Highlighting the Small Bathroom Design

Colors for Small Bathrooms

© Sarabeth Asaff

Oct 20, 2009
A Small Bathroom Uses Light Cool Colors, Sarabeth Asaff
Use of color in a small bathroom is just as important as the types of fixtures used. Keep colors cool and monochromatic helps to enhance the space.

When designing a small bathroom, it’s important to take every inch of the space into consideration. This includes the bathroom wall color, as well as the tile and vanity colors. Using color correctly can go a long way toward visually increasing the size of the room.

Color Tones

The first thing to consider when deciding small bathroom colors is the tone of the color in question. Tone in this case refers to the visual temperature of the color. Warm colors, like yellows, reds and oranges visually contract when viewed. Cool colors, such as grays, greens and blues visually recede. This is why warm colors are generally thought of as “cozy”.

Utilizing cool colors that recede from the eye can help to visually enlarge the space. Homeowners hoping to keep the bathroom neutral should look for shades of gray, and keep fixtures white. Homeowners who desire more color in the room should look for blues, greens, purples and even burgundies.

Color Saturation

Color saturation, or the brightness of each color should be considered next. Colors which are overly bright or dark may make the room feel closed in. Try to keep colors light and saturations low.

A homeowner desiring to use green marble in the bathroom for example, would do better to use a light colored marble, such as Ming Green, rather than a dark shade like Verde Mare. This does not mean that color pallets must be kept to pastels, merely that extremely bright or dark colors should avoided.

Vanity Color in Small Bathrooms

Small bathrooms using pedestal sinks should keep the sink color to white or pale gray. A bathroom large enough to contain a vanity will need to take the wood color into consideration.

While white is always an option, homeowners wanting wood tones should consider burgundy cherry or wenge for dark colors, and bleached maple for light tones. A dark vanity in an otherwise light colored bathroom can add some much needed gravity and focus to the space, so don’t be afraid to use dark woods in this case.

Keep Colors Consistent

One way to help visually enlarge a bathroom is to use the same color tile on the floors and walls. This creates an unbroken line that makes the space appear larger. Choose a complimentary color for paint to continue the effect, and try to keep all colors in the room within one pallet.

If using a pale blue porcelain tile on the floor and shower walls, use a slightly different, complimentary shade of blue for the bathroom walls, and use a blue marble vanity top on a wenge vanity to tie the look together.

Remember to keep the small bathroom design simple and consistent. Use clean lines and try to avoid having too much going on visually in one space. Pay close attention to the color choices, used in the space, and enlarge the feel of the room today.


The copyright of the article Highlighting the Small Bathroom Design in Bathroom Decor is owned by Sarabeth Asaff. Permission to republish Highlighting the Small Bathroom Design in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


A Small Bathroom Uses Light Cool Colors, Sarabeth Asaff
       


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