Share This Article
Keep these bathroom design tips and ideas in mind as you plan your dream space. Discover the best layouts, the spa-like features to add, and the bathroom color palette that will soothe you after a long day.
Plan an Efficient Bathroom Layout
Even the dreamiest bathroom has to deal with plumbing drains, water lines, and vent stacks. Bathroom floor plans generally fall into one-, two- or three-wet-wall layouts. A one-wall layout lines up the sink, toilet, and shower along one wall, as in this bathroom. It’s the most cost-effective bathroom design but also limits your design options.
Versatile Bathroom Layouts
A two-wall bathroom layout gives you more flexibility. The sink and toilet can be plumbed on one wall, and the tub and shower on the other. A three-wall format is the most versatile but most complicated and expensive. Working with a certified bathroom designer or architect can help you avoid costly mistakes and make the best use of space.
Consider the Sink
Integral bathroom sinks (one piece with the vanity counter) and under-mount bathroom sinks make it easy to wipe messes from the counter into the sink. On the other hand, self-rimming bathroom sinks are the most economical and easiest to install, but the perimeter lip can collect grime.
Design a Bathroom Lighting Plan
The most critical area for bathroom lighting is the mirror. Ideally, it would be best to have wall-mount lights at each side of the mirror at about eye level, with a third light above the mirror. This arrangement illuminates your face from both sides and above, eliminating shadows.
General Bathroom Lighting Tips
For general bathroom lighting, use ceiling-mounted fixtures. Add style and mood with chandeliers or pendant lights. Enclosed showers and tubs usually require enclosed vapor-proof downlights. Accent lights can spotlight a collection or an architectural feature.
Make a Statement with the Tub
Bathtubs are the natural focal point of a bathroom design and have a powerful impact on the decorating style. Freestanding bathtubs may rest on claw-and-ball feet or a pedestal base (like this one) or be streamlined and straight-sided like a sculpture.
Bathtub Design Tips
A platform bathtub has an unfinished exterior and drops into a supporting boxlike structure. The top or decking is usually a waterproof material such as tile, marble, or limestone, and the sides may be paneled in wood or covered in tile or stone to match the decking. Whichever type you choose, you can opt for a soaking tub or a whirlpool tub to maximize your relaxation in the bath.
Design a Spa Shower
Luxury showers replicate the spa-resort experience in a dream bathroom. Plan on a variety of spray heads. Ceiling-mounted rain showerheads soak you from above, while body sprays (vertical rows of showerheads) create a crisscross pattern for a water massage. Handheld showerheads allow you to direct the spray for washing your hair, rinsing off, or even cleaning out the shower stalChooseose your favorite waterproof material to cover walls, floors, and ceili for custom-made stalls. Frameless glass doors showcase stunning tilework, like the marble shower shown here.
Express Your Style with Cabinetry
The modest single-sink vanity cabinet has given way to a host of options, from double-sink vanities to custom storage hutches and wall-mounted cabinets. Bathroom cabinetry merges form and function and carries the style statement you want to make, whether it’s contemporary, traditional, vintage, or Old World.
Bathroom Cabinetry Buying Tips
As with kitchen cabinets, you can purchase bathroom cabinets in stock or semi-custom options. You can also have them custom-designed and built. Each price ranges depending on the material, construction, finish, and accessories. Stock cabinets are typically the least expensive, and custom cabinets are the most costly.
Bathroom Flooring Tips
Bathroom floors need to be hardworking, impervious to water, and slip-resistant. They also need to be attractive. The most luxurious choices are stone and ceramic tiles, but the highly-polished rock is slippery when wet. Choose a honed flooring finish for better traction. Smaller tiles with more grout lines are also better underfoot.
Easy-Care Bathroom Floors
Ceramic tiles rated “impervious” are the most waterproof and ideal for bathroom use. Tiles designed for floors are highly durable; they resist water, stains, and wear and are easy to clean. Vinyl plank flooring is also a durable flooring option for bathrooms.
Pamper Yourself with Luxurious Bathroom Amenities
To make your dream bathroom an in-home retreat, include features that take it from utilitarian to pampering.
- A gas-insert fireplace communicates that this is a place to linger.
- In-floor radiant heating takes the chill off of stone or tile floors.
- Television, sound systems, and a beverage center will make your primary bathroom so comfortable that you may never want to leave.
Bathroom Color Design Tips
Color has the power to energize and soothe, wake you up, and calm you down. Consider the mood you want to evoke with your bathroom design before selecting your palette of materials. As you develop your bathroom color scheme, remember that color comes from more than wall paint and fabric. The hues in the cabinetry wood and in the stone or tile you choose for floors and walls play a significant role in creating an overall color personality. Even the sink and tub contribute to the bathroom color scheme, whether made of white porcelain, dyed concrete, or stone.
If you are looking for an architect, contact us now.