room in Chicago with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, a one-piece toilet, porcelain floors, an undermount sink, engineered quartz benchtops, beige floor, white benchtops, a built-in vanity and wallpaper.

Pine Valley

Carey's Custom Woodworking, Inc

Powder bathroom cabinet
Design ideas for a small traditional powder room in Portland with shaker cabinets, black cabinets, a built-in vanity, wallpaper, multi-coloured walls, medium hardwood floors, a drop-in sink, brown floor and white benchtops.

Classic Powder Room Remodel in Saugus MA

McGuire + Co. Kitchen & Bath

Powder room remodel, with a faux-marble herringbone floor, pedestal sink, custom millwork, and timeless, classic fixtures. The space is finished off with soft wallpaper, a pair of sconces, and an oversized custom mirror that enlarges the room.

Johnson Road Residence

Brechbuhler Architects

Traditional powder room in Other with shaker cabinets, green cabinets, a drop-in sink, engineered quartz benchtops, beige benchtops, a built-in vanity and wallpaper.

New Traditional

Jefferson Street Designs

Photo of a traditional powder room in DC Metro with porcelain floors, a console sink, marble benchtops, a freestanding vanity and wallpaper.

French Country Character

Diane Hasso Studios

This is an example of a traditional powder room in Grand Rapids with wallpaper.

Grand Millenial in Quail Creek

Alicia Zupan Designs

Powder Bath - Vintage Chest vanity, Marble mosaic floors, Camont Wallpaper
Traditional powder room in Oklahoma City with blue cabinets, white walls, mosaic tile floors, an undermount sink, marble benchtops, blue floor, white benchtops, a freestanding vanity and wallpaper.

Minnehaha Refined

Rehkamp Larson Architects, Inc.

Contractor: JS Johnson Interior Design: Heather Peterson Design Photography: Scott Amundson
Small traditional powder room in Minneapolis with green walls, white benchtops and wallpaper.

Classic Design on Rolling Hills

Nathan Taylor for Obelisk Home

Photo of a small traditional powder room in Other with blue cabinets, porcelain floors, an undermount sink, quartzite benchtops, white benchtops, a built-in vanity and wallpaper.

Shadybrook Powder Bath

Barbara Clayton Design

Inspiration for a small traditional powder room in Wichita with raised-panel cabinets, green cabinets, engineered quartz benchtops, multi-coloured benchtops, a freestanding vanity, a two-piece toilet, multi-coloured walls, travertine floors, a vessel sink, brown floor and wallpaper.

Mt. Pleasant Full Home Remodel with Owners

Aiden Fabrics

As the main guest restroom, they wanted the design to be glamorous and impactful. Since it is a small space, she didn’t shy away from picking patterned wallpaper and big prints in the fabrics. The mix was noted and featured in Charleston Home + Design.

Edina Elegance

RLH Studio

Spacecrafting Photography
Design ideas for a small traditional powder room in Minneapolis with raised-panel cabinets, blue cabinets, a one-piece toilet, multi-coloured walls, an undermount sink, marble benchtops, beige benchtops, a built-in vanity and wallpaper.

Powder Room with a Punch

Erica Peale Design

This punchy powder room is the perfect spot to take a risk with bold colors and patterns. In this beautiful renovated Victorian home, we started with an antique piece of furniture, painted a lovely kelly green to serve as the vanity. We paired this with brass accents, a wild wallpaper, and painted all of the trim a coordinating navy blue for a powder room that really pops!

Two Jewel box Powder Rooms

Jennifer A. Emmer/Feng Shui Style

This jewel of a powder room started with our homeowner's obsession with William Morris "Strawberry Thief" wallpaper. After assessing the Feng Shui, we discovered that this bathroom was in her Wealth area. So, we really went to town! Glam, luxury, and extravagance were the watchwords. We added her grandmother's antique mirror, brass fixtures, a brick floor, and voila! A small but mighty powder room.

Malvern Kitchen Remodel

Pine Street Carpenters & The Kitchen Studio

Photo of a traditional powder room in Philadelphia with a built-in vanity and wallpaper.

