A great new look for your bathroom can be achieved simply.
While the bathroom is one of the hardest rooms in your house to totally refurbish, it is one of the easiest to makeover. There is no need for costly re-tiling or swapping out of sinks and toilets. Instead, you can achieve a fresh new look through simple, cost-effective means.
There is no simpler way to turn your bathroom from drab to fab, than by hanging a colourful shower curtain. A high-impact shower curtain can give a theme to your washroom in one simple purchase. Colourful shower curtains make a particular splash in smaller, darker bathrooms and in all white bathrooms. Online portals provide almost limitless choices, including the option to print your own photos and designs, but it may be best to stick to some tried and tested classics that are guaranteed to look good. For example:
- Single bold colours
- Plant and nature themed
- Snazzy repeating patterns
Less is sometimes more with a colourful shower curtain, but be careful not to choose something too naff. Underwater marine scenes or cartoon characters from your favourite Disney movie are best kept in the shelf.
As with the shower curtain, a rug can form the centrepiece of your bathroom theme. Either hung on the wall or lain on the floor, a rug is a more unusual – but still simple - way of bringing colours and patterns into the room.
Wear and tear and hygiene are issues with rugs in damp areas, so it’s more sensible to use materials that won’t go mouldy or fray so easily. Towelling or mats woven from more water resistant fabrics are a good idea. For example, a bamboo mat is particularly well suited to surviving in your bathroom.
A rug can work in all sorts of different spaces, but it is best when the rest of the décor matches. So find your centrepiece rug first, then decorate after.
Redecorating is a big scary word that sounds expensive. Painting or papering one wall, or even a part of a wall, on the other hand, is relatively simple, but still potentially transformative. Here are some ideas for simple things you can do on one wall or with one pattern:
Stripes. A stripe can make a big impact in an otherwise colourless bathroom. Painting this can be very tricky, so you’re probably better off with a coloured decal, a variety of which you should be able to find in your local DIY store.
Coloured paint. It’s really easy to fill a little crevice or inset with colour. Choose a bold colour that is already referenced elsewhere in your bathroom (maybe on the shower curtain or bathmat, for example), find that colour in paint and apply it to a small area of the room. This could be one whole wall or a piece of wall that is naturally bounded (like an inset for a radiator etc).
Feature Wallpaper. As with bold paints, decorative papers can make a big impact with only a small sample. There are some truly luscious papers out there to choose from, so why not indulge yourself in something elaborate or regal.
Mirrors are a necessity and blessing in any bathroom. They add space, light and – if you make the right choice – style to interiors. All you have to do to get the most from this opportunity is choose something with a little character. Don’t just use a plain sheet of mirror or choose the most inexpensive option. Instead, add a frame and make your mirror shine.
Coloured glass creates an ambience that is well suited to aquatic environments – like your bathroom. Shimmering and glistening colours are reflected all over your walls. Shafts of coloured light stream through your window, warming you up on a cold sunny day. There are lots of different ways you can achieve this effect. Some of them more expensive than others. Lampshades of coloured glass and lead (Turkish style) create an exotic atmosphere in the room. If you want coloured glass but don’t want to start replacing windows, sticking coloured plastic sheeting over your existing windows is a nice way to get a similar effects (as well as increase privacy).
A bathroom is an unexpected place to find a work of art, but this makes the idea all the more interesting and impactful. Surprise your guests with a Rembrandt in the restroom or a Van Gogh in the “place you go”. Not the real things of course! – but a framed print is an easy win to bring some distinction and character to your overall décor.
Bathrooms and toilets make good display spaces for gifts and souvenirs. They are places where you can show your ornaments and knick-knacks to a captive audience. Curiosity pieces hung on the wall or displayed on shelves can make interesting diversions for you and your guests, and are suitably informal decoration for this relaxed and jovial space.
The seaside is a particularly fun and holiday-reminding choice for your bathroom theme. It’s also really easy to achieve with little decorative elements. Best of all, you can create this theme totally organically from the gift shopping and beach combing of your own seaside holidays. Seashells, bowls of pebbles, nautically themed mirrors (porthole) or ships in a bottle – they all make colourful mementoes that can brighten up your bathing back home.
More and more DIY stores are stocking decorative handles for cupboards, draws and doors. They’re cheap and easy to install and can have a surprisingly transformative effect on the overall look and feel of your smallest room. Choose a handful and have fun placing them to best effect around your bathroom.
You will doubtless need some vases, jars and bowls in your bathroom for storage and display. Given the white-washed look of many a modern bathroom, clever use of colour-choice in these small accessories can make quite a difference. This is especially true if you choose a theme or colour that is constant across all the utensils. This alone could re-style your bathroom substantially.
Make your bathroom great again.
It’s time to restyle, and we’ve got 10 uber-simple tips to help you make a big impact with a low effort.