Bathrooms are one of the most used rooms in your home. They need to be functional as well as beautiful, and overall, it needs to be easy to keep clean and tidy. This means the choices
Your choices will depend on which bathroom you’re styling. Is it an ensuite, which may be used by the adults in the family and can be more sophisticated, or a family bathroom which needs to cater for the younger members of the family, in which case having lots of décor items around in a bathroom probably won’t work well, especially with kids in and out! Not only can it appear far too busy, but over styling creates dust collectors. You really need to keep surfaces clear and clean, and you want to reduce the risk of breakages in a bathroom!
From a functional perspective you’ll want to maximise your bench space for your products, hair dryer, make-up, grooming products while you’re getting ready, so think about ensuring they don’t crowd the space with styling. For family bathrooms you will also want to find ways of adding fun, so that bath time isn’t boring.
The main styling element in most bathrooms will be bath towels, followed by soap dispensers and then bring in home fragrance choices to ‘enhance’ the atmosphere of the room.
Like most approaches to styling, think about layering, starting with towels and ending with your decorative elements.
When it comes to bath towels there are so many choices around, from block colours, patterns, tassels, toweling, pom pom, linen, waffle, jacquard…and it can go on and on.
Clever use of towels will bring a touch of pizzaz to a neutral bathroom, add an air of sophistication to an ensuite, or help you work with a pre-existing tile colour or pattern that might just be ‘yelling’ at you every time you walk into the room.
For a sophisticated look we love matching towels in tones that allow the finishes in your bathroom to sing. Classic white toweling is a great choice for sophistication and works well in bathrooms with subtle finishes. They look great with marble feature tiles, which are so popular right now, allowing the wonderful grain or texture to be the hero. Or for a touch of contrast, use block-coloured towels in your bathroom, picking up an existing colour in the room which may come from a feature tile, stone benchtop, tapware, or the vanity colour/texture.
For fun with your bath towels, you can mix them up a bit. While staying in the same colour palette, you can bring in changes in texture to create variation and interest. Try layering a toweling bath sheet with a Turkish towel, or a linen bath towel with fringing. The contrast in the textures, especially if you have a bathroom with a neutral base, will add fun to your bathroom. We’ve done this in many bathrooms, and if you have a connection between the towels and the bathroom finishes, it looks amazing.
This layered approach in a family bathroom also has a wonderfully practical benefit. Where everyone has their own towel, you can ensure each family member knows which towel is theirs by mixing it up with color or texture. We can’t guarantee they’ll hang their towel up after use, but you will at least know who left it on the ground!
If you’ve inherited a bathroom with dodgy tile choices you can use your bath towels and styling to link the colour choices, ‘calming’ it down, or ‘turning it up’ and have fun. Ensuring the colour(s) in your towel choices acknowledge the offending colour(s) can make it all feel integrated. You don’t need to go for big bold swaths of colour, but if there’s a yellow feature tile, and you hate yellow, ensure your towel choices include a touch of yellow somewhere, along with your preferred colours. You’ll make it look connected and can bring in other colours.
Using stylish soap dispensers will allow you to create a mood in your bathroom. This may not be functional in a family bathroom where function needs to take priority of finish, however in a powder room or an ensuite, the addition of a stylish dispenser allows you to create a sophisticated space where your eye is not dragged from one ‘blaring’ label to another. There are very affordable options around that bring in colour, texture or both.
This is also a room where the use of home fragrances’ come into their own! We are biased as we have our own range of home fragrance, however we know the right fragrance creates an atmosphere and adds to your experience. Smell is a powerful and influential senses, with memory and smell very closely related. When it comes to bathrooms, home fragrance is a final layer to add.
There are so many options for adding fragrance to a bathroom, usually be either scented candles, diffusers, or room sprays. Candles are great for setting a mood, especially if you want to luxuriate in a long bath. However, you shouldn’t leave them burning in a room unattended, and especially around children. A gorgeous candle in an ensuite is a wonderful styling choice, but for a family bathroom grab a diffuser for your styling. There are many options around. We’ve created ones based on essential oils, and the fragrance last for a long time - very cost-effective! For some, diffusers can appear unsightly, so another option is a wonderful room spray, in a stylish bottle.
Finally, add a last layer with some fresh flowers or plants. You don’t need to go overboard, as it could just be a simple cutting from your garden which adds a touch of nature to your room.
A well styled bathroom is based on function first, followed by colour connections and the subtlety of layering.
