Home Design Essentials: How to Style a Beautiful Bathroom
When it comes to home styling there are some very simple tricks that can make an enormous difference to your bathroom design. I’m not talking DIY here or even decoration, I’m just talking about what you put in your bathroom, the accessories and homely bit and pieces that bring it to life. People often forget about their bathrooms and leave them very plain but styling is that final layer of decorating that adds the wow factor.
Whether you have a beautifully new and perfect bathroom or en-suite (lucky you!), or you have a room that’s a bit run down and you really don’t like anymore, there are some simple tricks you can use to elevate your bathroom. Follow these simple, affordable tricks to up your bathroom game.
Storage
If you’re anything like me there is an awful lot of ‘stuff’ in the bathroom. If its not a lotion or potion for pretty much anything it’s a bottle of Calpol, 5 toilet rolls still in the bag and an old Barbie whose hair has most certainly seen better days. First stop - purge! Get rid of what you don’t want or more importantly what you don’t need. If you have 3 different shampoos just merge them into the same bottle (you never know you might discover the recipe for perfect hair!). Recycle what you don’t want, or give it away, but get rid of as much as you can. Then make sure you have somewhere to keep what you have. I have dwindled my toiletries stuff down to just the things I use every day and then have a basket in my wardrobe of the things I use once in a while - it gets rid of the clutter.
Store what you can in your built in bathroom cabinets or cupboards. If you don’t have enough storage space consider a basket on a shelf or window sill that could look like nice but hides all the bottles and potions.
Be Practical
Now a lot of this sounds obvious but it’s often over looked. Be practical, practical functions best. If you have a bar of soap knocking about on the floor of your shower, get a soap dish. If you have three towels and only space to hang one then you need something bigger. If you do your make up in the bathroom but the light isn’t right you need a brighter light or do your make up somewhere else. Don’t make do, making do just makes us cross which inevitably ends up with us hating our home. We can’t have that.
Towels
Sticking with towels for a minute, there are a few rules. Makes sure towels are all off the floor and can hang somewhere they can dry. A towel rail is ideal but the back of a door on hooks works well too. Almost every picture of the perfect bathroom will have white towels . They look perfect when they’ve just been washed and go from hero to zero very quickly with one wrong wipe of an accidentally still mascaraed eye. I love an off white neutral coloured towel, they still look light but hide the inevitable dirt better and so look smarter for longer. Keep them all one colour or they’ll look really busy in the bathroom and the muted tones tend to look nicer than the brighter colours which fade too quickly and look old.
Decant your Bathroom Essentials
Removing nasty looking plastic bottles can not only look a whole lot smarter but be great for the environment too. I love the classic look of plain brown bottles. I bought a couple of bottles from my local Lloyds Pharmacy as the bottles were exactly the size I wanted (they’re big!) mainly for the bottles. I’ll remove the labels and refill as soon as we’re done with these. There are lots of great places to refill your bottles now so you don’t have to worry about creating more plastic waste. I use my local health food shop.
While we’re on the subject or plastic, toothbrushes always look horrible in the bathroom. If you have an electric toothbrush try and keep it hidden in a draw, they don’t look pretty ad it keeps them cleaner. If you’re old school manual then avoid plastic and go for the bamboo option. They’re so much kinder to the planet and look a million times better on display.
Around the sink put your hand soap in a dish or bottle, for a smarter more high end look. Dunelm and HomeSense are great go-to places for little things like this and they’re reasonably priced. I love bamboo for a family bathroom and something smarter for an ensuite like a ceramic or glass bottle.
Cotton wool and cotton buds are another thing that you can put on display and can look lovely on a windowsill or shelf. I bought some lovely glass jars from M&S that were designed for the kitchen but look fab in my bathroom. You can use anything you already have that might look pretty for storage.
Just £2.50 from Dunelm and no more manky soap marks on your basin or shower floor
At just £2.50 these are worth it just to re-use the lovely looking bottles!
John Lewis Everyday Linen towel bale currently reduced to just £15
Bathroom Plants
Plants are a great way of adding texture to your bathroom design. All those cold shiny lines can very quickly be softened with a few lovely green leaves. There are lots of plants that thrive in the bathroom and if you don’t have any natural light consider a faux plant which will have almost the same effect. Go for larger softer shaped leaves. Before you invest in a plant read this great article from Country Living Magazine about the best plants for your bathroom and the benefits of having them.
Bath by Candle light
Now in my book every room that has a bath needs candles. Sadly I don’t get a soak as much as I’d like to but when I do, I go full on soak for an hour with a glass of wine and my candles. Having a selection of candles on the side of the bath always looks lovely. Candles at different heights look great, go big and make sure they’re not going to burn your bath or window sill. We love the idea of using different height glass vases with sand and plain church candles. Ikea do some great vases that you could use to get the same effect and look really pretty. Always go for odd numbers when you’re creating little clusters of things like this - three is probably perfect and make sure to mix up the heights. If you love the warm light that candles offer, consider putting your bathroom light on a dimmer too for ultimate mood lighting.
That bathroom smell
Never forget smell. A bathroom that smells like a spa is just a pleasure all round and covers a multitude of sins. I have totally fallen in love with M&S’s Calm range. It smells incredible and I love the style of the diffuser that I have in my bathroom. You can buy refills too, win win! I’ve recently transformed the ensuite bathroom in my house, check out the pictures up on our instagram.
Go for plants with big leaves with a softer shape like a Pothus or Calathea
Get this look with vases and candles from Ikea
I’m loving the Adelphi accessories from Garden Trading, they’re so elegant
Textures
Always consider your textures. If your bathroom is mostly tiled, the flat shiny surfaces of that and your bath and basin can be quite harsh. Adding items like your soft towels, plants and baskets, either in the form of storage of perhaps a waste basket can really soften things up a bit. Woven textures for plant pots can also soften the edges as can wooden finishes and lovely natural green leaves in plants. Floating ivy can balance the shiny bathroom lines and make things look softer and more homely. If you have painted walls consider framed artwork or photos to make the room look more personal. Having some form of window dressing can also soften the space. A wooden or white venetian blind can look smart again with the wood softening the look of the tiles.
Finally…Keep it Clean
The bathroom is one of the main rooms in the house that you really have to look after to keep it in good shape. I think my all time worst job is bathroom cleaning but my goodness when it’s done it makes a difference. As soon as those shiny surfaces are shiny again the world is a better place! Clean up your sealant with white wine vinegar and use Pink Stuff for anything that doesn’t budge immediately (under the toilet seat….I have boys…gross!). Make those taps gleam and you’ll upgrade your bathroom immediately.
For more bathroom ideas and inspiration, why not visit Our Projects page. If you have a project in mind that we can help you with please drop us a line and we’ll be in touch to see how we can help.