Help me decorate my new bathroom!!

In My Humble Opinion
1

My in-laws are in the process of remodeling my bathroom. I have a brandnew shower (bright white), toilet (bright white) and sink/cabinet thing. The cabinet is oak, and the two sinks are bright white. Counter top is an off white/white marble-ish. Anyway everything else is going to be redone. New wall colors, floor covering, ceiling, curtains… The whole shebang!

I’m just REALLY having a hard time coming up with a good idea for the colors… I’m probably going to just go with a bright white floor covering, and then do something really “different” with the walls!

What colors should I use? What theme?? (Americana, lilacs, nautical… ANYTHING!!) HELP ME!!!

:D:D:D:D

2

White gives you a lot of room to play with color. A couple of suggestions:

  1. If you are doing a ‘theme’, go with something you like. You’ll be looking at it a lot.

  2. What colors do you like, and what intensity? There’s quite a difference in greens, for example. Do you want a bright tropical green, a pastel green, or an earthy green? And will you still be able to find those towels and washcloths in a couple of years?**

  3. Who else will be using the room the most? Just you? Spouse also? In-laws also? Anyone who is over for a visit? If there is a lot of traffic, I would not go with a white floor covering (I’m assuming a rug here).

  4. Is this a large bathroom, or a tiny, under-the-stairs closet? How big is the tub space, and is there a shelf around the tub? (I’m thinking a potted plant, maybe some candles placed next to the tub.)

  5. How are you storing towels and grooming items? Perhaps think about adding a narrow vertical bookcase - allows room for the towels, shelves for shampoo and other stuff, and one shelf for books if you are reader/browser.

IMHO, were I to do my bathroom again (and had more room), I’d do a kind of ‘zen’/minimalist thing - you have plenty of white already, perhaps a plant. It is a meditation room, usually.

Either that, or intense jungle - lots of plants, animal prints and posters, masks.

Point is, do what you like and have fun with it.

** I did my bathroom in bright, intese, tropical Florida (colorful fish on the shower curtain, bright yellow, blues and greens for the towels, jar of seashells on the toilet tank, framed watercolor prints on the walls, the whole Margaritaville thing. A couple of years later when I needed (desperately) some new towels, dark and muddy colors were in, and not a bright color to be found anywhere. I ended up going with white towels, and they really put a dent in the coordination.

3

screech-owl has all the right questions.

I tend to go with neutral walls and floors and punch it up with accessories. My bath is white with a blue floor (second to the idea of a non-white floor because of the traffic) so I did brightly colored towels, curtains and rag/throw rugs. The shower curtain rings and wastebasket are bright chrome to complement/contrast with the natural rag stuff.

Depending on who is using it (kids, etc.), go with simple classic stuff and nothing too kitschy unless you feel like changing it out often. You could get tired of a “theme”.

4

Well, I live in a pretty small house. NO kids yet, BUT we do have friends over all the time, so there is a lot of traffic in the bathroom on the average Saturday night. haha

I am trying to come up with several options to decide from. I want to do the walls in a really BOLD color. I think this stems from the fact that I watch Trading Spaces all the time. ha ha They do such INTERESTING color schemes.

For the last year my bathroom has been really shabby. Bad white paint, old vinyl floor covering that was coming up from the floor… Nasty tub that was TINY and gross… NOW I have all this new stuff, the bathroom is about 4 times bigger… It’s like working with a plain white piece of paper just begging you to paint it or something, and I’m just not that creative! I want the room to look really unique, and fashionable!! haha I guess I want to impress people with my FABULOUS bathroom. (Is that sad–haha!!)

As for space in the bathroom, the personal stuff will be stored in the oak cabinet under the sink, and then towels and things like that will be stored in the built in shelf/closet. The shelf/closet isn’t going to have a door. I decided I wanted kind of an “open” feeling…

I do like the idea of having a lot of plants around the room, and several candles. I also like the idea of a jungle theme with tons of plants.

I secretly want to cover the bathroom in little rubber duckies, but since this is the only bathroom in the house, I should probably go with something a tad more mature than that. haha

One thing I am thinking about doing is sponge painting the walls with navy blue and light blue then decorating with light houses and other nautical items. Option two is paintint 3 walls navy blue and 1 wall brick red and painting an american flag on the wall space between my two big windows. What does everybody think?? Are my ideas cheesey?!??!

