My bathroom ceiling ideas Add Interest You Dont Expect

Raise your hand if you catch yourself staring at your phone while brushing your teeth instead of looking at your ceiling? Me too. For months after I moved into my house, I glazed over my bathroom ceiling without thinking twice.

Weird, when you consider how much time most of us spend staring up while…in the bathroom. Washing our skin, drying off in the shower, floating in the tub for those of you with one. We’re talking about the ceiling.

My bathroom ceiling got its wakeup call when I threw a dinner party last spring. Mid-conversation, my friend Sarah wandered back into the dining room from the powder room and deadpanned to our dinner guests that my bathroom felt “incomplete.” Ouch.

That stung…but she wasn’t wrong.

I had agonized over every detail of my bathroom – the “Ben Moore Perfect Grey” paint on the walls, mission-esthetic sink tap, semi-custom glass shower. The perfectly imperfect brass rain showerhead alone had cost me a small fortune – but also legitimately felt like rain falling on my head when I turned it on. But step back up there.

Brownsnoodle. Builder’s white. Flat.

Basic. Last spring, while soaking in the tub, I stared up at my blank canvas and started brainstorming. Literally staring at the ceiling, thinking about ceilings.

The sad truth about bathroom ceilings is that they’re frequently the most ignored surface in the smallest room in your home. It’s baffling! Consider: moisture, light, showers.

How often do you find yourself looking straight up when you’re washing your hair? I began with paint, of course. But with high hopes.

Off-white paint gets all the hype, but there are endless softer hues (think blush pink!) that feel airy and bright but look way more interesting than white. I went with a barely-there shade of pink called Dead Salmon from Farrow & Ball. Don’t knock it ’til you try it.

Pastel pink ceiling = game changer. The gentle warmth of the colour makes your white fixtures sing and gives your bathroom an enveloped-by-a-cloud kind of vibe. If you’ve ever painted a ceiling, you know it’s deceptively expensive.

Tiny ceiling = expensive job! You think. Until you buy special paint-primer combo, throwaway brushes, plastic sheeting to protect your walls/floor/window/tubs, and rent a ladder because you cannot reach without one.

I spent about £85 on paint and supplies for my blush pink ceiling, but trust me. Worth it. Of course, paint isn’t the only way to upgrade your bathroom ceiling.

Last month, I added tongue-and-groove paneling to half of my guest bathroom ceiling. Diagonally, above the vanity. It’s the perfect touch of architectural interest to make my bathroom feel taller and more luxe than its modest square footage.

Lessons Learned: Do NOT assume you’re a master carpenter because you can watch YouTube. It’ll be fine! I still had to caulk like heck around the edges, but overall it looks pretty good.

The minor flaws definitely stood out to me during the install, but unless you’re inches away from my bathroom ceiling, you hardly notice. Plus, caulk covers a multitude of sins. Tip: Installing your own ceiling treatment isn’t rocket science, but it’s a little more challenging than wallpapering a wall (or your basic Bob).

People aren’t studying your ceiling like they are your walls, but that doesn’t mean you should ignore every nick and crack. Take extra care with sharp tools and your ladder. Trust me, you do NOT want to autumn off a ladder in your bathtub.

My vanity light used to be this gross builder-basic fluorescent fixture. But now it’s this beautiful semi-flush crystal chandelier from West Elm that I got for £120. Don’t hate me – I purchased the stupid thing during one of their layaway sales.

Anyway, the thing that makes a bathroom glow isn’t necessarily the main shower head (though obvs that helps) but the lighting. Light bouncing off a colourful ceiling or textured wallpaper = pretty much guarantees your kids/friends/significant other will look good in your bathroom. And that, my friends, is 50% of the battle when it comes to bathroom lighting.

One of my favourite bold bathroom ceiling ideas was painting my main bathroom ceiling dark blue to match the accent wall in my living room. Benjamin Moore Hale Navy, to be exact. Seriously, guys.

You would NOT believe the hate/comments I got from family and friends when I told them I was painting my bathroom ceiling navy blue. “Won’t that make your bathroom feel smaller?” Um…nope! It totally gives the illusion of taller walls and creates a calming, luxurious vibe. All of a sudden, my white fixtures looked crisp and clean.

And because it’s the ceiling, I didn’t have to sand and patch every hole and paint line to perfection. The dark colour disguised every.single.imperfection. It also makes my thrifted brass mirror feel luxe AF.

When I first bought the mirror off Facebook marketplace for £40,blasé. Now it’s the focal point of my bathroom. Ceiling transformations don’t always have to be permanent.

I’ve had my eye on peel-and-stick ceiling tiles for years – and they’ve come SUCH a long way since your grandparents dropped ceiling options. Those square tiles are still everywhere – and they look horrific. No offence if you work in a dentist’s office.

But there are so many cute options now! I picked up these faux- tin ceiling tiles and instantly loved the texture they added to our bathroom. The tiles aren’t cheap – at around £3/square foot, it’s definitely a splurge – but they’re reusable, so consider them a décor investment.

Speaking of investment, bathroom ceilings are trending wheatoniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine wallpaper these days. And I’m not mad about it. I installed a subtle chevron pattern in my powder room – quarter bath?

What even is that word? Anyway. Tiny bathroom.

Total game changer. The powder room is super tiny, so I thought why not start small? My wallpaper itch was still scratching, and I wanted to try something bolder than a shower curtain without fully committing to wallpapering an entire room.

The consensus around my house was “heck yes!” My father-in-law was over visiting and dare I say encouraged me when I complained about how expensive ceiling paper is. “Go for it! You can always paint over it!” Honey, once you install that paper ON THE CEILING, ya ain’t painting over it. Pros: Looks AMAZING.

Cons: It’s a pain to install! There’s a reason most people don’t hang wallpaper on vertical surfaces. You’ll want special wallpaper paste that’s meant for ceilings.

Don’t cheap out and use wall-paper paste. Trust. If you want this DIY in your life, follow my tip about starting small.

Pick a pattern with a small repeat so you don’t get car sick when you’re washing your hair. Beadboard ceilings are another way to add instant cottagecore vibes and work especially well in small or half baths. I convinced my friend to let me install beadboard on the ceiling of her half bathroom last summer.

We painted it pure white to brighten up the space, and it totally transformed her blah builder-basic bathroom into a coastal escape.+ Trust me, I get it.

Bathrooms are steamy. They experience wild fluctuations in temperature and sometimes(*cough* old flats *cough*) have sad ventilation.

Don’t maskerate. That precious facial cream you applied three days ago is probably lingering on your ceiling, waiting to be revealed during your next bathroom renovation. Just pick something that can stand up to humidity.

I’ll say it again: towel. rod. grease.Stick with materials that can be cleaned/misted with water – or be prepared for graffiti in your bathroom. Grasscloth wallpaper was a pipe dream of mine for the longest time, but once I learned it couldn’t handle shower steam like regular wallpaper, I scrapped the idea. Until NOW.

So there you have it, people. Don’t sleep on your bathroom ceiling. Treat yo’ ceiling.