Bathroom and kitchen trends usually move at a glacial pace (good news when you want your reno to last decades), but there’s a ton of trends currently focused on bathing spaces – good news for the place we start and end every day.
Living large
Traditionally, bathrooms get the bare minimum of space, and if they do have the luxury of elbow room, it’s usually done badly, with acres of dead floor in the middle. A new trend is changing this, gifting the bathroom the square metreage to match its prominence in our daily lives.
Creating a sprawling bathroom is often achieved by the bathroom breaking its bounds and becoming one with adjacent spaces like bedrooms, creating a hybrid bathing/dressing/lounging space. “I love the idea of creating a space that walks you through the daily experience of getting ready or winding down,” says interior designer Nicola Ross. “This is where luxury living is: finishes, texture, and the right spatial flow are key to cohesively making this work, ensuring the flow works from bathing to skincare, dressing and unwinding.”
To create maximum impact in a large-scale bathroom, start with a ‘wow’ feature, a statement piece that will define the room. For example, a stunning freestanding bath on a plinth, a generous double vanity, or a picture window to a leafy view.
Banish the echo by dividing the room, balancing the luxury of space with a sense of intimacy, and delineating sub-spaces to encourage a sense of purpose and flow.
A nib wall is a handy device, used to frame a gorgeous bath or vanity, with functional features like the shower or toilet hidden behind. The sprawling bathroom might banish the WC altogether, moving it to a separate room or enclosed cubicle, which helps express the idea of a bathroom as a room for living, not just for necessary ablutions.
To further drive home the idea of the bathroom as a living space, a sprawling bathroom might introduce softness with intimate lighting (chandeliers and wall sconces, instead of glary task lights), gauzy drapes, rugs, art and seating – somewhere to wait for the bath to fill, curl up with a face mask on, or for your partner to sit and chat while you’re running through your skincare routine.
Ways to wellness
When times are tough, self-care becomes less of a treat than a necessity, a pattern that has been driving the spa sanctuary bathroom trend for the past few years.
There are two arms to this trend; firstly, aesthetics, with bathrooms drawing on biophilic design cues to introduce an element of calm. “The use of nature-inspired colour palettes and natural stones and materials really leans into this trend,” explains Josh Stewart of Form & Dwell. And then the practical inclusions, which range from everyday luxuries – “walk-in showers, tiled surfaces, sunken baths, long spacious vanities and under-tile heating,” says Josh – to next-level inclusions like saunas, steam showers and ice-bath plunge pools.
Atelis Oval Concrete Basin
Bambi Stripe Hand Towel
Hack the look with these simple changes:
- Invest in storage: Clutter is the enemy of calm. Clear off countertops, remove the laundry hamper from your sightline and, if there’s space, introduce elegant freestanding storage so you can shut the door on bathroom clutter.
- Welcome nature: Introduce greenery and natural materials with small additions. Think lush trailing plants, a timber bath mat or caddy, or stone bath accessories.
- Make it rain: Upgrading your piddling showerhead to a powerful one is one of the easiest bathroom fixes. Explore rain showers versus handheld, adjustable spray patterns and the width of coverage.
- Pamper yourself: Josh suggests investing in “good quality towels which play on the colour palette of the space ”. Super-soft bath sheets are even better when warm – install a stylish heated towel rail.
- Be your own aromatherapist: Classic fragrance calmers include camomile and lavender, while bergamot and citrus deliver a soothing effect with a side of invigoration. Introduce them in candles, diffusers or shower products.
Hotel chic
“Hotel bathrooms seek to offer an escapist experience that focuses on evoking feeling, not just a practical space,” says interior designer Nicola Ross. While domestic bathrooms can get snagged on the practicalities, hotel designers have more freedom to embrace whimsy.
To capture that holiday-at-home feeling, allow yourself to be bold. “A bathroom is a transitional space, meaning you are not hanging out in there all day, so you can be bolder in your choices without them becoming overwhelming,” says Nicola. Hotel bathroom palettes are often restrained, but not bland; embrace dark and moody hues, or treat yourself to lashings of luxury with natural stone finishes, or stone-look products, which give a premium look that can withstand family life.
Grown Alchemist Hand Wash
Freedom Lav Washable Floor Rug
If you’ve ever thought you look better in a hotel than at home, there’s a good reason for it: hotel bathrooms are deliberately designed with flattering lighting. Recreate the look at home with a layered lighting scheme – put overhead lights on dimmers, position sconces at eye level to avoid alarming shadows, or consider a warmly backlit mirror.
Maintain the illusion of holiday-style capsule living by investing in hard-working storage, like deep vanity drawers and cabinets with power points, so your toothbrush can charge out of sight. Save display space for those small luxuries that evoke high-end hotel stays: impossibly soft towels rolled into cigars, expensive-smelling soap products in elegant packaging and a might-just-live-in-it bathrobe.
Budget refresh
Five high-impact swaps that won’t break the bank:
- Reinvent the vanity: If the budget won’t extend to a new vanity, make over your old one. A little paint goes a long way, as does new hardware and a bit of decorative trim.
- Install a new mirror: Age-spotted or daggy mirrors bring down a bathroom. Swap for a new one in an on-trend shape, or invest in a backlit LED mirror to upgrade your bathroom lighting at the same time.
- Scrub the grout: If your tiles are fine, but your grout is grotty, a good scrub will brighten the whole room. Still gross? Regrouting is a simple DIY job, or try using a grout pen.
- Paint the walls: Change the vibe of the bathroom with a splash of colour. Consider the existing tiles and fittings and select a complementary hue.
- Towel off: Towels tend to be the primary source of colour in a bathroom, so swapping threadbare towels for soft new ones in a beautiful hue makes a massive difference.
Kyoto in Bloom Scented Candle
All in the family
Aesthetics fire our enthusiasm, but a bathroom needs to be practical. To create a functional bathroom that caters for the whole family, according to Nicole, the priority is “storage, storage and more storage”. “Recessed vanity cabinets have room for the things we use daily, especially the taller items that can be tricky in drawers,” she says. “If space allows, incorporating room for rubbish and a laundry makes clean up easier.”
Think about how your family uses the bathroom and plan accordingly – a bathtub is useful for children, double sinks reduce morning logjams, and large towel rails hold multiple towels. Moving the toilet out of the main bathroom and into a separate WC can be a smart solution when you’ve got several people sharing one bathing space. A powder room is also an opportunity to be bold and make an impression on guests.
“Quite often they are windowless spaces – instead of trying to brighten them with all white (giving public toilet vibes), it’s better to lean into the moodiness of the space,” says Josh. “Have fun with textures, materials, colour and statement pieces like wall lights. Little touches like a beautiful hand soap will elevate the experience for guests.”
