Big or small, all white or bursting in color, the bathroom is a great place for experimentation in the home. It’s where tiles can pop, paint can be as decorative as you’d like, and faucets or vanities can take center stage.
In our weekly home tours column, House Calls, homeowners have taken bathroom style cues from 19th-century pharmacies, fashion designers, farmland, and nature. We’re sharing a few of our favorites from across the U.S., including homes in Seattle, Los Angeles, and Philadelphia.
If you’re looking for a bathroom refresh this very moment, we’ll give you details on where you can find the paint colors, fixtures, and decor shown in these images or something similar.
Don’t miss other installments of this series highlighting bedroom, dining room, and living room ideas.
In Seattle, multifamily living done right
“We were drawn to the idea of having a hand in making our own space,” says Best Practice Architecture’s Kailin Gregga of Big Mouth House in Seattle, Washington. She and fellow architect and life partner Steven Lazen worked with Rob Humble, founding partner and design principal for Hybrid Architecture, on their townhouse in the Central District, which was part of a trio of town homes. Their bathroom, as well as several spots around the house, embrace the color pink without holding back. The lightness and freshness of the space is further highlighted by a few accent plants.
Genuine Pink interior paint
Pair this rich pink with a cream accent color, which will highlight the pink’s slight black undertone.
Square Ceramic Tile in Pearl White
Square tiling in the bathroom has a certain vintage look to it, especially paired with white grout affixed from the sink down.
Kathryn® Sink
The Kathryn® was inspired by a 1929 Kohler exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and its retro styling fits in perfectly with a pink and white tile palette.
A couple remakes a flat in a Greek Revival townhouse
The bathroom in Marco Roth’s and Nina Dudas’s Philadelphia home speaks in soft tones, with pale green-blue walls, bright tiled floors, and natural light. The couple repurposed ceiling joists they removed during the renovation as benches and crossboards in the bathroom. The minimalist nature of the space is in part due to Roth and Dudas wanting the home to evolve over time. “The feeling that I had with designing our home was that not everything has to be perfect, things can be left to time,” Dudas says.
Bali 702
Bali reads more green on the internet than in person. When on the wall, it takes on a lighter blue character, perfect for creating a serene backdrop.
Leaf Zag Tile
This tile design takes different forms when placed in different configurations, like one continuing zig-zag or a mix-and-match almond shape.
Round Jute Storage Boxes with Lids
A neutral—and more versatile—take on storage bins, these small containers are perfect for hiding unsightly clutter in the bathroom (or anywhere else). Available in two sizes.
An Indiana couple builds their eco-friendly dream house on 8.5 acres
In farmland near Muncie, Indiana, Kelsey and Tyler Johnston purchased a lot on which architect David Rausch would ultimately build them asustainability-driven dream home. Rausch noticed traditional Indiana barns on his first drive to the site, and suggested they take cues from the region’s vernacular architecture. This design direction inspired the monumental sliding window on the south side of the home, and you could also say that reference point showed up throughout the home, like in the downstairs bathroom, which sports a farmhouse-style sink and a vintage mirror. The minimalist faucet and towel hanger add a few modern touches.
Alape Bucket Sink with Gray Trim
This not-too-precious, sturdy glazed steel sink adds some farmhouse vibes to even the most modern homes.
Kohler Purist Wall-Mounted Bathroom Faucet
Installing a faucet that emerges from the wall instead of the sink will free up counter space and give your vanity a streamline look.
Brass Towel Hanger by Ferm Living
Ferm Living makes delightful, affordable accessories for the home, and this towel hanger is no different. It ships in 1 to 2 days, so if you need a quick finishing touch, this one’s a go-to.
An LA designer finds—and remakes—her midcentury dream home
In interior designer Natalie Myers’s Ladera Heights home, there’s one room that continues to delight her: the master bath. Myers had the previously compartmentalized space drastically expanded during a gut renovation, and included a large picture window that will (eventually) look out onto an enclosed patch of green. “The bathroom is now insanely large [because we’ve combined] different enclosed spaces into one, [and swapped] a closet for a large walk-in shower,” says Myers. “Every shower feels like a luxury.” While sporting a clean and streamlined look overall, the space does incorporate some surprising details like leather pulls and somewhat hypnotic tiled flooring.