I’m open to almost anything!! I just want some fresh suggestions! haha

Oh, I’m sure we’re going to go with linoleum, and while it might have some other color in it for a pattern, I really do want to keep it bright white. It should be easy to clean, right??

Thanks for your suggestions Screech Owl!

5

I saw a really cool bathroom that was done in a deep amethyst/periwinkle on the walls, white lace curtains, cool photos on the walls. I know it sounds a little heavy, but it was gorgeous. Oh, white trim. Think of the accessorizing for a room like this!

6

I would totally go for an “old garden” theme. Darkish blues and greens, with plants all over, and either real riverrock flooring or tiles that look like stones, and brass fixtures everywhere, including an open pipe for the sink - although you said you had cabinents - that’s cool too. I would use those to look a bit like a garden work bench, with wooden baskets to place things in, and maybe an old-looking trowel as a soap dish or something.

I don’t even garden, but I stayed in a house for a month that had a small washroom that had the beginning of this theme going for it, and every time I went in there I’d “redecorate”. I don’t like bright washrooms. They make me feel dirty for needing to use them, because any mess is so visible (not that I’m messy, but still - loose hair, etc just shows up SO much).

Just me 0.02$

7

mnemosyne – That sounds WONDERFUL!!! I’d have never thought of that. Oh wow!! I’m going to run that past the hubby tonight and see what he thinks. VERY COOL! Thank you!!!

:D:D

8

hehe YAY! Someone likes my idea! I feel so special! :smiley: :smiley:

mnemosyne claps her hands like a happy child!

9

I don’t understand people’s obsessions with the way their home looks. Do you really think you’ll reap psychological benefits everytime you look at your knew bathroom, the carefully selected colours, the brand sparkling new toilet and shower?. Or do you do it simply to make your house more presentable to visitors, to give yourself a feeling of pride?
Is it just a solution to ‘I want what they’ve got and more’, if so then i fail to understand the actual benefits from this time and money consuming bathroom operation, and believe that the time and money could be spent much more beneficially, if only you knew how.

oh, and it amuses me greatly to see so many people getting involved in what is really just a personal obsession.

10

Hmm. I, on the other hand, don’t understand people who don’t care about how their home looks. Personally, I paint and decorate because it makes me feel good to come home to a nice place. I suppose refusing to spend money on where you live could be the result of a personal obsession.
Anyway, the garden room is a great idea. And go for the bold colors if you want to - you can always re-paint if you hate the shade, or sponge over it to tone it down. Of course, my bathroom is an intense purple, so you may not want to listen to me. [sub]Really, it looks great… I swear it does.[/sub]

11

I don’t understand people’s obsessions with registering for message boards just to espouse their ideals for living on others. Obviously they have no concept of the artistic and aesthetic pleasures of a nicely decorated home. Do they really think they’ll reap psychological benefits every time they delude themselves into thinking they think back to the unwelcome opinions they’ve posted? Or do they just do it because it makes them feel better and more anti-consumer? I believe the time and effort could be spent much more beneficially, if only they knew how.

12

Have you considered making your bathroom a shrine to me? I’ll be happy to send you lots of pictures you can frame.

13

Actually, not-like-them, I HAD to redo my bathroom because all the floor joysts were ROTTEN, my tub was about to fall through the floor, and my vinyl flooring was coming unattatched from the rotting wood floor beneath it. We also had a useless “den” that you had to walk through to get to the bathroom, so we decided to just knock the wall out between the TINY (and rotting) bathroom and the little den.

It should also be said that it really isn’t costing that much money, because both my father and brother-in-law are doing the construction part as that’s the field they work in, and my father-in-law is doing all the plumbing. He’s a plumber.

Not to mention if you think it’s so ridiculous for people to re-do rooms in their house, why on earth would you open up a thread called “Help me decorate my new bathroom!!”?

Sorry for getting a tiny bit offended, but I didn’t want anyone else to think that I just got bored or something and decided to spend a gob of money I don’t have on redecorating. NOT that there’s anything wrong with doing that if your house is what you like to spend your money on!!!

