Alrighty. I am going to tell you my whole story of why I changed my tune on dark bathrooms. I used to think they were cray-cray.
Who wants to wash their face in a cave? Dark. Mooody.
Damp. But then I lived in a rental basement flat while we were renovating our house three years ago and the bathroom was – oh lord – just awful.
Bleached white with sterile surfaces and fluorescent light strips that made me feel like I looked jaundiced.
Every morning felt like I was going in to get tested for some horrible disease rather than getting ready for my day. I pinned away at bathroom ideas on Instagram (Pinterest is the worst if you are a girl with lots of spare time and strong opinions about interior design) and I kept seeing these gorgeous dark, moody bathrooms that you would see in a boutique hotel. Baths you actually want to sit in instead of speed-through toothbrushing.
But I was terrified of dark bathrooms – I didn’t want to ruin the vibe of our house. What if it ended up being super cheesy? Like frat-house dark?
But THEN. When we moved back into our house I decided I would gamble on our downstairs bathroom. It’s tiny and it’s a bathroom we don’t use on a daily basis so if I screwed up royally we could live with it while I figured it out.
I went out and bought myself some Farrow & Ball’s Railings – the seriously deep matte charcoal – and put it straight on the wall. (84 pounds, sterling. Phil almost died when he saw the debit receipt.) And guys. Oh em gee.
It was DARK. When I walked into that bathroom it felt like I was walking into a confessional booth. Not in the sexy pinch-me-I’m-in-Homeland kind of way.
More like, where can I flee for sanctuary while I sob quietly into a toilet tissue kind of way. The air itself felt heavy and my sister walked in and was like “Claire, feck sake, it looks like you could be sick in there.” She wasn’t joking. However!
Once I got that deep, I could SEE what I was aiming for. I LOVED the colour itself – deep and sexy without feeling like someone shut the lights off in my kitchen. The problem wasn’t that it was dark… the problem was that I didn’t take into account all of the other things that would help soften a dark wall.
Painting your walls navy and calling it a day just isn’t going to cut it. You have to account for how light travels, how different materials will reflect or absorb that light, etc. Lights!
Which brings me to my number one issue. When we initially built our bathroom we, like most people, used those sucker Ceiling-mounted spotted light things. BUT when you have dark walls they do absolutely NOTHING.
They create harsh pools of light that make the shadows even darker. I spent hours and hours researching proper bathroom lighting (*much* more complicated that you would ever think possible- there are various rules about what electrical things you can and cannot have in close proximity to bathrooms) and ultimately installed wall sconces on each side of where our mirror would go. Life. changer.
And they had to be warm LED bulbs. Those blue-tone bulbs might as well be called Operating Room Lava Lite bulbs. Once I added those wall sconces and changed the light to warm bulbs it was a total game changer.
The light reflected across the room eliminating those weird cavernous shadows that made me look like I hadn’t slept in three days. ( About 120 pounds for some nice-looking sconces but totally worth not feeling like a horror film victim every time I pee.) I also added in a little creativity with a table lamp on a floating shelf. I know, I know. Table lamps in bathrooms are cray-cray.
But hear me out. A table lamp provides this lovely warm glow and makes your whole bathroom feel cozy. *Just make sure your table lamp is rated for bathroom use! The first one I got instantly fogged up from shower condensation.
Ask me how I know… I also had to swap out our old mirror. The long rectangle vanished against the dark walls. Instead I used a larger round mirror with a thin brass frame that I found through this shop in Leeds that sells reclaimed architectural bits.
You Might Also Like
The rounded style softens all of the hard lines created by the rectangular tile and vanities. It also helped reflect light around the room making the space feel larger. Pro tip: I have used this trick in two other bathrooms and it works every time.
This was also when I started getting weird about adding reflective surfaces. Not so much that your pee is going to bounce off of the wall like you are in a Kid Rock music video but counting all of the ways you could really grab and reflect that light. Opting for tiles with a low-sheen finish versus completely matte finishes.
Swapping out our shower door for one that had tiny hints of sparkle embedded in the glass throughout. Not enough that it’s glittery or anything – but just enough so that the space doesn’t feel flat. Colour choice was another big lesson for me.
Once I had lived with that super saturated colour for a few months, I knew I wanted to try something else in our main bathroom upstairs. I chose Little Greene’s Hicks’ Blue and WOWZA – loaded with paintbrush after painting half of the bathroom. This deep blue shade is rich and dramatic without feeling stifling.
Dark enough to give you that cozy all enveloped by ducks sensation but has enough hue to it that it feels warm rather than clinical. What I came to understand was that every dark bathroom needs balance. You have to balance dark walls with lighter aspects throughout the rest of the bathroom.
Pale grey handmade limestone floor tiles – nothing super crazy, bought from a local supplier who sold it to us for thirty pounds a square metre. They help anchor the space and don’t fight with your walls for attention. Similarly, white fixtures ( toilet, sink, bathtub) give you that extra pop of brightness to keep from feeling like the entire room is swallowing itself whole.
The last thing that really made a difference for me was storage. When you have a dark bathroom, any and all clutter will stand out against your lighter fixtures. I had custom floating shelves made in the same pale oak as our bathroom vanity – cost me about ninety pounds from my local carpenter – but they really helped complete the space.
They store all of our towels and toiletries and give it that extra dash of warmth that keeps it from feeling so modern and masculine. Bath towels. Yeah, I’m not gonna lie.
They kind of do matter. I love white towels as much as the next person, but they kind of SUCK against dark walls. Instead, go with warm greys or even blush-pinks.
My towels are camel coloured and it really helps the entire room feel like I put thought and care into my bathroom vs “Oh look, these were on super-sale at John Lewis.” Don’t judge me too harshly I love those towels. Oh and plants. Plants are the absolute BEST thing to use in dark bathrooms as long as you choose wisely.
If you’re going to do plants, make sure they can handle low-light situations. I found a snake plant in a low-profile white ceramic planter that I keep tucked on the floor next to my tub. It doesn’t require tons of light and it really brings life to the entire room.
Don’t bedrooms WITH plants make you WANT to spend time in there? That’s what I want for my bathrooms! Just stay away from anything with delicate leaves though – shower steam will be the end of them and trust me nothing kills your fancy-trousers bathroom vibe quicker than brown leaves.
DON’T SKIP ON GOOD VENTILATION. Dark cavities will make mold and mildew pop like a damn Christmas tree. You have to have air flow or else.
We upgraded our extractor fan ($80 and I installed it myself thanks to many helpful YouTube videos and a lot of white knuckle drinking coffee) and I religiously turn it on before AND after showering.
Dark bathrooms can be amazing, but they are not low-maintenance. So there you have it folks.
Before and after of going full bleak-In-a-good-way on your bathroom. Everyone comments on how relaxing it feels when they walk into our bathroom. It really is our happy place.
Moody enough that it feels special every time you walk into the room but light enough that you don’t feel like you are Sat alone in the belly of whale with each swipe of your face cloth. Yes! Go for it.
But learn from my mistakes. Do NOT do what I did and slap the darkest paint you can find on your bathroom wall. Go bold but try navy or a deep emerald green.
Invest in some proper lighting from the get-go and make sure you plan out where your mirrors are going to hang!
