Ever enter a bathroom that takes a deep breath when you walk through the door? Mine did three years ago. I was visiting my friend Anna’s flat in Copenhagen.
Anna’s bathroom was tiny – about six feet by eight feet – but to step inside you’d swear it was both a spa and your grandma’s pristine linen closet all in one. The colour on the walls was low-key grey – sort-of-but-not-really a grey that’s soothing to look at. The gentle colours made the room feel bigger than it actually was.
Anna floated a slab of reclaimed birch wood on top of her sink cabinet to create a shelf, and topped it with a tiny potted snake plant and two sets of rolled up white towels. The floor was made of oversized, off-white stone tiles that felt warm when your bare feet hit them in the morning (Anna later told me heated flooring was a non-negotiable in Danish bathrooms during winter months).
Everything about it created an ambiance of tranquility.
But I knew Anna hadn’t reached this zen-like bathroom by accident. My trip to Copenhagen planted the seed, but when I returned home to my own cramped flat bathroom (with builder grade sinks, mismatched towels, and a mirror that cast an ashy tone on all of our skin) I started analysing what made Anna’s bathroom work. It wasn’t expensive cabinets or mosaic tile.
Actually, it was quite the opposite. She had fewer things, higher quality things, and muted colours that didn’t fight for attention. Scandinavian bathroom design isn’t really a formula that you follow religiously.
Think of it more like … trimming down a chunky sentence until only the words that provide meaning remain. Except the end result sounds even more lovely than it did before. Everything you choose to include has a purpose, and nothing competes with each other.
It just works. Say hello to your new best friend: white. I’m not talking bleached, fluorescent white that makes you squint.
I’m talking warm whites. The colour of smooth porcelain or basket-weave towel shelves. The colour of laundry straight out of the dryer or that old shirt that’s been washed so many times you can’t remember how wrinkled it used to be.
I tested 12 different “perfect whites” on how they’d look in morning sunshine, afternoon shadows, and under cabinet lighting. I ultimately ended up purchasing Farrow & Ball’s Pointing. Yes, it was $80 for a gallon of paint.
But it was the only paint that actually looked good in any condition. There was a subtle difference. It was like the room was dusted with something softer than paint.
Natural wood brings in just enough warmth so your bathroom doesn’t feel like a surgery centre. I found a slab of reclaimed oak from a salvage yard for £30. Turns out, it used to be part of a Victorian school desk with decades of ink stains and pencil scribbles (my husband thought I’d lost my mind).
I sanded it down, treated it with Danish oil, and now it lives proudly as my bathroom shelf. Those ink stains now look like they were meant to be there, like the wood has a story to tell. Unlike Ikea furniture, the wood doesn’t have to look perfect.
Scandinavia actually embraces the idea that life happens to objects, and those things can be beautiful. Got a little water ring on your wooden bathroom stool? Embrace that patina, it doesn’t make your furniture damaged – it makes it character.
Got a scratch on the edge of your birchwood mirror frame? Proof that there are humans living in your home, rather than only pictures in magazines. Storage in a Nordic bathroom is ample, but hides how much storage you actually have.
Think recessed shelves in your shower walls, drawers with soft-close mechanisms, and medicine cabinets that are flush with your walls. Inside what used to be an awkward little nook next to our shower, I installed three skinny shelves. They store our everyday-used items (think: shampoo, soap, the one candle you never replace) without screaming for attention.
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Early on in my Nordic ambitions I made the mistake of thinking minimalist = cold. My first attempt at Scandinavian-inspired bathroom ended up feeling hospital-esque. There was too much white, too little texture, and every corner for your eyes to land on led nowhere.
I forgot about cozy – think fluffy bathmat to warm your toes while you wake up, linen shower curtains to soften bright bathroom lighting, or even a wooden soap tray to nestle your book and glass of wine while you enjoy an extended shower. Lighting is everything in a Nordic bathroom. You’ll rarely find overhead lighting because it’s too harsh.
Focus on layers instead. Natural sunlight with a sheer curtain to allow in as much light as possible, LED lighting behind your mirror for task lighting, and maybe an inexpensive pendant light with a linen shade for night time usage. I installed dimmers on all of my lights because nobody likes to be shaken awake by bright lights at 6am.
Think of your shower as its own entity. Large scale, pale grey or beige tiles = less grout space to clean. trust me. I’ve spent way too much time scrubbing tiny white grout lines.
If your budget allows, use a single panel of glass instead of fully enclosing your shower. You want to keep as much of your bathroom in view as possible. Your shower head can be simple, but built quality should be high.
Brushed nickel or stainless steel work well. I opted for a rain shower head to make mornings feel extra spa-like. And of course, a bathroom isn’t totally cozy without some plants to break up the all-white palette.
Just be strategic. Snake plant is one of the hardiest plants out there and can withstand low natural lighting and steamy bathrooms. Pothos vines are great for hanging off of shelves.
If you have a bathroom that gets ample sunlight, a peace lily is a beautiful centerpiece that doesn’t need daily attention. I killed three before I realised my bathroom probably gets roughly 47 minutes of direct sunlight per day. Helps narrow down your choices.
Textiles are another important element in Nordic design you might be overlooking. White or natural linen towels will make your bathroom feel expensive and look fabulous. But they will also show every stain.
Ever. I learned this the hard way when my first set of white towels grew a permanent grey shadow within two months of ownership. Now I stick to oatmeal whites and dusty grays.
They look purposely Nordic, but hide the fact that you air dry your towels every day. There’s no secret ingredient that makes a bathroom Nordic. But there is one ingredient that every Nordic-inspired bathroom I’ve fallen in love with has had in common: simplicity.
If it doesn’t serve a purpose to help you get ready in the mornings or if you won’t love looking at it every day, then maybe you shouldn’t buy it?
That loofah that lives in a jar of hardened soap? Trash it.
The pile of half-used bottles cluttering up your shower? Combine them or pitch them. It forces you to invest in things that will last.
Don’t get me wrong, at first that means buying higher end products that will stand the test of time. But instead of needing to replace cheap, crappy shower curtain rings every few years, you buy pieces that actually get better with age. That wooden stool gains character with every dish you scrub.
Your natural stone gains a patina that adds to the beauty, rather than simply showing wear and tear. Transitioning your bathroom into a Nordic-inspired space doesn’t mean you have to replace everything. Take stock of what you have and edit down to only what you love.
More than anything, it means buying the things that make you love your space everyday you step inside and out of it.Beautiful and functional – a space that starts and ends your day just a little more human.
