It would be nice to approach a bathroom – ripe for remodeling – as a blank canvas. The problem is, it isn’t: it’s a bathroom, probably a fully functioning, working bathroom, complete with all the things working bathrooms contain – baths, sinks, toilets etc.
This can make it difficult to realize the dreams and desires you harbor for your bathroom. Transmitting those desires from a pretty picture in your mind to a fully operational and eminently stylish space can be fraught with pitfalls. Fortunately, we’ve provided some hints and tips on the best bathroom remodeling ideas currently doing the rounds, to provide you with inspiration, as well as a warning or two regarding the worst, just to remind you what to avoid. Read on for more information.
The Good: Rustic
Image by TransGuyJay via Flickr
The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines ‘rustic’ as “relating to or suitable for the country”, or “made from the rough limbs of trees”. While we are certainly not advocating uprooting your property and shipping it out of town, or hewing a bathtub from a felled tree-trunk, a subtle rustic theme is a fantastic way to revitalize a tired-looking bathroom.
Burnished or natural stone-finish tiles are warmer than your standard clinical white bathroom surfaces, and soft autumnal colors help to extend this theme throughout your bathroom space. If you are blessed with enough free time, commitment and spare cash to remodel your bathroom for each new season, this makes a great color scheme for Fall. For the rest of us, it works well the rest of the year too!
Image by Michael Coghlan, via Flickr
While unfinished timber isn’t going to last long in the humid atmosphere of an operational bathroom, waterproof natural-effect woodstain does an excellent job of combining style and practicality, keeping your rustic-effect bathroom looking great while also protecting it from moisture.
The Better: Victorian
The Victorians of 19th century England were known for a lot of things; industry and rampant imperialism, to name but two examples. But it is their keen eye for interior style that we are interested in at John C. Flood, particularly when it comes to bathrooms.
Now, the Victorians were never ones to go easy on the ornamentation – something that might not sit well with our modern-day minimalist sensibilities – so the key to a successful Victorian bathroom theme is restraint. Sprinkle vintage mixer tap designs, gilded light fittings and ostentatious tile trims sparingly around your bathroom to strike the perfect balance between an elegantly-designed Victorian bathroom and over the top excess.
Tie it all together with subtly-embossed floral pattern feature tiling, reminiscent of the work of 19th century textile designer William Morris. Oh, and if you can stretch to a vintage claw-foot bathtub, such an item is always a good idea!
The Truly Ugly: Nautical
Maybe ugly is a little harsh, but the truth is the nautical theme has been done, done again, done again, and done again. Porthole mirrors, seashell stencils and driftwood-style ornamentation seemed like a good idea at the time, but these decorative touches have become staid; it’s time to move on to pastures new.
Image by Emily May, via Flickr
There’s nothing wrong with the pastel blue and green color schemes associated with this kind of look, but with hundreds of other bathroom interior styles available, and an almost infinite number of different stylistic combinations at the fingertips of creative and innovative bathroom designers, this is territory that we really don’t need to be re-treading.
Take a look at our tips, get inspired, and get yourself a remodeled bathroom you can be proud of. Recently remodeled your bathroom? Have any tips for us? Let us know! And send a picture if you can!
