A bright shade of yellow creates the illusion of light in any windowless bathroom. Pairing the color with white makes the overall room an uplifting oasis.
In small bathrooms, use brighter shades like warmer off-whites, lighter greiges, and crisp white paint colors to open up the space.
White is a favorite bathroom color choice for its bright, clean look and ability to make a small bathroom appear larger.
Soothing neutrals in blue, green, and gray will help create a relaxing, spa-like vibe for your bathroom. Look for colors inspired by nature like soft sage, sky blue, and ash gray. If you prefer warmer colors, opt for a pale yellow, warm beige, or even a delicate blush color to give the space a welcoming glow.
Introduce Reflective Surfaces
Introduce brass or chrome finish sanitary fixtures, light fixtures and mirror frames. You can also consider gloss finish wall tiles which bounce light, add extra brightness and visually expand the bathroom space.
"Lighter colors reflect light easily, which gives the room a bigger appearance," says Piercy. Unsurprisingly, a classic white paint is the perfect choice when it comes to creating the illusion of a bigger bathroom.
But should bathrooms be light or dark? When picking bathroom color ideas, you'll want to consider the mood you want to create as much as your style and taste. While light neutral tones are usually considered calming and soothing, perfect for a relaxing bathroom, it is also true that dark colors have much to offer.
In 2023, bathrooms less likely to be decorated in bright whites and backdrop grays and more likely to be drenched in warmer shades such as cream, earthy brown, tan, and taupe. These shades are still timeless but warm up the space nicely, complementing the 2023 trend of bathrooms becoming restorative spa spaces.
For a welcoming feel, try using warm color temperatures between 2700K and 3000K. This way, you'll give your bathroom a soft, yellowish glow that evokes comfort. On the other hand, if you're looking for a more modern, sleek look, go for a color temperature between 3500K and 4000K.
Choose Three Colors
Use the rule of three as a guiding principle for creating a bathroom color scheme: Pick one neutral, one rich color, and one accent. To do it successfully, think about proportion and rely on a 70/20/10 distribution.
When it comes to bathrooms, white never goes out of style. Cool whites will create a crisp and clean look, and off-whites will warm up a dark space. For a look that's on trend, try complementing white with a dark accent color, such as navy blue, hunter green, or black.
To create a luxurious small bathroom look, use white bath towels and a light neutral color. If you spend more on high-quality white towels and rugs, your casual bathroom can appear more luxurious. Also, make everything look cohesive and accessorize with natural materials to go with your white linens.
Adding reflective surfaces is a great way to spread light throughout the room. You likely already have one over your sink for practical purposes, so consider adding a mirror on the opposite wall so you can see the back of your head. You could add a side mirror or two, or even a full-length mirror if you have room.
Light yellow, cream, beige, and gray are also favorites of prospective home buyers. We recommend avoiding reds, pinks, and greens as paint choices if you want to get top dollar for your home.
Use Smooth Colors Inside
For example, light blue and some greenish and turquoise tones are perfect in a Feng Shui bathroom since water-inspired colors are preferred very often in Feng Shui bathrooms. Light pastel colors are also important in Feng Shui principles.
Warm white is great for bigger living spaces where you would like to give the room the ambiance of warmth, and an inviting sense. However, for bathrooms where you want the space to look and feel clean, there has been lengthy research conducted that says 'daylight' LED lighting is more preferable.
Daylight bulbs are ideal for focused task lighting in rooms like kitchens and bathrooms. The cool light of daylight bulbs has a modern feel compatible with clean lines and minimalism. Daylight bulbs are a good choice for kitchens, bathrooms and home offices.
Bathroom lighting experts often recommend sticking to the warm white light, as shown in the color/temperature breakdown below. (Hint: Try warm white 2700-3000 kelvins (K) for the most flattering bathroom lighting).
Graphite nickel is 2023's finish du jour
Consider it the elegant glow-up of once-trendy matte black fixtures. This sleek charcoal finish is a close relative to blackened steel with its cool undertones, but with more edgy and sophisticated dimensions.
Forest green is the lucky color for 2023, a color that can represent both – earth and water. But as we discovered, everything is based on the balance in Feng Shui, which is why other colors can help complement the lucky color of 2023.
Introducing Digital Lavender as our Colour of the Year for 2023. Purple will return as a key colour for 2023, representing wellness and digital escapism.
Pale and cool colors reflect light, so soft whites, pastels, and neutrals can make a bath feel bigger. Woodwork, trim, and doors will "disappear" if they're painted the same hue as the walls, and the effect is enhanced if cabinets and counters are also the same color as the walls.
Use large plain-coloured floor tiles
It's a common mistake to use smaller floor tiles in a small bathroom. This actually makes the room look smaller as it creates more dividing lines between the tiles. Choosing a large, plain-coloured tile will give the impression of more floor space and a cleaner, less cluttered look.
A small bathroom can actually benefit from a large tile. With fewer grout lines the walls and floor are less cluttered and the room visually expands.
Dark colors don't necessarily make rooms look smaller; they just make them look darker. If you don't want to try a bold or dark color in your main bathroom, a guest powder room is an excellent place to experiment. Since there is less wall space, a deep tone won't overwhelm the senses as it could in a larger bathroom.