10 Bathroom Decor Tips

Redecorating your bathroom gives you the most bang for your decorating dollar.  Without much furniture to replace, a new look is a quick and easy update with throw rugs, towels and accessories.  There are 10 things to keep in mind when decorating or redecorating your bathroom.

1. Paint

Latex paints are easier to use than oil paints, they dry quickly and they’re durable.  Oil paints are often preferred by professional painters as they ‘stick’ to surfaces better and are more stain resistant.

2. Vessel Sinks

Vessel sinks have been a hot trend in bathroom decorating for the past few years, particularly in modern and contemporary bathrooms.  Make sure you have a high backsplash to accommodate the higher sink.

3. Showers

Whirlpool tubs are out, steam showers are in.  Whirlpools are so soothing at the end of the day, but they’re also space hogs and water hogs.  Many hot water heaters cannot provide enough hot water to fill the darn thing either.  Consider a more space friendly steam shower to take the place of that sunken tub.

4. Lighting

Light up, not down in the bathroom.  Lighting that shines down on you casts shadows, consider uplighting, such as uplit sconces for task lighting, particularly near the mirror for shaving and applying makeup where you don’t want shadows.

5. More Lighting

Using fluorescent lighting in the bathroom makes you look paler.  Using warmer wall colors can help offset that effect.

6. Privacy

If you can’t afford separate master baths, consider walls or half walls to offer privacy if you need to share the bath.  Putting a toilet in a separate area or hidden by a half wall has been a popular trend in decorating bathrooms.

7. Flooring Additions

Radiant floor heat can take the chill off cold tile on a winter morning.  If you’re considering new bathroom flooring, radiant heating can be installed by more experienced DIY’ers or by an electrician or floor professional for $3-$8 per square foot. 

8. Flooring Choices

In a recent National Association of Home Builders survey of customer preferences, prospective homeowners ranked the following materials as their top choices for bathroom flooring: 53% preferred ceramic tile, 31% preferred vinyl, and 7% preferred carpet.

9. Walls

Ugly wall tile can be painted or covered with a wall liner as a budget alternative to a messy wall tile removal.  Wall liners fill in the grout lines and provide a smooth surface for paint.

10. Vanities

Antique dressers make great vanities.  There are companies that specialize in the conversion.  The wood can be coated to protect it from moisture damage.

Updating bathrooms can not only give a boost to your décor, but is good for lifting the spirits as well.  If you are looking for a quick budget update to your interior décor, the bathroom is a good place to start.