Ever walk into a bathroom and instantly feel at home? Even if it bears absolutely no resemblance to how you would design your dream bathroom? I experienced this a few months ago in my friend’ re-Victorian era terrace.
Complete with dark woods and brass fixtures, her bathroom is everything mine would not be. Think dark and moody versus bright and shiny. Yet, I loved walking into that bathroom.
It clicked for me that there is an invisible thread that weaves through every well-designed bathroom. No matter if you like farmhouse sinks or floating vanities.
After designing and renovating six bathrooms ( plus DIYing one nightmare renovation of lime green subway tiles that haunt me to this day) I am starting to recognise good design.
The bathrooms that make everyone who walks in say “wow this feels right” aren’t the ones that choose a style and stick with it rigorously. They are ones that execute on fundamentals; allowing themselves to be stylish without pushing their personality into your face. Let’s talk proportions.
Yeah, I said it. Proportions are important. I once dropped a builder basic 60-inch vanity in a small powder room because it was on sale and it would fit.
It would fit….but it ate up the space. It was like a bathroom dictator telling you how to squeeze in every morning. You couldn’ t fully open the door.
You couldn’ t turn around without knocking into vanity. And for some reason, the mirror looked smaller than it actually was ( funny enough, the mirror itself was fine, I promise). Nothing else will ruin a space like having off proportions.
Fixtures too large for the room, a sink that is too small compared to the countertop. When everything is cohesive and compliments the size of the room, your bathroom flows. When things are off, your bathroom fights you every time you walk in.
The idea of the triangle works with your sink, toilet, and shower. Whether you want your bathroom to feel modern and minimalist or a cozy mountain retreat you still want to have the ability to walk between each of these without breaking into the ROSIE bus spin move. Learn from my mistakes and don’ t blindly follow the existing plumbing hooks when choosing your toilet location.
My toilet in my rental flat was too close to the vanity. The previous owner thought it would be a good idea to place the toilet paper roll right behind the toilet. Seriously.
So every time you went to grab your toilet paper you accidentally hit your elbow on the wall. Trust me when I say that style choices don’ t matter when you are cursing every morning at 8 am while you try to relieve yourself. Storage is something every bathroom needs regardless of style.
You can paint your breeze wood shiny silver to look industrial or you can choose the funkiest distressed finish out there. No matter what you choose, you need to have storage for things. The things.
You know, the junk that collects dust but always seems to appear in pictures. Not just cute containers for soap. I am talking about the stray army of half empty shampoo bottles, extra toilet paper, cleaning supplies, and the random bath toy from your kids (or that weird pumice stone you bought once and thought you’ d use regularly but never did.) .
I have seen trendier bathrooms crumble because someone decided style was more important than function. Now they have counters cluttered with junk because there was nowhere else to put it. On the other hand, I have seen super simple spaces feel high-end because there was a place for everything.
Place for trash. Place for toilet paper. Niches in your shower created using the same principle whether you choose traditional subway tile or modern geometric tile.
Tall cabinet next to your vanity? Works the same whether you paint it navy blue or leave the oak finish exposed. Lighting.
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Ugh, don’t get me started on lighting. It took me FOREVER to realise that no matter how gorgeous your light fixture is. If it casts shadows on your face while you are trying to put on mascara, you WILL hate your bathroom every morning when you are getting ready.
I spent way too much money on this gorgeous pendant light for my very first renovation. While it did look beautiful and made me feel super fancy when I walked into my bathroom. It was not practical for when I went to wax my eyebrows.
I couldn’ t see what I was doing. Do yourself a favour and make sure you have enough lighting. Under cabinet lighting ruined my beautiful aesthetic I had going up top.
But hey, at least I could see what I was doing. No matter your style, natural lighting is everything. Natural lighting can make a traditional bathroom feel spacious and modern bathroom feel cozy.
But when you don’ t have windows to bless you with natural lighting (RAGE! Internal bathrooms), that is where you need to layer your lighting. General bathroom lighting overhead, task lighting next to your mirror, and ambient lighting for bath time.
No matter if you choose to use antique lantern fixtures or modern strip LEDs. Materials are where you can really let your design dreams take flight. Something that will remain consistent throughout all styles is durability.
I was one of those people who fell in love with natural stone that was beautiful but also highly porous. It looked great at the granite warehouse and I loved all of the variations of colours and patterns. But two months in, every water spot was a magnified highlight.
DON’T GET ME STARTED on what happened if someone spilled red wine at a dinner party. Ask me about the time I had guests over and….nevermind. Learn from my mistakes.
Ask yourself, will this still look good when it is dirty? Will this look good with water marks on it? What happens if my nephew crashes my bathroom with his excitement from jumping in the shower?
Every well-designed bathroom I have come across found a happy medium between styles and realities of everyday life. They choose materials that can stand up to traffic. Finishes that repel water.
Layouts that allow you to utilise your space wisely. Whether you love farmhouse sinks or modern vanities. Both styles of bathrooms need something that is easy to clean and doesn’t require constant maintenance.
When picking out that dream light fixture or deciding where to put that new piece of furniture ask yourself, will this impact how I use my bathroom everyday?
Will this keep me from cleaning? Will this be difficult to maintain?
Trust me I am just as guilty of getting caught up in the aesthetics of designing a bathroom that you forget about the boring stuff. Light bulb temperature. Towel bar height.
Depth of your shower niche. These things matter just as much as deciding if you want brass or chrome. When planning your dream bathroom I have learned to plan the boring things first.
Then build your personality choices on top of it. Instead of decorating around your decisions, allow your practical decisions to drive your design. When you design around how you will actually use your bathroom, style doesn’ t become trendy.
It becomes timeless. (Image credit: Audrey Kemp Hoffeditz)
