Finding a Personal Style for Your Bathroom
The design style of your bathroom should always reflect your personality and preferences. To add a personal touch to your bathroom, these ideas should help – classic, country, modern, and eclectic. You don’t have to strictly stick to these designs. The important thing is you’re able to create your own style.
The bathroom is the only room in the house where you can truly
bring out your personal style. It’s the place where you can fully relax and be
yourself, so it’s only right that you surround yourself with things you like. But
finding your personal style is harder than it sounds. For one thing, there are
lots of styles to choose from, and it’s not uncommon to like more than one. When there are so many options, it’s
hard enough making just one choice, let alone the right one.
So how do you find a personal style for your bathroom? Here’s
the first rule: you don’t have to stick to a single style. If you like the
warmth of natural elements and the sleekness of modern design, there’s no
reason why you can’t put them together. It’s all in how you make all those
details work together. To help you get started, here’s a quick guide to some of
the most common bathroom styles.
Classic
Classic bathrooms tend to be cold and formal, but softened
with intricate architectural details. What makes them unique is that there are
different sub-styles for masculine and feminine bathrooms. Masculine baths make
use of stone, metal, and fine woods such as beech and mahogany; feminine ones favor
decorative accents, light colors, and small tiles.
In both styles, dark wood furnishings and simple,
tight-backed furniture are favored. There’s usually very little decoration; function
is more important than form and all shapes are kept simple and traditional. You
can combine common shapes such as oval, rectangles and columns to give it a bit
of variety, but patterns are usually kept at a minimum. It’s common to buy
everything in pairs, as classic designs are all about functionality and
balance.
Country
Comfort and coziness are the central themes of a country
bathroom. Wooden floors, wooden countertops, and wainscot or beadboard paneling
are some of the most common elements. Bright colors such as red, yellow and
orange are also added for warmth. Country bathrooms are perfect for those who
like things cozy, familiar and old-school.
Use light, grainy woods such as maple, birch, or hickory.
The natural wood color gives your home a nice warm glow, but if you prefer a
bit of color, you can have them washed or painted. You can also spruce them up
with colored fabrics, preferably with traditional patterns such as stripes,
floral, or plaid. Combine wood with old or tarnished metal accents to add some
interest. Natural wood floors aren’t suitable for bathrooms, so you might want
to get laminate floors with a wood finish instead.
What sets country style apart, however, is that you’re free
to add your own accessories. In fact, it’s your personal touches that give it a
homey, comforting feel. Don’t have anything of your own to put up? Visit an
antiques shop and look for interesting items you can add. They don’t have to be
bathroom accessories—you can get old jars, oil paintings, decorative rugs,
anything to add a vintage feel to your space.
Modern
If you like to keep things neat and absolutely cannot live
with clutter, modern bathroom design may be right for you. Modern bathrooms are
very minimal, emphasizing space, contrast, and clean lines. Solid colors are
preferred over patterns, but textured surfaces provide variety in place of colors.
Most modern bathrooms have a stark black and white theme, although red and blue
are also fairly common. Splashes of a complimentary color can be added for
contrast.
Modern bathroom design also favors a contrast of materials,
particularly between natural and man-made ones. It’s common to place glass against
stone or wood against metal. If the look seems too cold and impersonal, you can
add an indoor plant to warm up the room. You can also open up a window or
install a large wall mirror to emphasize natural light.
Clutter is your biggest enemy when you have a modern bathroom.
Things lying around disrupt the bareness of the space which you are trying to
emphasize. To prevent clutter, make sure you have ample storage in all key
areas. But remember, you’re keeping things minimal, so stick to simple cabinets
with straight edges and sleek surfaces. Built-in storage works well for small
bathrooms.
Eclectic
If you’re like most people, you’ll like a few things about
each theme and can’t really choose just one. However, most people will settle
for one theme anyway. If you think you like all your options equally, you can
try going for an eclectic theme. Eclectic is the “no-theme” theme—you basically
just take what you want from various inspirations and mix them all together. It
won’t be as professional or put-together as traditional themes, but it’s
definitely as personal as you can get.
That doesn’t mean you can forget all the design rules,
though. There still has to be a unifying element to bind all your designs
together. Otherwise, your bathroom will look cluttered and not very comforting.
The simplest way to do this is to choose a neutral unifying color, such as
white or beige. Use it as your foundation color and add your colors, patterns,
and designs from there.
Specialty stores and flea markets are a great place to shop
for accessories. Unlike malls and supply stores, they seldom carry anything
mass-manufactured (even when they do, they’re not likely to have duplicates
anywhere in town). It allows you to display your individuality and find unique
pieces that truly reflect your tastes. Of course, quality and functionality are
essential—no matter how pretty something is, it’s not worth much if it doesn’t
work.