Vista Bungalow

Kyle Build

Old world inspired, wallpapered powder room with v-groove wainscot, wall mount faucet and vessel sink.
Design ideas for a small traditional powder room in Other with open cabinets, dark wood cabinets, a two-piece toilet, grey walls, a vessel sink, marble benchtops, brown floor, yellow benchtops, a freestanding vanity, vaulted and wallpaper.

Traditional Remodel

Debbie Cahill Turner Design, LLC

Inspiration for a traditional powder room in Seattle with blue walls, mosaic tile floors, a pedestal sink, wallpaper and multi-coloured floor.

The Arboreal Garden In The Shade Powder Room

Fiorito Interior Design

My clients were excited about their newly purchased home perched high in the hills over the south Bay Area, but since the house was built in the early 90s, the were desperate to update some of the spaces. Their main powder room at the entrance to this grand home was a letdown: bland, featureless, dark, and it left anyone using it with the feeling they had just spent some time in a prison cell. These clients spent many years living on the east coast and brought with them a wonderful classical sense for their interiors—so I created a space that would give them that feeling of Old World tradition. My idea was to transform the powder room into a destination by creating a garden room feeling. To disguise the size and shape of the room, I used a gloriously colorful wallcovering from Cole & Son featuring a pattern of trees and birds based on Chinoiserie wallcoverings from the nineteenth century. Sconces feature gold palm leaves curling around milk glass diffusers. The vanity mirror has the shape of an Edwardian greenhouse window, and the new travertine floors evoke a sense of pavers meandering through an arboreal path. With a vanity of midnight blue, and custom faucetry in chocolate bronze and polished nickel, this powder room is now a delightful garden in the shade. Photo: Bernardo Grijalva

Merchant's House, Highbury, London

Nine Lives

Concealed shower in Guest WC of Georgian townhouse
Traditional powder room in London with green walls, porcelain floors, brown floor, a freestanding vanity and wallpaper.

Traditional Powder Room Design Ideas with Wallpaper

Think of your powder room as a small bathroom that’s always on display. Likely to be frequented by guests or used as a second bathroom by family members, it should always look its best. Consisting of little more than a vanity, toilet and sink, you could be mistaken that traditional powder room designs are easy to execute, but the tight space can be tricky to get right. As you plan your bathroom renovation, consider the following.

What’s the best way to collate small bathroom ideas?

Browse the photos on Houzz for small bathroom designs, and get acquainted with the specialist behind your favourite picks. You can bookmark and share your favourite photos with everyone involved in your renovation, and click through to Related Photos to broaden your scope. For even more traditional powder room and small bathroom ideas, check out the Stories section on Houzz.

How do I plan the layout of my powder room?

If you're building from scratch, an architect may be the best person to ask. There are three main objects to consider when planning the layout of your traditional powder room: the door, toilet and sink. Pocket, sliding or folding doors will give you more options for toilet and sink placement, while wall-mounted toilets will help save you a few inches of floor space, and make the room feel more spacious. To ensure ease of use, make sure the toilet has at least 38 centimetres of unobstructed space on either side, and 61 centimetres at the front. Powder rooms are primarily a place to use the toilet and quickly wash your hands, so unless you have the square meterage, you don’t need a full-blown vanity. Look for compact options, like a pedestal or wall-mounted sink instead.

What materials should I use in my powder room?

There’s not much space to work with when designing a traditional powder room, so keep your design fairly simple. Otherwise, too many different patterns and textures will quickly overwhelm the space. To avoid a disjointed design, opt for one statement piece or element, such as a fun splashback, benchtop or vanity, and choose subtle materials like stone, marble or granite for everything else. If you fear you haven’t created enough visual interest, fill the void with bathroom accessories such as hand towels and soap dispensers. High-quality bathroom fixtures – including everything from your toilet roll holder to faucet – with matching lines and style, will make a big difference in a such a small space, so if you have the budget, splurge a little!