Bold bathroom design choices are making waves. After years of seeing small, delicate changes to these hardworking spaces, today’s designs are reintroducing color, integrating stylish seating, and utilizing the highest quality materials to create impressive remodels that will inspire. If you are redoing your primary bedroom’s en-suite, a hallway powder room, or a guest bath, read on as we reveal some of the bold design choices perfect for creating a decidedly luxe oasis.
Bold Color
Bathroom tile colors do not need to be neutral to be soothing. The Spruce loves art-inspired spaces that use paint and tile in unusual ways. For example, a recent luxe upgrade they adore included installing a glass tile backsplash in an array of colors. Because this kind of tile tends to be custom, you can choose which hues you want. You can select soft shades or choose dramatic options. If you choose this type of tile as a backsplash, consider upgrading your mirror frame to reflect one of the primary colors in the tile to make the design feel cohesive.
Do you want to choose a bold bathroom design full of personality and fun? Look to terrazzo. My Domaine cheers: “The terrazzo tile look originally popularized back in the ’70s has been making a major design comeback.” For a luxurious upgrade that didn’t spare the whimsy, the Magazine points to a recent remodel that “completely embraced the trend, displaying the material from the sink to the walls to the floors.”
If you are a fan of dramatic, moody looks elsewhere in your home, there is no reason that you can’t bring that style beyond the bathroom door. My Domaine raves that a monochromatic bathroom design “is the definition of cool,” particularly when done in black. A recent refresh by Bespoke Only caught the editors’ attention; “Dark, matte walls, Ferguson bulbs, and shiny hardware only enhance this moody bathroom‘s industrial feel.” Love the idea of using black, but need a bit of contrast? My Domaine suggests: “If you’re feeling daring, and want to try something different in your bathroom, go ahead and clad walls in dramatic black marble.” Then add a light wood floating vanity, a brilliant white tub, and metallic accents for contrast. The design feels bold and undoubtedly chic.
Do you love your white bathroom but yearn for a hint of color in more than your towels? Consider painting the trim, ceiling, and door a bold color. You can choose black paint for high contrast, opt for an elegant moody green, or select a vivid aqua for an eye-catching upgrade.
Spa-Like Barrier-Free Showers
Spa-like showers with digital control settings, steam options, body sprayers, mood lighting, and rainfall showerheads are among the most requested updates for luxury bathroom designs. Your new shower can also be an excellent spot for introducing bold colors, whether that means black marble, brilliant purple mosaic tiles, or eco-friendly recycled glass tiles in eye-catching aqua.
Barrier-free showers are also gaining attention. Better Homes & Gardens reports in recent surveys by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) that elements like “curbless shower entries, handheld showers, and shower seats are being incorporated” more and more often. Integrating a barrier-free design is fantastic for current homeowners and an increasingly appealing luxury option for home buyers.
Statement Tubs
A statement tub automatically becomes the focal point of the space and the primary element influencing every other one in a bold bathroom design. Southern Living adores “The Whitby 68″ Cast Iron French Bateau Tub.” It’s freestanding and elegant, with an exterior coated in a silver patina. It’s stunning and clearly dominates attention. In fact, the Magazine advises that “if you pick a unique tub like this, consider keeping the rest of the installed elements in the room—think countertops, light fixtures, and bathtub faucets—classic, even if the rest of the room is splashed with bright color and pattern.” Do you love the idea of having a metallic element but need something more rustic? Southern Living suggests trying the strikingly gleaming “66” Paige Copper Double-Slipper Tub.” It’s a vintage look that wows.
Without a doubt, marble tubs make a statement. Vicente Burin Architects crafted a new bathroom in a home once owned by the Rockefellers. In keeping with the home’s pedigree, The Spruce reports that the bold bathroom design featured a solid Carrara marble tub so substantial that it had to be lifted into the second-story bathroom by crane.
Going bold in your design doesn’t have to be limited to the materials used. In the case of the TOTO Flotation Tub, bold bathroom design includes a nod toward some extraordinary technology. The company explains that “TOTO has developed the world’s first zero-gravity bathtub in which bathers experience total weightlessness.” The idea is to provide bathers with a tension-free experience reminiscent of a high-tech spa. It has an adjustable headrest, a cascading water shoulder warmer, mood-enhancing LED lighting, and a toe-touch drain. While acquiring this Zero Dimension tub will run you approximately $30,000, your dream bathroom will offer the perfect escape.
Stunning Lighting
One of the fastest ways to give your bathroom a luxe upgrade is to swap your old overhead lights for a bold lighting design. Art-Deco-inspired wall sconces, sculpture-like pendants, and opulent chandeliers are all making their way into daring bathroom design plans. My Domaine loves the trend. The Magazine reveals that a “bohemian, wood-beaded chandelier” can fit right into an uber-contemporary bathroom. A gold Sputnik chandelier is an elegant addition to a bathroom topped by exposed wood beams.
Are you striving for a Baroque bathroom fit for French royalty? The Spruce adores a space created by MI Design for a home in Beverly Hills. The Magazine reveals: “This wonderfully decadent dream space includes antique mirrors, an ornate candelabra and amethyst chandelier, and a pistachio-colored vanity to powder your wig. Topping it off: A vaulted (domed) ceiling with chubby cherubs.”
Dramatic Storage
Not having enough or the proper storage is a common complaint from homeowners, so it is no surprise that custom storage is consistently requested for bathroom remodels. Are you interested in building floor-to-ceiling cabinetry? The Spruce suggests that adding vibrantly colored cabinets and shelving is a wonderfully bold bathroom design choice, particularly when the rest of the bathroom is done in white. One of their favorite examples was done by Sire Design, and it included “stunning aqua Decora cabinets and shelves.” The Magazine explains that “the secret to this pricey look is to choose one color for an accent and repeat it throughout your bathroom.”
Have you been yearning to find a way to incorporate red into your new space? My Domaine understands. For a bit of fun in a guest bathroom, the Magazine applauds pairing a particularly pouty print (literally wallpaper that features perfectly pouty lips highlighted by vibrant red lipstick) with a candy-apple-red vanity for a look that “stuns and adds a mod touch to this space….” Want something a bit more traditional that still offers a visual surprise? Try a vanity finished in a rich red brick shade. My Domaine confides that this idea provides a remarkable boost to the bathroom that is “off the beaten path yet still classic.”
Are you not-so-secretly hoping for a Hollywood Regency remake for your en-suite? If you want to bring bold glamour to your bathroom redesign, consider adding a mirrored vanity or dressing table. You’ll increase your storage and create a bespoke bathroom that offers more than a hint of drama.
Inviting Seating
Vanity chairs, poufs, and chaise lounges in plush fabrics bring practicality and just the right touch of luxury to your bathroom design. And when you can add inviting seating upholstered in a bold color, it’s even better. The Spruce agrees. In a daring bathroom done by Val Riolo for Tracie Butler Interior Design, “a dark pink tufted velvet chair with Lucite legs is definitely a focal point” in the Hollywood Regency-inspired space. A modern bathroom sings with the addition of an oversized SIKA wingback chair done in creamsicle with gold accents, and leopard-print armchairs can bring just the right amount of visual interest to an otherwise neutral room. Ghost chairs are perfect for creating comfortable seating that doesn’t draw focus from other, bolder elements; meanwhile, a vintage curved settee done in plush red velvet is brilliantly versatile in bathrooms inspired by a variety of aesthetics, from farmhouse chic to contemporary.
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