AND, I’m with Seawitch. I like my house to look nice. I spend a lot of time there, and I want to be comfortable. :slight_smile:

Once again, thanks for the ideas. Keep them coming if you can!! I really think I am going for bold colors. I want something really snazzy!!! :slight_smile:

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

:D:D

Oh yeah: welby1, I’m not sure my husband would be too hot on the idea of the shrine but I’ll be sure to run it past him and get back to you on that. haha

14

Don’t worry about it–s/he is just trying to get a reaction.

Bold colors would be fine in a bathroom as you don’t have to worry about it looking smaller, and after all there isn’t as much furniture to coordinate with a wild color.

And I agree with mnemosyne that white floors do show hair and dust pretty badly. You could pick a mottled sort of linoleum in a shade of the wall color, or a deep gray to coordinate with deep green or blue.

15

Well, I’m running the garden idea past my husband tonight. haha I’m sure he’ll agree with everything but the linoleum. haha I’m almost convinced to go grey, though. If I could find some that is reasonably priced and looks like grey stone that would be PERFECT!

I was thinking a bird bath with grass growing in it, and a candle on top would look really pretty too! OR a with a mirror on top would be pretty too. :slight_smile:

Thanks everyone!

I don’t actually paint for another couple of weeks so if anyone has any other ideas POST AWAY because I can always change my mind!!!

Almost forgot, thanks gigi for standing up for me!! :slight_smile:

16

Tile or linoleum that looks like stone or brick is extremely cool.

17

I was just about to add that brick (looking) flooring is cool too. I was thinking about that house where I got the idea, and the floor actually WAS brick, like a garden path. Then you could pull more reds up into your towels, or flowers or soaps or whatever.

Decorator? Nope. I’m a chemist…

18

You want to go for a theme.

  Shower Curtain-many people overlook this. But it can really bring the room together. There are only two real choices here.
#1-A Plain white curtain with the words Bates Motel printed on the trim

  #2- Again, plain white but with a lifesize silhouette of a woman with an upraised knife.

  The toilet-padded seats are simply wrong. The proper seat is firm. Ideally, you should cast the seat from urethane, with the right objects inside. The perfect seat is clear, allowing an unblemished view of the shark's jaws within it.

Mat- a bathmat is essential for saftey and comfort. A visit to your local craftstore will yield up a good fabric paint-one that will remain vibrant, not come off, and will impart no texture or stiffness. It should, of course, be red. While your initial impulse may be to simply mimic blood stains, or bloody footprints, resist. How much more pleasing is it to leave a strange trail in the blood? The marks of  a hungry swarm of rats are good choice. Footprints can work well. But they must not be human footprints-talons, webbed toes etc should be added.

Mirror-Great care must be taken in decorating the mirror. The REDRUM should remain without the least bit of smearing and fading for as long as you live in the house.

Tub-Again, saftey and astheticscan be made to work together. Your traction decals should be lovingly made to resemble cockroaches.

Sink- The knobs should be paws and the faucet a gargoyle. This adds a touch of old world elegance without sacrificing functionality.

Walls-The area above and opposite the toilet should be given special attention. Too many decorators leave men staring at a blank wall while relieving themselves. The proper thing is an image of a male face, to impart a sense of camraderie-a safe haven from things feminine. I’ve found pictures of Rasputin work well for this. The important thing is to find a man who is looking directly forward. This will cause the illusion that the eyes follow them. Thus, guests feel that a host cares for their needs even here.
The wall opposite the toilet is even more important. Any image of hands, claws, or tentacles reaching up from a dark pool of water to grab an unsuspecting victim from behind will do.

And, Voila!

[sub]yes, my appartment is decorated something like this. A tabloid article proclaiming “Haunted Toilet Kills 3rd Plumber In 2 Years!” hangs on my bathroom door. My mirror usually says RedRum. To get to the bathroom, guests must walk by a motion activated sign that speaks “My creatures of the night will feast upon the flesh of your corpse”. And for a few months, an oddity in the tank mechanism made a sound remarkably like a human scream when flushed.[/sub]

19

OH my! hahahaha

While that does sound tempting, DogCathode, I think it might be just a little much for my tastes. hahaha Thanks for the suggestion though.

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

:slight_smile: