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When redecorating or planning renovations, bathrooms and powder rooms are often overlooked. The small size and arbitrary arrangement of permanent fixtures may not do much to encourage your creativity. And the replacement of fixtures or tile can certainly prove expensive. Is there a way to redo your bathroom without undue expense or inconvenience? In fact, by using the same decorating tips and tricks that work well in other rooms, even the smallest powder room can easily be transformed into a stylish and unique space.
Wall Surfaces
One of the easiest ways to revamp a bathroom is by changing the wall surfaces. For instance, a little wallpaper can go a long way toward defining your bathroom’s ambience. Today’s spa-style bathrooms become restful havens by the use of easy-care wall coverings. These mimic natural materials such as grasscloth, raw silk, or cork. Unusual treatments can be fun, like covering the walls with newsprint, book pages, or brown packaging paper. As long as you protect the surface from soil and moisture with a coat or two of clear polyurethane, your imagination can run free. Small spaces like powder rooms can especially benefit from large or unusual patterns. They are not rooms where one lingers, there is less likelihood of getting tired of a bold design statement.
Paint
Paint, while an economical wall treatment, doesn’t need to be a boring one. An amazing variety of colours and finishes are available. Any paint or home supply store can give you instructions and supplies for a faux finish, such as ragging or combing. Another very effective treatment is to do the walls in the desired colour using a matte-finish paint, then use painter’s tape to mark wide or narrow vertical stripes. Fill in the stripes with the same colour in a semi-gloss or gloss and, when dry, remove the tape. The resulting subtle finish works with any colour from pale to deep.
Retiling
While retiling a bathroom can be quite expensive, not all bathroom floors are hard to replace. If yours has ceramic tile in a pattern or colour that you’ve come to hate or vinyl flooring that has seen better days. Consider peel-and-stick vinyl tile or one of the new free-floating laminates that come in a variety of patterns. You may have to remove the old flooring, but so long as there are no large damaged areas, the new surface can often be laid atop the old with no problem. Don’t be afraid to choose a floor that doesn’t immediately say “bathroom.” Many of the click-together laminates offer beautiful dark or light wood looks. An elegant powder room would look even more chic with a deep-toned wood floor.
Display Components
Once the walls and floor are renewed, the next step is to choose the proper display components. Most bathrooms have limited floor space, so think in terms of units that can be placed against, or hung on, the walls. Open shelves, either shallow or deep, are an excellent way to create more storage or display space. Bins or baskets can be used on the shelves to hide supplies that you may want out of sight. Many bath and beauty products now come in attractive packaging worthy of display. A small collection, such as seashells, candles, or perfume atomisers, will add individuality and interest.
Soft Goods
Soft goods are also important in defining your bathroom’s style. There are many carefully coordinated ensembles available. Remember that everything doesn’t have to match. In fact, most decorators consider this a mistake. Items that do not match but do work well together give a more polished appearance, such as a solid shower curtain with checked towels or solid towels with a print window treatment. Also remember that, if you can’t find the perfect shower curtain or window panels, you can even make something that is one-of-a-kind by using your imagination.
Towels & Fabric
Towels or fabric scraps can be sewn together to make a patchwork design, or a flat twin-size sheet can be hemmed to the proper length. A lace curtain panel may require only shortening to serve as the perfect finishing touch in a romantic bathroom. If sewing is beyond your skills, try no-sew hem tape, which requires only an iron. Whatever you do, avoid toilet tank and lid covers with a matching contour rug. These serve no useful purpose and can, in fact, provide excellent places for germs and odours to thrive.
Extra Space
If you are lucky enough to have a large bathroom, consider adding extra luxury items, like a comfy chair or chaise, or a small dressing table and bench. A storage cabinet is also useful. Just be sure that any pieces added do not make the room seem smaller or disorganized. Clutter control is by far the most important factor in making your bathroom a serene and tranquil retreat.
Decorative Items
Once everything else has been done to complete your bathroom’s new look, a judicious choice of purely decorative items will add the final grace note. Framed artwork or photos, pottery, or apothecary jars (empty or filled with small soaps, shells or cotton balls) can be the perfect expression of your own individual style. Don’t go overboard, though. One or two striking pieces are a much better option than a grouping that looks too fussy.
Final Thoughts
While choosing your décor, don’t forget to add an environmentally friendly touch that many don’t consider. Even one real plant (like a vine, succulent, or flowering house plant) can serve as more than a decorative touch by helping to make the air fresher. Besides, plants have a calming effect and add a natural beauty that silk or plastic copies can’t. These are only a few ideas for making over bathrooms or powder rooms. You can find many others by looking at decorating magazines and books or watching shows devoted to renovation and remodelling. If you enjoy historic homes or open house tours, take note of anything in those bathrooms that might work for you.
You may not consider it a significant part of your home’s décor. The bathroom is often the only room outside the living and dining areas that your guests will see. You can make a big impression on visitors while staying within your decorating budget, so put some of the ideas suggested here and your own imagination to use in creating your dream bathroom.