Zenith Cement Tile
This tile can be arranged to create all sorts of patterns, from a zany labyrinth to diamonds to x’s and o’s.
Leather Loop Pulls
These thick and durable pulls come with the hardware and are sized in narrow, medium, and wide.
Nelson Saucer Crisscross Bubble Pendant
Hanging a Bubble Pendant in a bathroom seems like having the luxury of space, and you’d be right. This one provides a serene glow for evening baths and morning routines.
Rescuing a 1910 Craftsman cottage from a series of unfortunate remodels
Black, gold, and white are the dominate colors of interior designer Heidi Caillier’s bathroom in Tacoma, Washington. Here, two is better than one in several cases, as in mirrors, sconces, and sinks, and a playful design in the flooring tile keeps things from feeling too serious. Green vases offer a soothing touch.
Pharmacy Double Vanity
This vanity, inspired by 19th-century pharmacy fixtures, is made of hand-welded steel with nickel bin pulls and exposed hinges.
Isle Sconce
This sconce is the perfect backdrop to show off an exposed filament bulb.
Single Stem Vase
Give your bathroom some earthy cool vibes with this single steam vase. It look great alone or in an arrangement with other ceramic pieces.
Couple goes shopping for a new home—and finds themselves in an old grocery store
Matt Nardella and Laura Cripe, co-founders of Moss Design in Chicago, renovated a defunct grocery store in Logan Square into their dream home and office. Just as wooden accents adds warmth to living spaces filled with drywall, concrete, and glass, a vibrant artwork and a dash of color in the towels add some visual interest to this neutral-happy master bathroom.
Alpaca
This neutral shade is a low-volatile organic compounds (VOC) paint, which will lower your exposure indoors.
Cube Bathtub
The minimalist, angular Cube bathtub is made from eco-friendly materials and comes with two backrests and a tub caddy.
Coyuchi Mediterranean Towels
Buy one or a set, these organic cotton towels feature yarn-dyed stripes and hand-knotted fringe edges. all it neutral with a twist.
Embracing indoor-outdoor living in the South Carolina marshlands
Since they live on a 2-acre plot on the edge of marshlands, Michelle Jewell and Ryan Amick spend a lot of time outdoors. However, the inside of their two-story, cedar shake-sided home is just as nice, furnished with vintage finds, contemporary pieces, and handmade items. The bathroom is a quiet and comfortable space, and leans on classic features like a vintage clawfoot tub, pedestal sink, and beadboard.
Rowland Pedestal Sink
A pedestal sink lends a classic feel to the bathroom and is a good foil to industrial sconces and a modern oval mirror.
Industrial Sconce
These handmade sconces look straight out of higher-priced retailers and even include bulbs.
Oval Wall Mirror
This is an elegantly-shaped mirror that would work in many instances beyond the bathroom.
A San Francisco remodel brings a couple closer together
A year after they started dating, interior designer Gina Gutierrez and Max Maloney bought an Edwardian flat in Duboce Park in need of a renovation—and they were excited to do some of the work themselves. The couple tackled building floating shelves (with the help of a friend), installing molding, and, most dauntingly, sanding and finishing the floors. The bathroom used to contain an old clawfoot tub that Gutierrez loved, but she liked the idea of a double vanity more. “The old tub was really cool, but I could see that if I tucked a built-in tub under the window, we’d have room for two sinks and a vanity for storage,” she says. “But we kept the look classic with traditional subway tile.”
Rudd Sconce in Black
Matte black is the fixture color that everyone is playing with these days, and this sconce mixes in nicely with faucets and pulls.
Jason Wu for Brizo Lavatory Faucet
This understated faucet, part of a collaboration with fashion designer Jason Wu, is the ultimate sleek back fixture.
DKNY Hihgline Stripe Shower Curtain
Add some depth to a monochrome room with this striped shower curtain. It’s also available in three other colors with a more noticeable ombre appearance.